Comparison

Tabla vs Drum Notation by Beat Note

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

Head to head
About

Tabla

Learn and play Indian tabla drums on your smartphone or tablet. Access over 100 video lessons, a variety of percussion instruments, and loops to practice with. Enjoy studio-quality audio and share your performances.

Highlights
  • Over 100 video lessons
  • Realistic tabla set and percussion instruments
  • Variety of loops for playing along
  • Studio-quality audio
  • Export recordings to MP3
  • Share performances on social media
  • MIDI support
Features
Read full description

The Tabla app provides all the tools necessary to master the art of playing the tabla instrument on your smartphone or tablet. Now you can easily play any music, anywhere! Excellent for anyone who is passionate about the instrument and music! What is a Tabla? The tabla is a Hindu percussion instrument widely used in Indian devotional and meditative music. It consists of a pair of drums, the smaller, higher-pitched DAYA and the larger, deeper-sounding BAYA. Why haven't you started learning to play the tabla drums yet? Tabla offers various video lessons to assist you, along with a variety of loops to play along with. Don't have access to a real tabla instrument or an electronic tabla? No problem! The Tabla app offers a realistic tabla set and a diverse range of other percussion instruments with high-quality sounds, allowing you to play any music you desire! You don't need a tabla drum to learn to play! The Tabla is an excellent choice for practicing or playing quietly, without causing disruptions or requiring much space. Enjoy the freedom to play tabla wherever you like! Show your friends how good you are at playing tabla! Share videos of your performances with friends and on social media! The Tabla app allows children and adults to learn drumming while having fun, enhancing their cognitive and motor skills. This drum game will stimulate your musical talent, making it easy to learn drum beats as if using a real tabla kit. So what are you waiting for to become a tabla player? Explore Tabla features: - Over 100 lessons to learn how to play the tabla - Various percussion musical instruments - Wide variety of drums, cymbals, and other percussion instruments - Loops for playing along - Studio-quality audio - Export your recordings to MP3 format - Share your recordings and custom drum sets on social media - New tabla lessons and loops introduced weekly - Compatible with all screen resolutions - Phones and Tablets (HD images) - MIDI support - Free app The app contains the following subscription: - Premium Version (Remove ads; Unlock all loops; and Unlock Metronome) - Monthly payment ($3,90). - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. - The subscription is automatically renewed unless cancelled 24 hours before the renewal. - The subsequent monthly subscriptions are automatically renewed unless cancelled 24 hours before the next renewal (considering the day of the effective monthly subscription). - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy Policy: http://www.kolbapps.com/privacy_policy_and_terms.pdf Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Designed for drummers, percussionists, professional musicians, enthusiasts, and beginners! From the creators of the Real Drum app! Download the Tabla app and turn your fingers into drumsticks right now! Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for tips on using the app: @kolbapps Kolb Apps: Touch & Play!

About

Drum Notation by Beat Note

Create, practice, and share drum music notation with ease. This app transforms sequenced beats into professional sheet music, offering tools for composition, transcription, and interactive teaching. Enhance your drumming journey with customizable practice sessions and high-quality export options.

Highlights
  • Sequencer to notation conversion
  • Compose and transcribe drum beats
  • Customizable practice sessions
  • Interactive teaching tools
  • High-quality PDF and image export
  • Multiple notation voicing options
Features
Read full description

