Comparison

Drumline vs Bass Line Composer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Drumline

This app provides a comprehensive marching percussion experience, allowing users to write and play drum notation, design drill charts, and practice conducting. It features realistic sounds from top brands and tools like a metronome and drumhead tuner.

Highlights
  • Write and play drum notation
  • Design and visualize drill charts
  • Conducting program with tempo control
  • Realistic percussion instrument sounds
  • Metronome with subdivisions
  • Drumhead tuner
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Snare drum, Tenors, Basses, Cymbals, Xylophone, Marimba, Vibraphone, Write Notation, Charts, Drum Major, Metronomes, Drumhead Tuner, and Challenges!!! In your pocket for the cost of a drum key. This app isn't for people who like drums or are drum-curious. This app is for those who can't stop drumming on anything and everything around them to the point where they are considered "disruptive" to their family, friends, and neighbors. Honored by Apple as "New & Noteworthy" in the Music apps category. This isn't some free tap app with canned sound effects and busted graphics. We're bringing the world's best drumming hardware to your fingertips. We've partnered with Dynasty USA Drums, Pro-Mark Drumsticks, Evans Drumheads, and Sabian Cymbals to deliver an optimized marching experience directly to your iPhone and iPad. And now you can write it, play it, and march it. Are you kidding?! WRITE NOTATION That thing you've been tapping on every available surface? Write it down. Build snare, tenor, bass, and cymbal parts with accents, diddles, flams, sticking, dynamics, and tuplets. Go from mf to f with a crescendo. Hit play and hear your battery bring it back. Save and share editable .perc scores, or export PDF and PNG sheet music. CHARTS A whole drill book, right here. Place performers, build sets, choose the counts, add your music, and watch the transitions in 3D. Check the drill from overhead, orbit, judges, or a performer's view. Basketball courts, WGI floors, custom spaces, and .drillbook sharing. Yes, we're moving feet now too. DRUM MAJOR Somebody's got to keep this thing together. Build a conducting program with different tempos, meters, dynamics, and count-ins. Set a countdown so you can put your device down, then play to the hands. That tempo change isn't going to practice itself. If you're reading this you're late. 1000s of drummers before you downloaded this app: • Battery samples professionally recorded by DCI DVD sound engineer Jamie Vanadia at NoiseFloor Ltd. in Chicago. • Front ensemble samples courtesy of the University of Iowa Musical Instrument Samples (MIS) project. You guys rock! • In Snare: toggle between dynamics and standard modes. • In Basses and Tenors: switch between Pro-Mark nylon and soft mallets. • In Cymbals: crashes, chokes, taps, sizzles, sizzle chokes, hi-hats, and zings. • Full and split keyboard layouts for xylophone, marimba, and vibes. Foot pedal on vibes, too. • Color themes to match your drumline. THE HARDWARE Snare: Dynasty MS-XD14 Marching Snare Drum. Tenors: Dynasty MT-680234, five- and six-drum configurations. Basses: Dynasty MB-18 through MB-26, 18", 20", 22", 24", 26". Cymbals: Sabian Synergy HHX, 18" and 20". METRONOMES 30–300 BPM in wood block, metal, or duts. Quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and triplet subdivisions. Offbeats and all that sweetness you need. Save your presets for the next rep. DRUMHEAD TUNER Do the impossible: tune your tenors or basses. Hit-and-hold pitch detection, Low/Standard/High tuning targets, and smart harmonic correction. No piano tuner nonsense, just drums. CHALLENGES Test your phrasing memory on snare, tenors, or basses. Put your BPM senses to the test in Line Leader. Grab your practice pad and find out how many single strokes you can play in 30 seconds in Speed Test. Drumline captains, this will put your titles to the test! It's a whole drumline in your pocket for less than a drum key. Get all this when you buy now! Like no tricks. Buy once. No subscription. No in-app purchases. Learn more: https://drumlineapp.com Join the line: https://facebook.com/drumlineapp Or X: https://twitter.com/drumlineapp Yo! Don't use real drumsticks on your device... you'll crack your screen and your friends will point and laugh at you! Let's try not to make this the bad, 1985. :)

About

Bass Line Composer

Compose and play along with custom bass drum lines. Practice splits, create new beats, and refine your exercises with realistic drum sounds. This app allows you to experiment with speed and timing for your musical ideas.

