Our Top 7 iOS Drum Apps 2021 | haQ attaQ

Here are our top 7 iOS Drum Apps from 2021 and this time around, it really is our top pics. It turns out that you and I pretty much have the same favourites when it comes to drum and drum machine apps. Let's go!
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🎵 MY MUSIC 🎵
DISCOGRAPHY ► hyperfollow.com/jakobhaq
🎥 VIDEO LINKS 🎥
FAC DRUMKIT REVIEW ► • FAC Drumkit is Fantast...
➡️ APP LINKS ➡️
HAMMERHEAD ► apps.apple.com/app/hammerhead...
FAC DRUMKIT ► apps.apple.com/app/fac-drumki...
INDIAN DRUMMER ► apps.apple.com/app/indian-dru...
DIGISTIX 2 ► apps.apple.com/app/digistix-2...
SLAMMER ► apps.apple.com/app/slammer-dr...
CHOWKICK ► apps.apple.com/app/chowkick/i...
DRUMLAB ► apps.apple.com/app/drumlab/id...
⏰ TIME STAMPS ⏰
0:00 Lets go!
0:43 Hammerhad Rhythm Station
6:07 DrumKit
10:32 Indian Drummer
14:24 DigiStix 2
19:54 Slammer
22:01 ChowKick
23:01 Drumlab
👊🏼 MORE iOS MUSIC KZbinRS 👊🏼
THESOUNDTESTROOM ► / thesoundtestroom
THEAUDIODABBLER ► / @theaudiodabbler
NU-TRIX THE SYNTH GUY ► / @nu-trix
HENNY THA BIZNESS ► / @hennythabizness
THEGARAGEBANDGUIDE ► / thegaragebandguide
DAVEYPOO ► / @daveypoommm
JAMIE MALLENDER ► / @jamiemallender
REDSKYLULLABY ► / redskylullaby
PETE JOHNS ► / @petejohnsmusic
DJ PUZZLE IPADLOOPS ► / ipadloops
▼ IOS MUSICIAN RESOURCE SITES ▼
Want even more information on how to create music with your iOS device?
►discchord.com
►www.matrixsynth.com/search/la...
►www.palmsounds.net
►www.synthanatomy.com/
►forum.audiob.us
►apptronica.us
►iosmusicandyou.com/
►apps4idevices.com
►smitematter.come

[@JakobHaq]

👊 Info, Links & Time Stamps! ▼ ▼ 🎥 VIDEO FAC DRUMKIT REVIEW ► kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqa2eJhoncppirs 🎵 MY MUSIC DISCOGRAPHY ► hyperfollow.com/jakobhaq ⏰ TIME STAMPS 0:00 Lets go! 0:43 Jiggy Jaws 6:07 Drummer love letter 10:32 Tabla Rasa 14:24 Layer Player 19:54 Bandit Boogie 22:01 Free Bee Dees 23:01 Drum Science

[@waveforthefrequencies]

Nice. Always fun to see these lists.

[@strangersun7721]

Great picks here. I could listen to you all day long, Jakob. Your voice, your attitude, what you talk about... Just love it, man. Thanks for doing what you do.

[@JakobHaq]

Aw, that’s so sweet. Thank you for brightening my day! 👊😘

[@lemonberries]

Great video👏 I'll have to give a couple of these a try

[@oldowl4290]

Dude, thank you so much. I’m an old school drummer, aged 50, and have just now been getting into music writing and production with my iPad Pro. It’s been a daunting and often very frustrating experience to find the right tools, especially drum machines where you can really tailor the exact sound you want. Most web searches don’t help much either so videos like this are extremely useful to me.

[@CharbelArana]

And which drum machine for ipad did you decide on?

[@njitsnada]

Also curious

[@humpum3427]

I’m 50 and i need to know what you chose 😅

[@dcollett]

Jakob, this is an excellent video. Thanks very much!

[@JakobHaq]

My pleasure. Thank you for watching!

[@seazenbones6945]

Brilliant video as always. Thanks Jakob.

[@JakobHaq]

My pleasure!

[@MobileMusicPro]

Great video Jakob! I wonder if I've earned a place in your video descriptions yet under more iOS music youtubers :) Have a great weekend!

