Kiko Freitas vs Drum Notes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kiko Freitas
Learn Brazilian rhythms and drumming techniques from a professional. This app offers a comprehensive series of lessons covering various samba and bossa nova styles, along with fundamental drumming strokes. It includes video content, audio examples, and downloadable PDF lessons.
- Brazilian rhythms series
- Samba and Bossa Nova styles
- Drumming techniques
- Video and audio lessons
- PDF lessons with audio
- Basic strokes module
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"The idea of this App is to show the student and musician my vision and approach aplying some of the most important brazilian rhythms and styles on the drum set. It is very important to remember that the best way to understand and get to know any music style is to listen and play these styles, living and breathing them deeply and also getting to know the masters and the recordings that best represent the music you want to learn. I would like to thank all the great drummers who came before, opening the way to the new generations and giving form to the percussive tradition from Brasil on the drum set." Kiko Freitas www.kikofreitas.com.br CONTENTS - BRAZILIAN RHYTHMS SERIES Layers of Samba Independence Applied to The Samba Groove Independence - Left Hand Drives - Right Hand Combinations Brushes I - Samba - Part 1 Brushes I - Samba - Part 2 Brushes II - Bossa Nova & Sound Possibilities Brushes III - Bossa Nova Brushes IV - Groove & Drive Variations Brushes + Sticks - Independence for the Left Foot Brushes + Sticks - Sound Possibilities Samba Grooves in 3/4 Samba Grooves in 5/4 + 5/8 Samba Grooves in 7/8 + 7/4 BOOKS Toque Junto Bossa Nova Bateria - Kiko Freitas PDF LESSONS WITH AUDIO Brazilian Rhythms fro Drumset - A Contemporary Concept (2003) - THREE BASIC STROKES (free) - Introduction - Tap - Up stroke - Accent without rebound - Accent without rebound + Up stroke - Accent without rebound + Tap + Up stroke - Single stroke #1 - Single stroke #2 - Single stroke #3 - Single stroke #4 - Paradiddle - Paradiddle-diddle - Flam accent - Solo Duration: 30 minutes
Drum Notes
Create, share, and practice percussive music scores with an intuitive editor. Explore a global community of drummers and percussionists, access thousands of beats, and utilize practice tools. Ideal for musicians, teachers, and bands of all levels.
- Intuitive score editor for drum set and percussion
- Explore and learn from community-shared beats and rhythms
- Practice tools including metronome and rhythm trainer
- Organize rhythms, arrangements, and exercises
- Create and share drum exercises for students
- Export scores as audio or image formats
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* Grammy Academy awarded: app to support percussive music preservation. Write, share, and practice drum music like never before. Join over 200,000 drummers and percussionists in 180 countries who have already created 400,000+ scores with Drum Notes, a simple app to create and share drum beats, music scores, drum lessons, drum loops, drum tabs and rhythms. Ideal for beginners and pros alike. Drum Notes features an intuitive score creator, perfect for drumset and percussive genres like Samba, Marching Bands, Drumlines, Cuban percussion, and Drum grooves. Think of it as a more accessible version of Musescore, Flat or Finale, tailored for drummers. Like a drum machine or drum sequencer with real drum scores. FOR DRUMMERS - ALL LEVELS Intuitive Music Score Editor: Effortlessly create percussive sheet music with a user-friendly music writing editor, for drum set or any percussion instrument. Explore Beats: Learn drums by discovering thousands of beats, loops, and percussion samples from our drumming community. Practice Tools: Adjust your own pro metronome, customize grooves, and use the drum score editor as a rhythm trainer. Organize Your Notes: Keep rhythms, arrangements, recordings, and exercises neatly organized. FOR TEACHERS - ENHANCE YOUR INSTRUCTION Drum Exercises: Create, share, and manage exercises with ease. Student-Teacher Groups: Maintain shared spaces for class materials and track progress. Public Library: Access and share a wealth of exercises and materials. FOR BANDS - PERFECT FOR BATUCADAS Arrange and Share: Organize complex patterns and rhythms, and export them in audio or image formats. Private Groups: Create groups for sharing compositions and performance notes. Explore Percussion Rhythms: Discover diverse samples and beats to inspire and enhance your band’s sound. FOR CONTENT CREATORS - SHARE PROFESSIONAL CONTENT Export Options: Share drum grooves as high-quality audio or images. Perfect for showcasing your work on social media. Diverse Library: Use an extensive collection of beats and samples for creating stunning content. FOR MUSICIANS - EXPAND YOUR PLAYBACK OPTIONS Playback Tool: Use Drum Notes to playback loops and samples for various instruments. Versatile Use: Ideal for enhancing rhythm and practice sessions with authentic beats. ADDITIONAL FEATURES Diverse percussion instruments: Drum Set