Little Drum Machine vs OR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Little Drum Machine
Create beats quickly with a 16-step grid, velocity control, and genre presets. Load your own samples, shape sounds with envelopes and effects, and arrange patterns into full songs. Supports MIDI out and AUv3 hosting.
- 16-step drum grid with velocity
- Load custom samples
- Shape samples with envelopes
- Delay, reverb, and drive effects
- Polyrhythms and polymeters
- MIDI out and AUv3 support
- Genre presets and randomization
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Little Drum Machine is what the name says: a drum machine for your iPad. Easy to use, with all the necessary bits to give you fast results. We wanted something fast and simple to work with in our own studio, without the complexity other tools often bring, so we built it. Now we want to share it with you, for free. Tap a beat into the 16-step grid, drag up or down for velocity, add a little swing, and you have a groove. Start from one of 31 genre presets, or hit Randomize when you'd rather not face a blank grid. Make sound your way: use the built-in kits, load your own samples, or send MIDI and let your favourite synths and drum apps do the talking. Features: • 16-step drum grid with 8 lanes and per-step velocity for accents and ghost notes • 32 samples across 8 drums included: four variants each, swappable per lane or even per step • Load your own samples and build your own kits • Shape every sample: pitch, fine tune, volume, and a start/attack/length/decay envelope • Delay, reverb and drive effects with per-drum sends: 4 delay modes, 7 reverb modes, 5 drive characters • Give any lane its own step count and loop length for polyrhythms and polymeters • Musical Randomize for instant grooves; Mutate to create variations of your patterns • 16 scenes per preset, chained into full arrangements in the Arranger • Built-in mixer with per-lane EQ, panning, mute and solo • Master EQ and a glue compressor with attack, release, ratio and parallel mix • Swing to get groovy • MIDI out to trigger external synths and drum apps • 31 genre presets: Techno, House, Hip Hop, Drum & Bass, Jazz, and more • Save and manage your own presets • Light and dark themes • Little Drum Machine runs on its own or as an AUv3 instrument in any suitable host. Free, no strings attached.
OR
This application acts as a generative MIDI Note-FX, controlling external synths, samplers, and drum machines. It offers advanced features like Euclidean and polyrhythmic sequencing, stochastic drift, and scale quantization with chord lock. Designed for musicians to create complex MIDI patterns without generating sound itself.
- Euclidean sequencing
- Polyrhythm generation
- Stochastic drift
- Modulators
- Scale quantizer with chord lock
- Tempo and random performance controls
- MIDI Learn
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OR-1 makes no sound on its own. It's a generative MIDI Note-FX — the brain, not the sound source — that plays your own synths, samplers, and drum machines for you… - Euclidean - Polyrhythm - Stochastic drift - Modulators - Scale quantizer with chord lock - Temp and random for performance - MIDI Learn - 19 factory presets, including 13 rhythm kits for General MIDI drums - Save your own presets - Light and dark themes — tap the OR—1 logo - Full-screen layout that grows to fill the 13-inch iPad and reflows to fit smaller iPads
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Little Drum Machine at weekly against OR's every 6 weeks. Little Drum Machine also leads on device support (3 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Little Drum Machine against 5.0 for OR. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 8 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Little Drum Machine ships an update weekly, OR every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Little Drum Machine | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (8 ratings) | 5.0 (8 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 8 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Snorkel Audio, Inh. Michael Kaisser | Jori Eero Larres |
Customer experience
Little Drum Machine
OR
In-app purchases
Little Drum Machine
No in-app purchases
OR
No in-app purchases









