Comparison

PercussionTutor vs Mintzer Big Band Essentials

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

Head to head
About

PercussionTutor

Explore a vast library of world percussion rhythms and instruments. Learn through standard notation, videos, and practice tools like time-stretching and a metronome. Ideal for musicians, dancers, and rhythm enthusiasts seeking authentic global drumming traditions.

Highlights
  • Extensive library of world rhythms
  • Individual drum track control
  • Audio time-stretching
  • Integrated metronome
  • Standard notation and descriptions
  • Instructional videos
  • Authentic instrument sounds
Currently charting
Read full description

MODERN DRUMMER MAGAZINE (October 2015 issue): “This is a must-have for anyone wanting an encyclopedia of world percussion rhythms at their fingertips.” PercussionTutor is an educational app for dedicated world percussion enthusiasts. The app and its free companion book feature a unique library of world rhythms and instruments played by leading percussionists and drummers. A time stretching feature and a metronome give the users the option to practice at their own pace. NO IN-APP PURCHASES! Make sure to buy the app now and get all the future content for free. We will release updates on a regular basis adding new rhythms and videos. Damian Erskine (bassist, educator, writer for NoTreble.com): “PercussionTutor is truly fantastic and a blast to play along with”. (full review on NoTreble.com) Lincoln Goines (electric and acoustic bassist) writes: “This app is an engaging and informative way to check out the original funk. A great tool for musicians, dancers, and all lovers of rhythm”. Percussive Arts Society: “The interactive application is very thorough [...]. Navigation is simple and the layout is logical and easy to grasp.” PercussionTutor will allow you to approach South American, Caribbean and West African music in a different way. This app offers you more than a simple play-along. It includes standard notation, videos and specific claves. We also took the outmost care to capture the natural feeling of all those drumming traditions. For the batá rhythms we even developed a random playback engine that will simulate an actual batá performance. This app puts you in a live playing situation - just like you learned your mother language. You will sound more natural and more alive and you will awaken to new rhythmic possibilities. It's also a great tool for other musicians, dancers and performers who want to immerse themselves into centuries-old traditional languages. FEATURES: - Over 80 rhythms (some rhythms include a basic and a more advanced version) - Rhythms from Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Peru, West Africa, ... - ALL drums can be turned on and off individually - audio time-stretching feature - 59 videos - over 50 percussion instruments - Sheets of all the rhythms included in the app and in the free book - A description of all the rhythms - MORE RHYTMS COMING: we are working on a lot more content to be released on a regular basis! FEATURED MUSICIANS: * Louis Bauzo, performed with Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Paul Simon * Greg Askew, performed with Tito Puente * Luiz Ebert * Jérôme Goldschmidt, performed with Tito Puente, M. Santamaria & Chico O’Farrill * Marcos Napa, performed with Perú N. * M. Monaco, performed with Al Di Meola * Oswald Simmonds * Reynaldo Alcantara * Richard Byrd, performed with Babatunde Olatunji * Rudy Walker, performed with Pharaoh Saunders, Randy Weston * Victor Rendón, performed with M. Santamaria, Xavier Cugat Orchestra FEATURED RHYTHMS: **Cuba - Popular Music** - Afro - Bolero - Cha Cha Cha - Mozambique - Pachanga - Pilon - Salsa 1, 2, 3, 4 - Songo 1, 2 & 3 - Timba **Cuba - Folk Music** - Abakua Havana - Afra - Agüeito - Azogano Part 1, 2 - Columbia Part 1 - Conga - Guaguanco - Guiro - Iyesa - Makuta - Mozambique - Palo - Yambu - Yuca **Cuba - Batá Drums** - Lalubanche - Latopa - Ogun - Auguere (part 1) - Auguere (part 2) - Imbaloke - Babaluaye (part 1) - Babaluaye (part 2) - Kuru Kurubete - Ewe Masiboroñu - Borotitilawa - Dada - Oggue - Agayu Part 1,2,3 & 4 - Oferere - Ibejis - Akete Obba - Odudua - Iya Mase - Yacota - Ñongo - Chachalokafun - Iyesa - Echu - Olokun **Spain - Flamenco** - Bulerías - Soleá por Bulerías - Tangos **Brazil** - Baião - Bossa Nova - Samba Batucada - Samba Enredo - Samba Pagode - Samba Reggae - Xaxado **Dominican Republic** - Jaleo - Merengue - Pambiche **Puerto Rico** - Xica - Holandes & Holandes fast version - Plena **Peru** - Festejo - Zamacueca - Vals Peruano - Lando - Afro **West Africa** - Fanga - Saa - Lamban - Sounou

About

Mintzer Big Band Essentials

This music app offers an immersive big band experience, allowing users to isolate or mute individual instrument tracks from a library of 10 tunes. Charts and parts can be printed or emailed directly from the application.