Beat Note — Drum Notation for Drummers, Teachers, and Content Creators The fastest way to write, hear, practice, and share drum notation. Built by a drummer, for drummers. FOR DRUMMERS — FROM YOUR HEAD TO THE PAGE IN SECONDS You have a groove idea. Beat Note gets it down before you lose it. Tap the sequencer grid to build beats. Watch them turn into clean, professional drum notation in real time. Hit play and hear exactly what you wrote — at any tempo, with a click track, on loop. - Transcribe songs to check your ear and lock in what you hear - Compose your own grooves, fills, and exercises from scratch - Count in with a visual on-screen "1, 2, 3, 4" so your eyes and ears are ready together - Use Beat Note as your in-ear metronome during rehearsals — your beats, not just clicks "Been waiting a long time for an app like this. Clearly built by a drummer." — App Store review FOR TEACHERS — WRITE IT, PLAY IT, SEND IT What used to take 30 minutes in a desktop notation program now takes 2 minutes on your phone or iPad. Write exercises on the fly — during the lesson, not after it. Play back the notation so students hear exactly how it should sound. Share a link so they can listen at home. Export a PDF they can print and bring to the kit. - Use the sequencer as a live music whiteboard, in person or online - Build a library of exercises organized by tag, ready for any student - Send a shareable link or export a high-quality PDF in one tap "What would normally take 30 minutes on a computer has become 2 minutes from my mobile device. My students love it." — App Store review FOR CONTENT CREATORS — PROFESSIONAL NOTATION VIDEOS, IN MINUTES Export your beat as an animated MP4 — portrait for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, or landscape for YouTube and Vimeo. Choose 720p, 1080p, or 4K. Pick a color theme. Preview before you export. PDF, PNG, WAV or AAC audio, shareable link, and animated MP4 — all from one app. NOTATION THAT LOOKS RIGHT Professional drum notation, consistent across every format you export. What you see on screen is what your students get in the PDF, what your followers see in the video, and what you hear in playback. - All standard drums, cymbals, and articulations - Subdivisions from 8th notes to 32nd notes, plus triplets, quintuplets (5s), and septuplets (7s) - Common and compound time signatures, including 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8 - Linear, split hands/feet, or split drums/cymbals voicing - Sticking annotations (R, L) - Single-measure repeat symbol (%) — renders automatically when measures repeat ORGANIZE AND DISCOVER - Tags, search, and sort to manage your beat library - Discover tab: curated educational beats for all skill levels - Beat templates to get started fast - Customize tempo, click track, count-in, and timer MADE BY A DRUMMER, SHAPED BY THE COMMUNITY Beat Note was built by me — an independent developer with 35+ years behind the kit. But the direction comes from the community. Every major feature on the roadmap has been voted on, requested, and refined by drummers, teachers, and creators just like you. Join the conversation at roadmap.beat-note.app — vote on upcoming features, share ideas, and see what's coming next. I'm here to make sure it all comes together into something that actually works. Premium subscription required for full access. Educator and Creator tiers available. Free trial included. Payment is charged through your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription auto-renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period via iTunes Account Settings. Terms and Privacy Policy: https://www.beat-note.app/privacy-and-terms

Screenshots

Tabla4 screens
Drum Notation by Beat Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Drum Notation by Beat Note at none against Tabla's shown. Drum Notation by Beat Note also leads on review sentiment (83% vs 63%) and update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks). Tabla's advantage is ratings volume (1.2K vs 87). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Tabla sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Drum Notation by Beat Note sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $6.69 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drum Notation by Beat Note holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tabla has 1.2K ratings behind it against 87, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Tabla's written reviews are positive against 83% of Drum Notation by Beat Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tabla ships an update every 3 weeks, Drum Notation by Beat Note every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Tabla versus Drum Notation by Beat Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTablaDrum Notation by Beat Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (1.2K ratings)4.6 (87 ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.4% of reviews82.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.2K — better87
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.6
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB81 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKOLB SISTEMAS - EIRELIKick Snare Hat Apps, LLC

Customer experience

Tabla

All ratings1,215 ratings
Positive84.9%
Neutral5.8%
Negative9.3%
Written reviews71 reviews
Positive63.4%
Neutral5.6%
Negative31.0%

Drum Notation by Beat Note

All ratings87 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral4.6%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews122 reviews
Positive82.8%
Neutral7.4%
Negative9.8%

