Blue Devils vs Ensemble Composer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Blue Devils
Access exclusive media content, including over 1500 videos and 350 audio tracks, from a renowned drum and bugle corps. Stay updated on event schedules with integrated maps and calendar saving. Explore historical data, connect with members, and view competition scores.
- Watch 1500+ videos
- Listen to 350+ audio tracks
- View 85,000+ photos
- Submit user content
- Event maps and calendar integration
- Full season information (1971-present)
- View DCI scores
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The official app of the DCI World Champion Blue Devils, Blue Devils B, and Blue Devils C MEDIA - Watch over 1500 current and historical videos - Listen to over 350 audio tracks of shows, rehearsals, parking lots, and more - View over 85,000 photos - Submit your own photos and text posts - Use AirPlay to listen/watch on your own speakers or TV screen SCHEDULE OF EVENTS - Maps to shows, rehearsals, warm-up and housing sites, parades, etc. - Save events to your own calendar ROSTER, TOUR, AND SHOW INFORMATION - Full season information from 1971 through present day - Connect with current members and alumni - Maps of each season's tour route SCORES - View scores from all current DCI shows *** If you have any problems/crashes with the app, please get in touch via https://bluedevils.org/website/tech-support/ and we'll help you out! ***
Ensemble Composer
Create custom drumline music with realistic recorded sounds. Compose street beats, stand jams, or entire musical books. Play along, practice, share, and edit your compositions.
- Compose drumline music
- Realistic recorded drum sounds
- Play along and practice
- Share and edit compositions
- Support for any time signature
- Customizable rhythms
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A whole drumline in the palm of your hand! Compose a street beat, a stand jam, or even your whole book. Play along, practice, share, and edit. With amazing real recorded drum sounds and the ability to create any rhythm over any time signature, this is the real deal. Compose and play along with the actual battery drum line sounds of the Paul Rennick 2012 Santa Clara Vanguard, as recorded by bass tech Brian Lowe - tuned the way they sounded on finals night. Best used with Headphones About Telephonic Amusements: Nicholas Wheeler, software engineer, marched Sky Ryders, Velvet Knights, 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. Like us at https://www.facebook.com/DrumlineApps
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Blue Devils at Free against Ensemble Composer's $14.99. Blue Devils also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). Ensemble Composer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months) and chart position (#182 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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
Blue Devils is free to download; Ensemble Composer costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Blue Devils against 4.6 for Ensemble Composer. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ensemble Composer has 275 ratings behind it against 55, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 78% and 77% positive.
Blue Devils ships an update every 5 months, Ensemble Composer every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Blue Devils | Ensemble Composer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (55 ratings) | 4.6 (275 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.3% of reviews — better | 77.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 55 | 275 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #182 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BD Performing Arts | N. Wheeler |
Customer experience
Blue Devils
Ensemble Composer
User reviews
Blue Devils
From 55 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Access to extensive music library
- 🏆 Great content for Blue Devils fans
- 📱 User-friendly interface
- 🌟 High-quality videos and audio
- 🆓 Free content available
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- ⚠️ Inconsistent performance
- 💰 Some content requires payment
- 🔄 Outdated content in some areas
- 🚫 Cannot save photos
Ensemble Composer
From 275 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎵 Authentic drum sounds and audio quality (older versions)
- ✍️ Intuitive composition interface for writing cadences
- 📱 All-in-one drumline app combining multiple sections
- 💾 Export functionality to sheet music and audio formats
- 🎯 Useful for educators and students to practice rhythms
Room to improve
- 🐛 Severe audio quality degradation after recent update
- 🐛 Choppy scrolling and laggy performance
- 🐛 Audio stuttering and cutting off during playback
- 🐛 Files not saving or disappearing after updates
- 🐛 Backward compatibility issues with legacy files
Bugs and requests
Blue Devils
Reported bugs
9 issues- App crashes when clicking on dates under schedule tab
- App crashes when attempting to save a photo
- App requires update even after updating
- App crashes when opening roster
- App crashes when hitting Videos
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- App crashes every time it's opened
- Audio playback is inconsistent
- Content not loading or playing for more than 4 seconds
- First show of the season locked after one listen
Requested features
7 requests- Make the app Android compatible
- Add playlist functionality
- Include DCI and DCP news
- Optimize for newer iPhone versions
- Add Airplay support
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- Opensource the app or offer development kit to other corps
- Add more BDB and BDC content occasionally
Ensemble Composer
Reported bugs
16 issues- New update prevents opening older files
- Audio stutters and cuts off in faster rhythms
- Triplet rolls don't sound even
- Bass drum subdivisions not working
- Tenor section drums moved to incorrect positions
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- Scroll feature is choppy and laggy
- Rhythmic accuracy issues
- Cymbal sounds bleed into each other
- App crashes with certain subdivisions
- Polyrhythm and odd time signature issues
- Saving functionality fails intermittently
- Split feature freezes and causes progress loss
- Files duplicate unexpectedly
- Export format incorrect (.mxl instead of .xml)
- Tempo synchronization issues
- App crashes on startup
Requested features
16 requests- Revert snare sounds to pre-update quality
- Multiple sound option choices for drums
- Hi-hat option for cymbals
- Single tenor drum section option
- Separate tempos within drum sections
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- Undo/redo functionality
- Auto-save feature
- iCloud or cloud backup support
- Different drum tuning options
- Legato and staccato buzz options
- Smoother and longer buzz roll sounds
- Sixtet tenor configuration option
- Video export/share functionality
- In-depth tutorial documentation
- Accent dynamics improvements
- Rim click sounds for tenors
In-app purchases
Blue Devils
No in-app purchases
Ensemble Composer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Blue Devils free?
Is Ensemble Composer free?
Which has better reviews, Blue Devils or Ensemble Composer?
Do Blue Devils or Ensemble Composer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Blue Devils or Ensemble Composer?
Other comparisons