[@truthmanifestingtruth]

You have the feel of a Yard Man! Big ups!✌🏾

[@auctor11]

Fantastic Video mate! Please make more videos when you combine ableton and apps! No Pressure bro

[@ObXession]

Hey Jakob! Great video ! For me the best iOS drums are DrumComputer, GR16 and Drambo which are AUv3 and MultiOutput. I’m trying to master these apps by reading the manuals inside out and experimenting a lot a lot a lot !

[@kin4351]

Love your work Jakob

[@JakobHaq]

Haha! Thank you so much for the love and for all the comments! 💛💛💛

[@austinturby9371]

Appreciate your efforts man!

[@JakobHaq]

Thank you! 👊

[@mrgum6y]

My best iOS drum machine in 2019, 2020, 2021, and even 2022? Drum computer from Sugar Bytes; I do understand that this was the selection from 2021 releases only. Nice vid. Tusen tack Jakob.

[@JakobHaq]

I’ll have to cover Drum computer some day because it’s insanely good. It’s soo deep (mainly why I haven’t covered it yet). 👊😅

[@erotocrat]

I wholeheartedly agree, Drum Computer is awesome.

[@HotStrange]

Drum Computer is on another level. Easily competes with any hardware drum machine on the market.

[@PoppaDocRocks]

Digging the 80’s Synthwave Intro.

[@HotStrange]

Have all of these except Digistix but it’s on my list! I can’t remember if it was 2021 or 2020 but Skiiid would definitely be on my list.

[@antemode]

Yo Jakob, big ups for the cumbia homie! Check out Cumbia en Moog cumbia de sal. Btw you can use an a rozetta to trigger Hammerhead midi and have longer sequences that way.

[@mooseymoose]

Cool rundown!

[@JakobHaq]

Thank you!

[@NoFishCanSwim]

I missed Drumlab. I have the others but didn’t know some of the stuff you mentioned :) You are genius Sir!

[@JakobHaq]

Thank you Grant!

[@KHos73]

Good video, I think there is a lack of good drum machine apps currently, that include auv3 , would be willing to try make one, just need to know where to start…. Imagine an app like spacecraft but for drums! Now I like that

[@davidsteffens3952]

I had hammerhead when I was 8 in 97, never thought I’d see that again

[@steveduffy5137]

AR-909 by the legends that are Audiokit was my most recent addition. That CRUSH effect. Wow. But I keep going back to DM1 by Fingerlab. Getting a bit crusty round the edges, it's over 10 years old, but it still fuckn rocks and does what i want it to do.

[@vio4jesus]

Thanks for an interesting video..... I'm still waiting for an iOS version of EZ Drummer

[@Steve.Dennis]

Good work as always, Jakob! I’ve set up a few price alerts. DigiStix2 is the only one of these I currently own and I have barely scratched the surface of its capabilities so far. Indian Drummer also intrigues me as I have vivid memories of the time I spent in southern India over several years!

[@JakobHaq]

DigiStix 2 is deep, like a mini Beatmakers 3 kinda. Takes time to get to know everything.

[@njitsnada]

How do I set price alerts? New to iOS :))

[@thechronicnoizeco.6675]

Slammer is awesome. I use FAC drum all the time too.

[@kowloonbroadcast]

Hey, as I was watching, indian/mid-east drummer things got me interested in terms of availability of different rythmic patterns at a glance and “just a tap away”. anyway there isn’t much space for mid-east/indian sounds in my niche, but utilizing the patterns themselves to feed more of “traditional western drumkits” looool - that might be a whole new kingdom to explore. so u mentioned that there’s no AUv3 support, but still IAP connectivity is present. The question is - can you route MIDI out of it or it connects to hubs like AUM to just be able to transmit audio? Also what I would definetely add to your list of apps mentioned in the video: Playbeat by Audiomodern. It’s a drummachine / sequenser with an easy single page workflow with the ability to manipulate samples in different parameters: pitch, pan, velocity etc. what really stands out - its generative features. something similar to “randomization” of Digistix, but with its own approach. AUv3 supported. Just to point out - no drum synthesis there, just sample manipulator, but the one that’s a pleasure to work with. Also while watching the overview of Hammerhead’s drum engine noticed that in terms of sound production it sounds very much similar to what you can create with Drambo’s native oscilators. It’s just an observation for those who may already have purchased Drambo and are into this kind of synthesis. I use it as an AUv3 drum-synth-machine a lot, as well as drum-sample-machine and it handles these kind of tasks really good.

