Drumbook
The practice journal for drummers
Practise with a plan, not a hunch.
Drumbook tells you what is on today, keeps the time, and after a few weeks shows you in black and white what has got better. For iPhone and iPad.
- Free while in testing
- No account, your data stays with you
- No adverts
Why bother
An hour of practice is not an hour of progress.
Sit down at the kit without a plan and you end up playing what already works. The three things that usually go wrong:
"What do I practise today?"
The answer comes from your gut, and your gut prefers the pleasant option. The exercise that's hard keeps slipping through for weeks.
"What did my teacher say again?"
The one sentence that mattered is gone by Wednesday. And the question you meant to ask only comes back to you on the drive home.
"Am I actually getting better?"
Progress on drums is slow and nearly impossible to hear from the inside. Without numbers all you have is a feeling, and it misleads in both directions.
What Drumbook does for you
From the first bar to the next lesson.
Open it and know what is on
Tell Drumbook how much time you have today. The practice list puts itself together: what your teacher set comes first, and whatever has been left lying too long moves up. The exercise you find hard no longer slips through for weeks.
No exercises yet? Six to get going come with the app, from the paradiddle to a first fill.
Both hands on the sticks
While you play, everything runs by itself: the clock for each exercise, the click at the right tempo, and when time is up the change to the next exercise, with a short break and a signal you can feel even at the kit. You don't have to touch the phone.
The chorus, until it sits
Put your sheet music into the app and start the song from your library. The music follows along, stave by stave, without turning a page. If one passage keeps catching you out, mark it and play just that part along with the record, as often as you like.
After four weeks, in black and white
Every session lands in your history. You see how much you practised, where the time went and where the tempo went up. A weekly goal and the number of days in a row keep you at it without nagging.
With lessons
Your teacher sees what you practised.
What gets set in the lesson is still there on Wednesday and comes first in your practice list. Questions that come up while you practise are collected for the next lesson. And before the lesson two taps make a PDF report: practice time, tempo, what was left lying.
No effort for teachers
- Your teacher sets nothing up, and doesn't even need an iPhone. The report comes printed or by email.
- One line says more than ten minutes of asking: "96 of 130, up from 92".
- Without lessons everything works just the same. That part simply stays empty.
Who is behind it
Built by someone who is learning too.
My name is Silvio and I am learning the drums myself, with a teacher, an exercise book and too little time. I built Drumbook for myself first, because at the end of each week I no longer knew what I had actually practised. Every feature exists because something was missing at the kit. I have practised with it every day since the summer, and since September other drummers have been testing it too.
What you put into Drumbook stays on your device and in your own iCloud. I see none of it, and nothing counts how you use the app.
Price
Everything included, one price.
Now: free
While in testing Drumbook costs nothing. You get every new version as soon as it is ready.
Later: €3 to €5 a month
Once Drumbook is in the App Store, as a subscription, with a much cheaper yearly price. You can try it at your own pace first.
Always: every feature
No cut-down free version and no feature that costs extra. There are no adverts.
Questions
What people want to know.
How do I get the app?
Drumbook is not in the App Store yet; it is being tested through TestFlight, Apple's free app for test versions. Leave your address below and you'll get an invitation by email. Then install TestFlight, install Drumbook, done.
Do I have to do anything during the test?
No. Use the app the way you practise. If something strikes you, you can report it straight from the app, with a screenshot. Every report gets read.
Do I need a drum teacher?
No. If you practise on your own, you use the practice list, clock, metronome and history just the same. The lessons part simply stays empty.
Can you hear the metronome over the drums?
Not reliably through a phone speaker. Headphones belong at the kit. If they get unplugged, the click stops rather than suddenly playing through the speaker.
Is there a version for Android?
Not yet. iPhone and iPad come first, Android is planned after that. There is no date yet.
Where is my data?
On your device. If you have an iPhone and an iPad, they stay in step through your own iCloud. On top of that there is a backup as a file that you keep yourself and read back in on a new device. Privacy in detail →
Practise with a plan tonight.
Leave your address and you'll get an invitation to TestFlight, Apple's free test app. First you get a short confirmation from me; the invitation itself comes from Apple. TestFlight tells you about new test versions. You'll only hear from me when there is news about Drumbook, and you can unsubscribe at any time with a short email.
Opens your email app with the text ready. If that doesn't work for you, just write to silvio@drumbook.de yourself.
Your address is used only to send you that one message, and deleted afterwards.