Highlights
  • Compose bass drum lines
  • Play along with compositions
  • Practice splits and interspersions
  • Create and edit exercises
  • Adjust tempo (speed up/slow down)
  • Realistic bass drum sounds
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Yo, Bass drummers! Got a split in your head that you've just got to hear right now? Got a line or a lick or an exercise to put down? Compose it and play along with the new Bass Line Composer App! Now you’ve got a whole bass drum line to play along with. Practice splits and interp. Write out your exercises or make up new ones. Put down that new street beat that’s been bouncing around your brain. Speed it up, slow it down, try it out, edit it, and max it out! Compose and play along with the actual bass drum sounds of the Paul Rennick 2012 Santa Clara Vanguard, as recorded by bass tech Brian Lowe - tuned the way they’ll sound on finals night. Best used with Headphones About Telephonic Amusements: Nicholas Wheeler, software engineer, marched Sky Ryders, VK, and UNT - taught at Pioneer and UNT; David Croy, designer, marched Sky Ryders and tech’ed under Paul Rennick at Sky, VK, and has provided visual consulting for UNT and Dynasty Drums.

Screenshots

Drumline4 screens
Bass Line Composer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bass Line Composer at 4.7 against Drumline's 4.1. Bass Line Composer also leads on review sentiment (63% vs 40%) and price ($1.99 vs $4.99). Drumline's advantage is ratings volume (1.2K vs 181). On ads, in-app purchases, chart position and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Drumline costs $4.99 and Bass Line Composer $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bass Line Composer holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drumline has 1.2K ratings behind it against 181, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Drumline's written reviews are positive against 63% of Bass Line Composer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drumline ships an update every 4 months, Bass Line Composer every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Drumline versus Bass Line Composer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrumlineBass Line Composer
Price$4.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.1 (1.2K ratings)4.7 (181 ratings) — better
Positive reviews39.7% of reviews63.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.2K — better181
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#110 — better#130
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.617.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size183 MB8 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperJohn OstlerN. Wheeler

Customer experience

Drumline

All ratings1,163 ratings
Positive75.7%
Neutral6.0%
Negative18.3%
Written reviews126 reviews
Positive39.7%
Neutral17.5%
Negative42.9%

Bass Line Composer

All ratings181 ratings
Positive93.4%
Neutral2.8%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews52 reviews
Positive63.5%
Neutral9.6%
Negative26.9%

Bugs and requests

Drumline

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Drums not registering hits correctly
  • Tenors and bass drums not playing proper pitches
  • Cymbals not functioning as expected
  • App crashing or not producing any sound

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add landscape mode for better playability
  • Allow customization of drum tuning and sound
  • Implement a metronome and ability to play along with music
  • Add more advanced drumming techniques (rolls, diddles, etc.)

Bass Line Composer

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Drumline

No in-app purchases

None

Bass Line Composer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drumline free?
Drumline costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bass Line Composer free?
Bass Line Composer costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drumline or Bass Line Composer?
Bass Line Composer is rated higher. Drumline averages 4.1 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while Bass Line Composer averages 4.7 from 181 ratings.
Do Drumline or Bass Line Composer have ads?
Neither Drumline nor Bass Line Composer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drumline or Bass Line Composer?
Drumline ships an update every 4 months, and Bass Line Composer every 2 months. Most recently, Drumline was updated on November 6, 2026 and Bass Line Composer on November 6, 2026.
Which is more popular, Drumline or Bass Line Composer?
Drumline currently peaks at #110 in the App Store charts, and Bass Line Composer at #130. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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