Highlights
  • Isolate or mute individual instrument tracks
  • Play along with a big band
  • Library of 10 tunes
  • Print or email charts and parts
  • Supports multiple instruments
Features
Read full description

Welcome to the Mintzer Big Band App. This is, by far, the most ambitious app production and undertaking ever for us here at Fuzzy Music Mobile. But we know that the hard work and expense is worth it, because this app does more to bring the big band experience to everyone anywhere than any other product.. How? While most “play-along” products allow for the user to “music-minus” two or three tracks, this app allows the user to minus (or solo) .. 1st (Lead) Trumpet 2nd Trumpet 1st Trombone Bass Trombone Lead Alto Lead Tenor Baritone Sax Piano Bass Guitar (2 tunes) Percussion (4 tunes) Drums Instrument Solos Each chart/part can be printed or emailed from the app. The are 10 tunes total in the Mintzer Big Band App library and store. Our hope is that you’ll dig the experience and the music so much that you’ll want to play along with all of this great music, played so well by so many great musicians.

Screenshots

PercussionTutor4 screens
Mintzer Big Band Essentials4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PercussionTutor at 4.9 against Mintzer Big Band Essentials's 4.4. PercussionTutor also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 9) and review sentiment (90% vs 58%). Mintzer Big Band Essentials's advantage is price ($7.99 vs $14.99). On ads, monetization model, device support and iOS requirement 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

PercussionTutor costs $14.99 and Mintzer Big Band Essentials $7.99 up front. Mintzer Big Band Essentials sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. PercussionTutor asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PercussionTutor holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PercussionTutor has 267 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of PercussionTutor's written reviews are positive against 58% of Mintzer Big Band Essentials's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PercussionTutor ships an update every 5 months, Mintzer Big Band Essentials every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
PercussionTutor versus Mintzer Big Band Essentials: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPercussionTutorMintzer Big Band Essentials
Price$14.99$7.99 — better
Rating4.9 (267 ratings) — better4.4 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews90.1% of reviews — better58.3% of reviews
Number of ratings267 — better20
Update frequencyEvery 5 months — betterEvery 19 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#158 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.09.0
Further details — not scored
Size440 MB700 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFunkyDrumTutorFuzzy Music, LLC

Customer experience

PercussionTutor

All ratings266 ratings
Positive98.5%
Neutral0.8%
Negative0.8%
Written reviews101 reviews
Positive90.1%
Neutral2.0%
Negative7.9%

Mintzer Big Band Essentials

All ratings20 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive58.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

PercussionTutor

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Metronome timing is 2 clicks ahead of actual rhythm
  • Audio distortion when moderately increasing tempo
  • Crashes with external USB audio interfaces (RME Babyface, RME Babyface Pro, Motu 828es)
  • No audio output with some USB interfaces despite no crash
  • App crashes when opening other apps
Show 4 more
  • Audio loss when switching between audio apps
  • Incorrect sheet music for Clave Tiñosa
  • Transient smearing and rhythm attack blurring at very slow tempos
  • Occasional app crashes during normal use

Requested features

18 requests
  • More Colombian rhythms (Cumbia, Bullerengue, Vallenato, Porro, Currulao, Mapale)
  • Brazilian genres expansion (Choro, Forró, and variations)
  • Individual volume controls for each instrument
  • Visual playhead/bar indicator moving through sheet music in real-time
  • Count-in before rhythm starts
Show 13 more
  • Metronome function for all rhythms
  • Tempo adjustment without pitch change (time-stretching)
  • Higher tempo limits for certain rhythms
  • Dominican Bachata rhythm
  • West African dance rhythms
  • 6/8 bell patterns and rhythms
  • Puerto Rican rhythm corrections and additions (Cuembé, Yubá, Seis Corrido)
  • Salsa 2-3 and 3-2 pattern variations
  • Practice timer to track time per rhythm
  • Better graphics and authentic instrument photos
  • Integration with DAW apps like GarageBand
  • Free trial version before purchase
  • Middle Eastern percussion sounds

Mintzer Big Band Essentials

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

PercussionTutor

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

Mintzer Big Band Essentials

One-time9
  • El Caborojeño$2.99
  • Havin' Some Fun Package$2.99
  • Ellis Island Package$2.99
Show 6 more
  • Original People Package$2.99
  • New Rochelle Package$2.99
  • Runferyerlife Package$2.99
  • Latin Dance Package$2.99
  • Tribute Package$2.99
  • All Songs Bundle$19.99

Questions

Is PercussionTutor free?
PercussionTutor costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mintzer Big Band Essentials free?
Mintzer Big Band Essentials costs $7.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PercussionTutor or Mintzer Big Band Essentials?
PercussionTutor is rated higher. PercussionTutor averages 4.9 out of 5 from 267 ratings, while Mintzer Big Band Essentials averages 4.4 from 20 ratings.
Do PercussionTutor or Mintzer Big Band Essentials have ads?
Neither PercussionTutor nor Mintzer Big Band Essentials shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PercussionTutor or Mintzer Big Band Essentials?
PercussionTutor ships an update every 5 months, and Mintzer Big Band Essentials every 19 months. Most recently, PercussionTutor was updated on October 29, 2026 and Mintzer Big Band Essentials on October 26, 2026.

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