[@fuchurschmalspur8109]

love your cumbia :D

[@gwugluud]

It's funny as much as I look at Apple store to drool over the gear, I've managed to have never seen most of these before, lol

[@BenCaesar]

Great run down! Drumlab actually sounded the most interesting pity it’s no optimized for a modern workflow

[@daviddechamps8840]

Hi Jakob. Thanks for your advices, as usual! Here is the challenge I'm facing. Maybe you have an idea for me. I am trying to use a Novation Circuit Tracks to sequences virtual instruments on my iPad (using AUM). It's a way to combine the user-friendly Circuit sequencing with the flexibility of the iPad apps. It works super well with the 4 synth tracks. However, when it comes to the drums, the Circuit only triggers a single note on each of the 4 drum tracks. The minimum scenario I'm trying is to sequence a single drum sound with each track. Any idea which simple app I could use simply to generate a kick, snare, etc ? The best-case scenario would be that I can use the Circuit sequencer even more by triggering different patches on each drum track. But I have no clue how to do this... If you have any suggestion, thanks in advance! And keep up the good video work!

[@LanreEj]

Thanks for this video. What class do you put NS2? DigiStix 2 is my go to, apart from Nanostudio 2. I am taking a look at Drum computer also. I bought quite a number of them. I am getting FAC Drumkit, my next buy.

[@samueldeoliveira261]

I love The tip about the middle eastern and Indian drums

[@I.O.M.]

Thanks for this. I am mostly a hardware guy but do love running drums through the SP404MKII and my modular system.

[@dafingaz]

Let's go!

[@luisbargen]

Gracias!!!!

[@jeffagoddard]

When I write a wish list for iOS drums, DigiStix 2 checks all the boxes…. Almost. It’s just missing a drum synth (like in Hammerhead and DrumComputer). But, although DigiStix 2 seems to have the most power and flexibility, it’s also the most complex. I’m leaning towards the idea that there isn’t 1 perfect drum app. Perhaps it means 2 drum apps - like Hammerhead for the basics and DigiStix 2 for the complex stuff. I dunno….

[@gwugluud]

GarageBand and Cubasis on iPad keep trax in perfect sync at all times, but the DAWs on my PC which has 3 large capacity SSDs and FORTY gigs of RAM have the trax slightly off, and I SURE can't afford to have "artificial" sloppiness added to my actual sloppiness, LMAO, trust me.

[@lesthedog]

Just picked up Drumlab as it on sale at only £1.79. I agree, it was totally under the radar for me, but what a fun app. Easy to pick up and play around with, and worth the two quid just for all the retro drum machine kits that are included. You can tell it hasn't been updated for a while though - the UI is fuzzy as hell, I've already found a few issues, and what a massive shame it's not AUv3, which does make it harder to work with.

[@dirtysolarremix]

👍🏼

[@murdockscott]

I have been a fan of DM1 and DM2 so I was happy to see what looked like the power of these apps updated and combined, however I am trying to avoid purchases that don’t support modern standards. Same thing with the Lumbeat apps, I think they sound great and look like they could be amazing, but it’s hard to spend that money feeling like they limit the way I may want to work with them.

[@JakobHaq]

That’s very fair critique and I totally get it. I too get annoyed many times when I realise that I’ve been working on something in an app that can’t be loaded as an AUv3. Like it happens to me a lot. So I’ve mostly been relying on export options.

[@colinfarel]

True that about lumbeats.

[@JeffyG]

Are Lumbeat apps not AUv3? I was about to buy Rock Drum Machine.

[@murdockscott]

@@JeffyG Last I checked they were not, but that was several months ago.

[@DizzyMakavelli]

@@JakobHaq It works on iPad Air 1?

[@maxteks1653]

Jakob,…I have to be careful ,… everytime I watch your videos….I end up buying a New App. / But thanks to you I’ve known the best Apps to get.

