DrumJam 4+

Dynamic Percussion

Sonosaurus LLC

    • 4.9 • 262 Ratings
    • $7.99
    • Offers In-App Purchases

Screenshots

Description

DrumJam is a whole new world of percussion and drums for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Designed by award winning international percussionist Pete Lockett and Sonosaurus LLC, the developer of ThumbJam, this app is a real first for percussion. It's an exciting and powerful tool, opening up the world of rhythm in a completely hands-on and inspiring way. Whether you are a novice just looking for a bit of rhythmic fun, a songwriter or producer looking for a fresh rhythmic idea, a percussion student writing arrangements for a project, a music teacher looking for rhythm ideas to teach, or a drum circle facilitator seeking to expand their repertoire, this app has something for you.

Pete Lockett has been top of his game for decades and has performed with the stars, from Peter Gabriel and Bjork to Robert Plant, Dido, Jeff Beck and many more. He has also worked extensively in the film industry, arranging and recording all the ethnic percussion for five Bond 007 films. The app is a direct and personal route to his rhythm factory with all the individual percussion parts recorded by Pete. These are not ineffective sequenced patterns but actual recorded audio waiting to groove with rhythm at multiple tempos through your very own mobile device.

Through his decades of studio experience Pete has become a master of layering various percussion instruments into mesmerising rhythm fabrics and flowing grooves. Shakers and congas interwoven with Indian ghatam, pop drum set and Arabic req or else a Carnatic kanjira with some Cuban bongos, Latin cowbells, rock drum kit, seed shakes and surdu. There are dozens of different looped instruments to choose from, each with up to 20 different patterns. You can change the levels, alter the pan, mute, solo, and tweak a low-pass filter giving you a great degree of flexibility over each individual part. Or simply press the random button to randomise all (or some) the parts and get some really funky and unexpected changes. It can even automatically randomise periodically for hands-free unpredictability. The excellent time stretch system and multiple-tempo loop recordings mean that you can get great natural sounding audio across a wide tempo range. Change the number of beats to use in the loops to alter time signature.

Pick from a wide range of solo instruments where you can jam away over the top of the grooves you create. These include all sorts of ethnic percussion instruments from Kanjira and Ghatam, to Djembe, Bongos, Dube and Cajon, and more. There are also custom drum kits from great drummers such as Johnny Rabb, Russ Miller, KJ Sawka, Dave Langguth, Steve Sidelnyk and Scott Pellegrom. With a detailed and complete range of quantize options performed by simply dragging your fingers around, it is possible for even the absolute novice to get some funky grooves immediately.

Additional loops and pad instruments are available for in-app purchase, but rest assured that the base app is loaded with kits and loops!

There are also incredible filter, pitch bend, delay, reverb, lofi, and distortion effects available for the solo instruments, which really adds a whole new dimension of live performance possibilities. With multiple save and export options, it is possible to record loops or a whole performance to later import into your DAW or other audio app as 44.1kHz 16-bit WAV files. This is great for studio use and can form the basis of a new song idea very easily.

DrumJam supports export via iTunes file sharing, open directly in another app, email, AudioCopy, and export to SoundCloud. There is support for background audio, Audiobus, Inter-app-audio, and a MIDI implementation that supports clock sync in/out, and playing the solo kits externally triggered via MIDI input, or outputting your live pad performance via MIDI output! Also has Ableton Link support!

Whatever you do in music, we are certain there is a use for DrumJam in your world. Give it a try and join forces with an ancient percussive energy.

What’s New

Version 1.4.5

- Fixed layout issues in the preferences on recent iPhones

Ratings and Reviews

4.9 out of 5
262 Ratings

262 Ratings

Nitpick Pete ,

So many drum apps have come and gone...

...this one is a keeper! I’ve used it for nearly seven years on several recordings and across several devices. Fully loaded with all IAP’s, it still works perfectly on an old 2013 iPad2.

The instrument choices cover every imaginable genre. Combine them to invent new genres never conceived of before. Loops are fantastic. The editing options and randomization features are pleasingly musical. Just the right amount of “looseness” makes it sound so real. Pete Lockett is phenomenal; genius.

The instrument playing surface at the bottom part of the screen is so unique and very well thought out. Quantize and effects selections are extensive. It is actually difficult to make a bad sound or groove. Incredibly expressive.

A couple of little nitpicks:
The loops cannot swing, but it is likely not possible with the way they are recorded. Changing that would likely kill the excellent nuances that Pete laid down. However, the playing surface at the bottom does have decent swing options.

Tempo range is slightly limited: 60 to 200 bpm. Would be nice to have a little more at both ends, though the loops do get a bit unnatural sounding at both extremes already. I personally like slower tempos with more busy instrument settings.

All said, this is my favorite drum app, by far. It is super easy to use, has a vast library of sounds with extensive controls and extremely expressive interfaces; it deserves MORE than five stars.

SlowlyIturn ,

So much fun!

I don't usually look for apps with loops, but years after this came out I read some discussion about it, which lead me to grab it. It is so much fun, I can barely believe it.
Great sounds, great grooves, and really great design! I find myself just playing with it for an hour every time I open it up. I also find it very useful for recording in all sorts of ways. It works surprisingly well for recording with the loops turned off.
I've got hundreds of music-making apps, including many great ones. After a little over a year, this remains one of my very favorites!

Loudize ,

Takes it to the next level

Abelton Link is really starting to show its genius. Using this app linked with Gadget and Patterning with the Randomization engaged is amazing, the results are incredibly inspiring. I almost sounds like I know what I am doing. It's designed for performance. The sounds are top notch. I really think the randomization feature gives it its power. Most of the stuff I do sounds linear because the drum track is repetitive. With the randomization I can jam with the changes it sounds good enough to be in a movie soundtrack. Maybe they could have a save randomization button on the performance screen when one comes up that you really like.

App Privacy

The developer, Sonosaurus LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.

Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:

  • Usage Data
  • Diagnostics

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Supports

  • Family Sharing

    Some in‑app purchases, including subscriptions, may be shareable with your family group when Family Sharing is enabled.

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