Comparison

EarDrum vs Rudimentalist

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

Head to head
About

EarDrum

This app provides drummers with tools for timing, rhythm training, and song learning. It offers real-time feedback, custom exercises, and progress tracking for both practice and teaching. Supports various drum setups and import options.

Highlights
  • Timing and rudiment exercises
  • Ear training and memory exercises
  • MIDI song import and play-along
  • Real-time visual timing feedback
  • Velocity feedback for dynamics
  • Customizable exercises for educators
  • Progress tracking dashboard
Features
Read full description

EarDrum is an all-in-one drum practice app, built by a drummer for drummers. Improve your timing and groove, train active listening and musical memory, and learn the songs you love. Whether you're practicing at home or building lessons for your students, EarDrum gives your practice structure — and real-time feedback on every hit you play. Use it with your electronic drums, MIDI controller, practice pad, or on-screen kit — import MIDI files and Clone Hero charts, create custom exercises, and track progress over time. FOR DRUMMERS - Growing library of timing exercises and rudiments for subdivisions, accents, grooves, independence, and double bass - Collections that play your chosen exercises back-to-back — for building structured, repeatable practice routines - Ear training exercises of increasing complexity — recognize rhythms by ear and play them back from memory - A short Getting Started course for building rhythmic foundations - Tempo-changing sessions that build speed, control, and endurance - Focused practice built from the song sections you're learning, teacher assignments, or drum book exercises - MIDI song import for play-along practice with looping and custom sections - Clone Hero song import — play community drum charts at the difficulty you choose - Metronome with subdivision and time signature selection FOR EDUCATORS - Custom timing and ear training exercises, from simple patterns to multi-bar phrases, tailored to your students - A simple, fast sequencer-style exercise builder - Shareable exercise links your students or followers can import and practice in the app PLAY YOUR WAY - Support for e-drums via USB or Bluetooth MIDI, a practice pad using the built-in mic, or virtual drums on screen - DAW-grid and sheet music views for different ways of reading drum parts - Adjustable tempo, repeat settings, and volume levels TRACK YOUR PROGRESS - Real-time visual timing feedback — see whether notes land early, late, or on time - Velocity feedback for dynamics exercises — train the stroke technique behind clean, consistent accents, taps, and ghost notes - Comprehensive session results with rushing/dragging analysis and accuracy/velocity charts - A practice dashboard with history, streaks, total time practiced, and recent sessions EarDrum is more than a metronome or a rhythm game. It's a practice studio for drummers, percussionists, teachers, and anyone serious about rhythm — a place to become a better musician. Terms of service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: https://ear-drum.app/privacy/

About

Rudimentalist

Features
Read full description

Rudimentalist is a practice tool for drummers working through the PAS rudiments – from singles and paradiddles to flams, drags, and rolls. Set a tempo, tap start, and play. The app listens through your microphone, scores every hit against the metronome, and tells you exactly where the timing slipped – to the millisecond. No recordings. No accounts. No uploads. Audio is analyzed on-device in real time and discarded immediately. WHAT YOU GET • 39 of the Percussive Arts Society's 40 rudiments – singles, doubles, paradiddles, flams, drags, and rolls – organized by family. The buzz roll is coming in a future update. • Grace-note scoring: the app hears the grace strokes in your flams and drags and scores them too. • Live per-hit timing feedback in milliseconds, with on-time / near-miss / missed colors so you can read the screen and fix the hand without breaking tempo. • A drift label that tells you whether you are consistently rushing or dragging, plus a running session accuracy percentage. • Adjustable tempo and session length so you can drill a phrase or run an exercise end-to-end. • Demo: watch animated sticks play any rudiment on left/right hand pads before you practice – change the tempo live, anywhere from 40 to 200 BPM, with count-in and loop. • Simple R/L notation with hand-colored boxes by default, plus a how-to-play card on every exercise – switch to full notation anytime. • A session results screen that summarizes accuracy and drift across the patterns you played. • Free to try. Rudimentalist Pro unlocks everything with a one-time lifetime purchase (Family Sharing supported) or a time-limited Pro Pass – no auto-renewing subscriptions. AUTOMATIC TIMING Every device and every audio route – speaker, wired, or Bluetooth headphones – has its own latency. Rudimentalist measures it and keeps adjusting as you play, separately for each route, so the score reflects your playing, not your hardware. There is no calibration step. Changed your setup? Use Settings → Reset timing. PRIVACY BY DESIGN The microphone is the only sensor used, and the audio never leaves the device. No analytics SDK, no crash-reporting upload, no network permission requested. The app works fully offline. WHO IT IS FOR • Drummers who want to know whether they are actually on the click, not just close to it. • Students working through a method book or a teacher's rudiment list. • Returning players rebuilding consistency. • Anyone who has ever wondered "am I rushing?" and wanted a real answer. ABOUT THE DEVELOPER Built by a drummer and app developer with a long-running passion for learning, playing, and teaching drumming. Rudimentalist is a small, independent app from Potens Music Limited. If you have feedback or run into issues, the support link below reaches the developer directly. REQUIREMENTS • A microphone – built-in is fine; an external mic gives sharper detection on a kit. • Quiet-ish surroundings or a practice pad for clearest hit detection. • Headphones recommended – through the speaker, the click can reach the mic. • iPhone or iPad on iOS 17 or later.

Screenshots

EarDrum4 screens
Rudimentalist4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: EarDrum at every 5 days against Rudimentalist's every 2 months. EarDrum also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. EarDrum sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Rudimentalist sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EarDrum ships an update every 5 days, Rudimentalist every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
EarDrum versus Rudimentalist: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEarDrumRudimentalist
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOleksiy KhmelyevskyyPotens Music Limited

In-app purchases

3 purchases

EarDrum

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Pro Annual14 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$29.99
5 purchases

Rudimentalist

One-time5
  • Pro Pass (1 Month)$0.99
  • Pro Pass (3 Months)$1.99
  • Pro Pass (6 Months)$3.99
Show 2 more
  • Pro Pass (12 Months)$6.99
  • Lifetime Pro$9.99

Questions

Is EarDrum free?
EarDrum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Rudimentalist free?
Rudimentalist is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do EarDrum or Rudimentalist have ads?
Neither EarDrum nor Rudimentalist shows ads.
Which is updated more often, EarDrum or Rudimentalist?
EarDrum ships an update every 5 days, and Rudimentalist every 2 months. Most recently, EarDrum was updated on October 11, 2026 and Rudimentalist on October 8, 2026.

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