User reviews

Tabla

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Very good and very nice
  • 👍 This heavenly app changed my life
  • 👍 Amazing product
  • 👍 Very nice wonderful
  • 👍 Tabla is so cool

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Very weird and has no ghe that resonates
  • 🐛 Don't want score in every 30 sec
  • 🔋 ADs
  • 🐛 too many spam you can not turn off
  • 🐛 Very bad.. hung most of the time and need to restart

Drum Notation by Beat Note

From 87 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🚀 Quick and efficient notation
  • 🎶 Great sound playback
  • 💡 Excellent for teaching and learning
  • ✍️ Simple to write exercises and ideas

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 💸 High annual cost
  • 🆓 Limited free version
  • 🚫 No one-time purchase option
  • 🤔 Subscription model makes little sense to some

Bugs and requests

Tabla

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Very weird and has no ghe that resonates
  • Very bad.. hung most of the time and need to restart
  • No sound on iPhone 6S
  • There is no sound
  • Using latest IOS, no sound

Requested features

3 requests
  • Leers for certain known thekas / taals
  • Option to control the speed of the loop while learning and practicing
  • Harmonium app

Drum Notation by Beat Note

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Preview rarely matches notes on staff
  • Sometimes doesn't play any notes
  • Sounds not always appropriate for instrument voicing
  • Editing measures is inconvenient
  • Free trial charged immediately
Show 3 more
  • iCloud data sync issues for subscription confirmation
  • Not stable in loopings, slow delay on first note
  • Measure lines on PDFs too thick and close

Requested features

27 requests
  • 7/8 time signature support
  • Syncing between devices
  • Web version
  • Native Mac/Windows apps
  • Add text or notes to notations
Show 22 more
  • Cowbell instrument
  • More drum samples and pitch control
  • Ability to work on spaces longer than a measure
  • Add 32nd notes
  • Duplicate multiple bars at once
  • Copy/paste large sections
  • Option to drag duplicated bars to the end
  • Add melody track
  • More instrument options
  • Ability to manage volumes of different instruments
  • Add quintuplets and sextuplets to a bar
  • Add repetition options for measures
  • Add text to music sheets
  • Improve loop stability and reduce delay
  • Allow monthly subscription option
  • More free beats/unlimited free version
  • Add sticking for grace notes
  • More advanced editing options for multiple bars
  • Improve PDF export readability
  • Add virtual drum kit for accessibility
  • AI-powered automatic notation
  • Auto-sync to track

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Tabla

Subscriptions9
  • Premium Version$1.991 Month
  • Premium Version - 3 Days Free3 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Premium Version1 Month trial$2.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Premium Version$3.991 Month
  • Premium Version3 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Premium Version$6.997 Days
  • half-yearly subscription$9.996 Months
  • annual subscription$12.991 Year
  • Premium Version3 Days trial$17.991 Year
One-time1
  • Remove Ads$99.99
5 purchases

Drum Notation by Beat Note

Subscriptions5
  • Educator Tier Monthly (No Trial)$6.691 Month
  • Creator Tier Monthly (No Trial)$13.491 Month
  • Educator Tier Annual (No Trial)$59.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • Educator Tier Annual + Free Trial7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Creator Tier Annual + Free Trial7 Days trial$119.991 Year

Questions

Is Tabla free?
Tabla is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drum Notation by Beat Note free?
Drum Notation by Beat Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Tabla or Drum Notation by Beat Note?
Drum Notation by Beat Note is rated higher. Tabla averages 4.4 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while Drum Notation by Beat Note averages 4.6 from 87 ratings.
Do Tabla or Drum Notation by Beat Note have ads?
Tabla shows ads; Drum Notation by Beat Note does not.
Which is updated more often, Tabla or Drum Notation by Beat Note?
Tabla ships an update every 3 weeks, and Drum Notation by Beat Note every 9 days. Most recently, Tabla was updated on October 26, 2026 and Drum Notation by Beat Note on October 27, 2026.

Other comparisons