[@brandonmartinez8422]

VAdrum2 my new favorite one👍

[@unkatom]

I had fun watching this with #2 (FAC drumkit) being one of my absolute FAVORITE drum tools! Cheers ✨🏆✨ (Hope life is good for you!)

[@JakobHaq]

Yeah, I’ve been using SeekBeats for all of my synth drums, but Drumkit has replaced it now.

[@Emil_m]

Had no idea about Drum Lab before this video. I’ve used dm2, and really like the sound creation interface. But since all my drums are triggered via notes recorded in DAW, if it’s not AU I got no use for it. Too bad, because it looks good

[@BMakk205]

Which is the best for me to use with my mpc to sample loads of drums?

[@Gymae]

I think I watch this. And I believe it was your vid dat inspired mi to go ahead invest in hhrs. However. I have not gotten fully intwo my own sound using hammerhead. I will. But just another aum drum machine where eg pulse I think will cover my efforts of how I wanna use my sound and the fact dat I can export all those imaschine 2 sounds. I am really starting to label the factory default set up of eg pulse. I did so with hhrs. Just in case I messed with original songs and presets too much I can edit the copy. And still give the original creators their support back for developing their content for eg pulse and hammerhead. Thank you. But I am a bit a plug and play kind of dude dat really get distracted with making sounds. Or organizing and the selection of sounds and my melodies r just as terrible. But chordjam is my new best friend. I will be on the move of posting sum content in sum up coming weeks. Bear with mi.

[@LanreEj]

Hi my man. Thanks for this. What class will you put NS2? I love NanoStudio so much. On this line up, I use DigiStix 2. I love it. Bro bless you.

[@JakobHaq]

I’d put NanoStudio in the synth sequencer category together with KORG Gadget. It’s a bit of an “in-betweener” because the slate also makes it real kinda “beatmaker-esque”. However If Nanostudio had audio tracks and editing tools for audio also then I’d put it in the DAW category.

[@LanreEj]

@@JakobHaq I’ll hope and pray for that day to come 😎 honestly. It’s almost a DAW. Korg Gadget too is also wonderful. The audio work around is just a little stressful for me.

[@eross21]

Can you import your own samples,in drumblab?

[@leslie1526]

Love your show, but not enough of it… Please produce more please…

[@galarius]

Luis Martinez series is the best, too many to list…not much in doing modifications with the sounds but of course it can be fed into any other drum machine as a controller

[@LumBeat]

Thanks !!! 🙏🥂

[@mrrafsk]

As an education tool, each of the series is an amazing way of learning how to play in a specific genre. (I’m a finger drummer)

[@galarius]

@@LumBeat wanted ro add really love the ‘Mike’ kit in Rock Drummer,one of my favorites, very realistic sounding kit and also the ‘Mike’ persona has a great style as of course does ‘John’

[@DragDealer]

🥁 Hello! I have asked on KZbin to no avail or reply. So here I go, is there an app that contains many rhythm styles and patterns built in for me to edit or play along with in different music generes? I got Drum Computer and want another one that’s AUV3 to jam/sequence in AUM. Hopefully something in the lines of a Boss Dr-880. Any guidance to apps will be appreciated! 🥁

[@anonymous_friend]

Have you seen any channels where people are using ipad as a brain for an electric drum kit? something with quality triggers or mesh heads. no machine gun snare, etc

[@hesspet]

I totally agree with Indian Drummer (and all the other Drummers) on the list. I often start Indian Drummer just to have a little bit "noise" in my workshop. And it is very usefull to make "Pseudo Indian Ambient Music" which is a kind of music I love to make. I heard it and within seconds it was bought.

[@gwugluud]

I have Digistix and Indian Drummer and 3 other drum apps from that same Indian Drummer dev ("Rock drummer" I think, Reggae Drummer ..which is GREAT.. and Jazz Drummer). Those are fun to play around with. But I play mostly garage rock with a real drumkit etc and not much synth besides 60s organ sims, lol. So I don't actually get around to using the electronicky stuff I've got much. I've got plenty of cool synths etc etc...I should re-explore my inner Kraftwerk one of these days. I do once in awhile, but not enough, lol.

