DrumKick vs MPC Progression Builder
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DrumKick
This app allows users to play a high-quality drum kit on their mobile device, offering low latency and interactive 3D graphics. It uniquely enables kick drum playing with your foot using a second iOS device and Bluetooth connection.
- Foot-controlled kick drum via second iOS device
- High-quality stereo drum sounds
- Low-latency performance
- Interactive 3D animated drums
- MIDI over Bluetooth support
- Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support
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DrumKick is the ultimate live performance drum app on-the-go! It gives you the freedom to play a great-sounding, intuitively laid-out drum kit anywhere—without the hassle of lugging your entire acoustic set to the show. Simply plug into a P.A. system, headphones, a boombox, or an amplifier, and you're ready to rock! – Connect to your Bluetooth-enabled laptop or device with MIDI over Bluetooth. – Core and Virtual MIDI support. – Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support. – Featured in Apple's Music-Making Apps for "The Song." – Featured in Apple's Band In Your Hand showcase. Reviews: http://www.musicappblog.com/drumkick-music-app-review/ DrumKick is the only stereo drum app that allows you to play the kick drum with your foot! With DrumKick installed on two iOS devices, such as an iPad and an iPhone, you can use the iPhone as a Bluetooth remote to play the kick drum with your foot! It also works with two iPhones or iPod touches. Or, you can mix and match. How does it work? Playing the virtual kick drum pedal is achieved by inserting the iPhone (upside down) into a snug fitness band that's wrapped around your ankle, or the front tube of your relatively clean crew sock. Tap your toes with your heel down, and the iPhone's accelerometer will trigger the kick drum sound on the iPad via Bluetooth. Feature Highlights: • Play the kick drum sound with your foot, using a second iOS device via standard Bluetooth connection. • High-quality drum stereo sounds with independent control of their volume, pitch and pan levels. • Low-latency with drum taps and sounds. • Retina-enhanced, interactive, 3-D animated drums and cymbals. • Multiple tap regions for triggering different drum and cymbal sounds. • Ability to switch the drum kit's audio output from stereo to mono when connected to stereo speakers, such as a P.A. system. • Touch-hold on the crash cymbal for a choked cymbal* muting effect. • Audiobus & Inter-App Audio support (iOS7+) for adding effects apps to DrumKick's output and recording into to GarageBand, Loopy, or AudioShare. https://audiob.us • Audiobus Remote triggers for playing DrumKick's sounds via a secondary iOS Device with the Audiobus Remote app installed. Requires the Audiobus app, iOS 8.3 +, and a Bluetooth LE-enabled iOS device, such as an iPad 3, iPhone 4S & higher. https://audiob.us/remote. • Core MIDI IN & OUT support, thanks to Nic Grant of Audeonic Apps for his robust MidiBus Library (http://midib.us) and generous help. • MIDI over Bluetooth support. • Compatible with the iRig BlueBoard MIDI foot controller. Requires Bluetooth LE-enabled iOS device, such as an iPad 3, iPhone 4S & higher. The iRig BlueBoard does not work with iPad 2. • Jam along with music apps that run in the background, such as GarageBand, Pandora, or your iPod music library. • Minimum requirements: iPad 2, iPhone 4S and newer devices are recommended. * No cymbals were harmed during the making of this app. If you have an issue or find a bug within DrumKick, please do not inform me about it in an App Review, since that method doesn't provide your contact information. For help and support, please send an email to: feedback@drumkickapp.com Known issues: • Missing UI panel for controlling the playback and recording from an Inter-App Audio connected app.
MPC Progression Builder
Create and export musical chord progressions for your music production workflow. Features include keyboard, scale-based, and circle of fifths modes for building and refining harmonic ideas. Export directly to MPC devices or as standard MIDI files for use in any DAW.
- Virtual keyboard for direct chord input
- Build progressions with up to 16 chords
- Scale-based chord suggestions
- Circle of Fifths progression builder
- MPC-ready .progression file export
- Standard MIDI file export
- Instant playback and auditioning
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Progression Builder for MPC is a powerful yet intuitive tool for producers who want to build rich, musical chord progressions and send them straight into their workflow. Designed with AKAI MPC users in mind, it also exports to standard MIDI files, making it equally useful for DAW producers, composers, and beatmakers alike. Build your progressions your way: - Keyboard Mode: Tap out chords directly on the built-in virtual keyboard and hear them instantly. - Progression Builder: Arrange up to 16 chords into full progressions you can audition, refine, and export. - Scale-Based Mode: Explore chords that naturally fit your chosen scale — perfect for clean harmonic flow. - Circle of Fifths Mode: Craft progressions using classic relationships that sound balanced and musical. Every chord pad can be customized, rearranged, or saved for later — giving you a flexible sketchpad for harmonic ideas. Whether you’re working on a soulful lo-fi loop, a jazz-inspired sequence, or a cinematic score, Progression Builder for MPC helps you find the right chords fast. Export your ideas with ease: - MPC-Ready Export: Generate .progression files compatible with MPC Live, X, One, and Force. - MIDI Export: Drop your chords into any DAW, sampler, or synth. - Instant Playback: Audition and tweak voicings, inversions, and timing before you export. - Clean, efficient, and tuned for real production environments, Progression Builder for MPC bridges the gap between music theory and creative flow — helping you stay in the zone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MPC Progression Builder at 5.0 against DrumKick's 4.4. MPC Progression Builder also leads on price ($2.99 vs $3.99). DrumKick's advantage is ratings volume (40 vs 2) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 16.0). On ads, 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
DrumKick costs $3.99 and MPC Progression Builder $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MPC Progression Builder holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DrumKick has 40 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | DrumKick | MPC Progression Builder |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (40 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 79.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 40 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 56 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mark Jeschke | David Jones |
Customer experience
DrumKick
MPC Progression Builder
Bugs and requests
DrumKick
Reported bugs
8 issues- Kick drum feature doesn't sync or has high latency
- App crashes on startup
- App drains battery in background
- Kick drum activates unexpectedly
- Rarely loads, long loading screen
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- Connection issues with remote kick between devices
- Overall volume not loud enough
- Sound of cymbals sometimes cuts out
Requested features
17 requests- Add left and right-handed orientation setting
- Allow changing kit layout and adding more drums/percussive instruments
- Ability to switch kits around
- Add more drums or different percussive instruments
- Add recording functionality
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- Add background track playback (drumless tracks)
- Option to add own kit sounds
- Full Chinese localization
- Support for iPhone 6/6+
- Simple mode for easier hitting
- More kit variations
- Option to change each sound and build/save custom kits
- Edit drum position button
- Make rolls continuous
- More drum kits
- More variation in samples and velocity changes
- Improve overall volume
MPC Progression Builder
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
DrumKick
No in-app purchases
MPC Progression Builder
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is DrumKick free?
Is MPC Progression Builder free?
Which has better reviews, DrumKick or MPC Progression Builder?
Do DrumKick or MPC Progression Builder have ads?
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