TouchBells vs Rotary Mod
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TouchBells
This app is a virtual carillon instrument for iPad, offering xylophone, vibraphone, and tubular bell sounds. Users can play freely, record and share songs, and learn to play through a teach mode. It's designed for musical exploration and early childhood education.
- Virtual carillon instrument
- Xylophone, Vibraphone, Tubular Bells sounds
- Song recording and playback
- Song sharing with other users
- Teach mode for learning songs
- Adjustable stereo effect
- Tunable instrument pitch
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TouchBells is an easy and fun to use carillon music instrument (Glockenspiel) for the Apple iPad. The instrument covers a range of 1 1/2 octaves (from C3 to F#4). Classic Xylophone sounds, Vibraphone sounds and Tubular Bells sounds are available. With TouchBells, you can just freely play along or record and play back your songs. You can also share the songs you recorded with other TouchBells users. By using the TouchBells teach mode, you can learn how to play the songs other TouchBells users share with you. TouchBells is also great for kids early musical education. TouchBells has several unique features: - Xylophone or Vibraphone sounds. - Adjustable Stereo effect. - Its tunable, you can alter the instrument pitch. - Song recording and song management. - Share you songs with other TouchBells users by eMail. - Export your songs for iTunes. - Learn how to play using the Teach Mode. - Play dynamically using TouchBells touch-sensitivity feature. - Choose from four different bar captions (None, German-, American- and Solmisation-Style). Furthermore, TouchBells includes 25 demo songs: - Cradlesong (Wiegenlied) - Frere Jacques - Muss i denn, muss i denn zum Staedtele naus - Silent Night - My Bonny Is Over The Ocean - Ode to Joy - The moon as risen - Rondo all Turka (Turkish March) - When the Saints Go Marching In - Matilda - What shall we do with the trunken sailor? - Kojo no Tsuki - The Song of the Volga Boatmen - La Cucaracha - O Christmas Tree - Jingle Bells - Happy Birthday To You - Schneewalzer - Auld Lang Syne - Row, Row, Row Your Boat - Für Elise - Michael Row the Boat Ashore - She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain - Hänschen Klein - Old Mac Donald With the demo songs and the TouchBells Teach Mode, you can start directly with the learning how to play!
Rotary Mod
This app emulates a Leslie speaker, creating a pulsing vibrato effect for instruments and vocals. It offers precise control over rotor and horn speeds, cabinet size, and includes advanced features like frequency modulation and a unique Ribbon control for simultaneous parameter adjustments.
- Independent rotor and horn speed control
- Frequency modulation with secondary LFO
- Selectable cabinet size (Standard/Giant)
- Hicut control for tone shaping
- Tap Tempo for BPM sync
- Innovative Ribbon control
- Mix Lock for preset scrolling
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Rotary is a rotating cabinet effect that simulates a Leslie speaker. It produces a pulse-like vibrato effect depending on the speed of rotation. Rotary offers precise control to dial in the exact amount of movement you need. This classic, swirly effect has been used on countless hit records to drastically transform guitars, bass, synths and even vocals. Features: - Change the speed of the rotor and horn independently and adjust the mix of the two to produce pulsing effects and special vibratos. - Add frequency modulation to the rotor and horn speed using secondary LFO with selectable modulation source. - Choose cabinet size (Standard or Giant) to alter the sweetness of your tone. - Craft the exact sound you need with included Hicut control. - Use Tap Tempo to sync effect to the BPM of your song. - Incredibly easy to use with included presets. - Innovative Ribbon control allows for changing any combination of parameters simultaneously. - Use Mix Lock to scroll through presets while keeping the wet-dry mix constant. - Available as an Audio Units AUv3 plug-in and Standalone app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Rotary Mod at 4.3 against TouchBells's 2.5. Rotary Mod also leads on ratings volume (23 vs 2) and device support (3 vs 1). TouchBells's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $7.99). On review sentiment, update cadence, 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
TouchBells costs $1.99 and Rotary Mod $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Rotary Mod holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Rotary Mod has 23 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of TouchBells's written reviews are positive against 80% of Rotary Mod's.
TouchBells ships an update every 5 months, Rotary Mod every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TouchBells | Rotary Mod |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $7.99 |
| Rating | 2.5 (2 ratings) | 4.3 (23 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 23 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas Braun | Eventide |
Customer experience
TouchBells
Rotary Mod
In-app purchases
TouchBells
No in-app purchases
Rotary Mod
No in-app purchases









