SessionBand Blues 1 vs DroneLab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SessionBand Blues 1
Create professional Blues music with a unique chord-based loop app. Easily build full tracks in various Blues styles using loops recorded by top session musicians, even without musical experience.
- Chord-based loop creation
- 15 classic Blues styles
- Royalty-free music
- Auto-transpose
- Automated mixing
- One-touch live recording
- Audiobus compatibility
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Create professional Blues tracks to your own chords in minutes with the award-winning SessionBand app - the world’s only chord-based loop app. For Blues musicians and songwriters, this unique app is the ultimate tool for jamming and writing, with full and complete Blues tracks just minutes away! It's also simple enough for non-musicians to create their own great-sounding, royalty-free music with. “Remarkably polished“ Forbes “Extraordinarily useful“ Jamie Cullum “Create like a master“ Engadget With over 16,000 stunning, chord-based Blues loops (included) individually recorded by 4 of the world's very best session musicians, SessionBand Blues instantly converts the chords you select into great sounding audio – wherever you are and whatever your ability. There are 15 different classic Blues styles included. Every single loop carefully engineered so you can instantly create your own tracks in those styles: from a slow Bonamassa 12/8 and a Muddy Waters shuffle, through various ballads, Texas and Blue Line shuffles all the way to uptempo Delta blues and Bluegrass. And there's a host of pro features like auto-transpose, automated mixing, one-touch live recording, and Audiobus compatibility - allowing you to seamlessly export our unique content into other top music apps like Garageband. It has never been easier or quicker to create your own studio quality music even if you can't play a note! If you love Blues – you will love SessionBand Blues! A Top 10 paid music app in 66 countries since launch. Hear exactly how SessionBand Blues sounds by watching the video at sessionbandapp.com The fastest way to create studio-quality Blues music... • Simply pick one of 15 awesome Blues styles • Choose your chords • Stretch or shorten loops in seconds • Build up a full track in minutes • Instantly hear your track across the other playing styles and tempos • Auto-transpose your entire track (not electronic pitch shift!) • Mix your track (manual or automated) • Adjust track tempo (+/- 15%) • Record direct to audio • Copy straight to other music apps • Share with the world! Get 4 of the world's top session musicians playing on your tracks... • Drums – Geoff Dugmore (Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Taj Mahal, Newton Faulkner, Richard Ashcroft, Leona Lewis, Jimmy Page, Robbie Williams, Dido, Natalie Imbruglia, Steve Winwood...) • Guitars – Adam Goldsmith (Brian May, Meat Loaf, Robbie Williams, Elton John, Will Young, Ronan Keating, Beverley Knight, Gloria Estefan...) • Bass – Geoff Gascoyne (Sting, Georgie Fame, Van Morrison, Bill Bruford, Gloria Estefan, Jamie Cullum...) • Keyboards – Tom Cawley (Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Watts, Stacey Kent, Andrea Bocelli, Peter Gabriel...) Anyone can create and release professional Blues tracks with SessionBand... • No musical experience required • Simple, intuitive interface allows easy chord/loop selection and manipulation • Audition loops as you go • Build a full track in minutes with all-new 'Track Builder' • Highly educational and great fun Create great sounding real Blues music on the move... • All loops reside within the downloaded app • No internet access required once the app is downloaded • Create studio-quality music absolutely anywhere! Detailed Product Information • 15 Blues styles in tempo order: Slow 12/8; Slow Shuffle; Slow Blues Rock; Medium Shuffle; Blues Rock Ballad; Slow 6/4; 70s Medium Blues Rock; Texas Shuffle; Funky Blues; Medium 6/4; Blues Line Shuffle; Rock n Roll; Fast Shuffle; Mississippi Blues; Bluegrass • Tempos from 60bpm to 180bpm • 10 chord variations for every root note in all 15 styles: 6; 7; 7(b9); 9; 7(#9); maj7; m7(b5); m9; m7; maj 'stop' • Each of the 15 styles includes 15 alternative drum grooves and drum fills in addition to the 'main' drum pattern for that style • The exclusive musical content in this app is not duplicated in any of the other SessionBand apps • All loops are offered royalty-free and can be used freely in your own works
DroneLab
Generate evolving ambient music with three parallel audio sources and unique sound effects. Save and export your creations for use in music or video projects, or use it for improvisation and practice.
- Three parallel continuous audio sources
- Custom sound effects
- Preset selection and customization
- Stereo audio export up to 96KHz
- Real-time recording
- Improvisation and experimentation tool
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DroneLab creates slowly shifting musical soundscapes. Control three continuous audio sources running in parallel, each with its own rate of shifting intensity. Expand the soundscape with unusual sound effects crafted specifically for DroneLab. Get going quickly by selecting one of the included presets. Go further by selecting and customizing the sound sources, and save your own presets to the list. Create soundscapes for your music and video projects: - Export a stereo audio file with your current settings, at sample rates up to 96KHz. On newer devices, exports occur faster than real time. - Or, you can record in real time, capturing all the changes you make to the sounds as you go. DroneLab is great for improvisation and experimentation: - Explore the melodic side of your instrument in a fun, relaxing setting. - Warm up before practicing more difficult material. - Explore sounds and articulations that aren't part of your usual repertoire. Please visit us at dronelab.app for videos, more information and support.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: DroneLab at $1.99 against SessionBand Blues 1's $8.99. DroneLab also leads on review sentiment (70% vs 54%). SessionBand Blues 1's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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
SessionBand Blues 1 costs $8.99 and DroneLab $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SessionBand Blues 1 holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 32 and 20 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 54% of SessionBand Blues 1's written reviews are positive against 70% of DroneLab's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SessionBand Blues 1 ships an update every 5 months, DroneLab every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SessionBand Blues 1 | DroneLab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $8.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (32 ratings) — better | 4.4 (20 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 53.8% of reviews | 70.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 32 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 891 MB | 16 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | UK Music Apps Ltd | Jon Lukas |
Customer experience
SessionBand Blues 1
DroneLab
Bugs and requests
SessionBand Blues 1
Reported bugs
15 issues- Synchronization issues when exporting to GarageBand/FL Studio
- App does not work with Audiobus 3 on iOS 15
- Cannot be integrated into Cubasis
- App doesn't work in background
- Glitchy audio in multiple purchased apps
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- Major bug: cannot change tracks without leaving the app
- App stops working (100% probability)
- Drums sound dreadful when tempo is changed
- App lags and has distorted noises with external sound card
- App crashes when trying to edit tracks
- Audiobus won't initialize and is disabled
- Guitar soloing on segments that cannot be turned off
- App crashes on launch
- Major tempo issue: settings inaccessible after tempo change
- App crashes when trying to use it
Requested features
20 requests- Import individual loops easily into other DAWs
- Clarification on copyright for covers/parodies
- More chord types (sus, dim, natural minor/major)
- Ability to transpose organ track down
- Improved keyboard chord voicings
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- Dark mode option
- More styles and genre packs
- Ability to export single tracks
- Add a play/stop button to the edit screen
- More flexibility in rhythm instrument choices
- Option to mute guitar soloing on segments
- Fix tempo change issues with drums
- Add more blues styles with authentic blues sounds
- Improve UI and responsiveness
- Add an undo button
- Update interface to retina display
- More control over loop modulation
- Separate instruments for better control
- Fix scrolling chord sync issues
- More DAW compatibility for wave export
DroneLab
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SessionBand Blues 1
No in-app purchases
DroneLab
No in-app purchases