Electronic Drum Kit Cajon Rumba Instruments: Congas, Clave, Cowbell, Shaker, etc. Samba Instruments: Surdos, Repique, Caixa, Agogos, Rebolo, Pandeiro, etc. Samba Reggae Instruments: Timbal, Bacurinha, etc. Marching Band / Drumline Instruments: Quads, Snare Drums, Bass Drum, Cymbals. Capoeira Instruments: Berimbau Viola, Berimbau Berra Boi, Berimbau Medio, Agogo, Pandeiro, Atabaque And many more… Percussion Library: Rock, Jazz, Samba, Marching Band, Capoeira, and many more. Customizable Settings: Adjust metronome BPM, sound accents, and more. Global Community: Connect with percussionists and drummers worldwide. PREMIUM FEATURES Unlock unlimited compositions, percussive instruments per score, and private groups. Support our mission to improve musical knowledge. JOIN THE DRUM NOTES COMMUNITY Developed by a team dedicated to empowering drummers and percussionists. Drum Coach App: Explore our app for developing practice habits with exercises, scores, and audio instructions. We wish you great grooves! #drum, #drums, #drumline, #samba, #percussion * if you are looking for the app Drumap (drum app; drum map), this is it! Now we are called Drum Notes. upbeat.studio https://upbeat.studio/privacy-policy-drum-notes/ https://upbeat.studio/terms-and-conditions-drum-notes/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Drum Notes at 4.6 against Kiko Freitas's 3.0. Drum Notes also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (209 vs 3). Kiko Freitas's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (75% vs 56%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Kiko Freitas sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and Drum Notes sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Drum Notes holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drum Notes has 209 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Kiko Freitas's written reviews are positive against 56% of Drum Notes's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Kiko Freitas ships an update every 8 months, Drum Notes every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kiko Freitas | Drum Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (3 ratings) | 4.6 (209 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better | 56.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 209 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 390 MB | 133 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Authentic Software e Servicos TI EIRELI ME | UPBEAT STUDIO |
Customer experience
Kiko Freitas
Drum Notes
Bugs and requests
Kiko Freitas
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Drum Notes
Reported bugs
21 issues- App crashes constantly
- App crashes on iPad
- Accents don't work after saving
- Beta score writing features don't work
- App freezes on loading screen
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- App crashes when trying to access saved rhythms
- Previously created playlists don't show up
- Unable to listen to playlists
- App closes out several times a minute
- App deleted created content
- Sounds lag, creating flam type sounds
- Agogo bell sounds reversed
- Loss of content after account creation
- Loss of content after app name change
- Unexplained charges and card locking
- App not opening arrangements or showing instruments
- App crashes after 15 minutes
- Inability to share on iPad
- Inability to save as image on iPad
- Unresponsive beta features
- App crashes and closes unexpectedly
Requested features
19 requests- Add whole note bass drum roll
- Increase save space
- Add MIDI export
- Add feature to play individual instruments by tapping
- Improve marching percussion sounds
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- Add dark mode
- Add 8th note/1 time division option
- Allow export of sheet to image on free version
- Fix accent bug
- Make accented beats easier to create
- Add BPM configuration
- Improve sound quality of marching percussion
- Add feature to play different instruments instead of editing
- Make score layout better for longer scores
- Fix iPad specific sharing issues
- Fix beta score writing features
- Offer a one-time purchase option
- Fix issues with previously created playlists not showing up
- Fix issues with not being able to listen to playlists
In-app purchases
Kiko Freitas
- Brazilian Rhythms for Drumset$1.99
- Brushes I2 variants$1.99
- Brushes II$1.99
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- Brushes IV$1.99
- Independence2 variants$2.99
- Brushes III$2.99
- Layers of Samba$3.99
- Toque Junto Bossa Nova Bateria$7.99
Drum Notes
- Premium Monthly Subscription$5.991 Month
- Premium Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
- Premium Yearly Subscription$42.991 Year
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- Premium Yearly Subscription1 Year trial$42.991 Year
- Premium Monthly Subscription$44.996 Months
- Premium yearly Subscription$49.991 Year
- Premium yearly subscription14 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Drumap PRO Yearly Offer1 Year trial$49.991 Year
- Samba on Drum set workshop$5.99
- Music Capoeria Workshop$6.99