[@ET2carbon]

Wow I just looked up these apps. Seriously cool. Way more than a drum machine, actually adds some flavor elements

[@gwugluud]

@@ET2carbon They all have 20 different hi hats, snares, etc. And since I’m too lazy/computer-dumb to program gigantic flags with 68,000 note slots (Why am I bringing Reaper into this…), I don’t mess with VST drum machines or sequencers very much. Speaking of VST drum machines, when some dev gets the bright idea of making one which will, Print? To a track? Hi? …That, Would, Be, Great. Lol, sorry no vent filter… That Indian Drummer, Reggae Drummer etc, are ACES. If you haven’t got them yet, I think you should get them or some of them. No need to keep thinking about it, just get one or all of them. VSTs are bizarrely cheap on iPad, and the cost isn’t anything you’re going to get buyer’s remorse over, it’s a good deal. The beats supplied are usable as hell, it isn’t corny canned beats you’d be embarrassed to have someone walk in and hear you trying out. It does have an exhaustively-featured sequencer. And the beats can be freely switched around, you can select any of the large selection of drum elements per part, and this app doesn’t bitch and cry and get confused when doing that. That series are by far the best drum machines ever, hardware or VST. I think the only one I still don’t have is one of them is electronic drums. I’ll grab it soon. These are well worth your while. And I can easily get great drum sequences with these, is another thing I really like about them.

[@ET2carbon]

@@gwugluud so these don't print MIDI to DAW sequence? I had the same complaint about another app/software. I'll look it up I forgot which one but I'll report back in a second with it. I wrote the developer and he said it actually does print the MIDI I just haven't tried yet.

[@ET2carbon]

@@gwugluud it's UJAM Instruments VIRTUAL PIANIST VOGUE

[@gwugluud]

@@ET2carbon Lol, I just have cables going out of my iPad interface, and I plug that into my PC interface and just record in real time on trax on my DAWs, usually Reaper. So I go around that completely.

[@mrrafsk]

Still nothing that touches Kontakt. Dreaming of drums (combining >5 random and velocity layers), Patterning Style Seq (with trigs), a 808/909/physicalMod synth engine to blend with the samples, and in app purchases of kits. Building something like this with multiple apps and sampleSets with AUM/Drambo/AudioLayer is very time consuming and difficult. So my dream app needs to have a designer mode for building kits and it’s UI, and then purchased/shared kits have a simple GUI’s specific for editing that kit’s playable/jamming/mappable parameters.

[@gustomadeit27]

Which Kontakt libraries do you recommend for drums?

[@nathanbryers]

Just bought it for a sweet sale price woop woop

[@user-jm5tl5ou9j]

What is the app name

[@Gymae]

Mannnn..... More videos on why to use Aum3 or auv3 or what was it.... Inter app audio... Yea' dat too!! Why of these as u can not go wrong mixing many techniques and secrets. On workflow for these set ups. Even if u did a step by step. On sum random on every video I would be down. I have alot of apps but don't use half of what I have. And the other half. I just find issues of I feel more block in not sure how to blend what I want. I watch video. And I don't feel I need to watch over and over. But I still feel complete. In satisfy from 1 watch. But still not sure how to have fun with the apps. Sooooo something is missing.

[@chrislynch9364]

Love Slammer but it’s a crying shame it’s only iPad compatible.

[@thebeatrumble]

Damn your Cumbia ain’t bad at all. You can start your own Sonidero tour.

[@JakobHaq]

Aw, Youre too kind!

[@thebeatrumble]

@@JakobHaq Crazy thing is, Cumbia is from Colombia that is traditionally played with an accordion but during the late 70s and 80s Northern Mexican bands started incorporating Synthesizers, workstation keyboards and electric drum kits to create a whole type of cumbia. One of the most influential bands is Grupo Peggaso which is credited with developing that sound.

[@Yahootie]

❤️ Bram Bos Hammerhead! Remember Moonfish and Tuareg?

[@brambos9370]

I certainly do! :-D

[@Yahootie]

@@brambos9370 😁👍

[@TheChameleon2008]

drumlabs for sale for 99 cents so i had to grab it after the review.

[@JeffyG]

I like the sounds and features of Indian Drummer, but the way Lumbeat sells these apps is expensive @ $20 - $25 each. If you want Rock, Funk, Jazz, Indian, Afro and Mid Eastern - you’re easily into $150 versus a sampler based drum machine, where you can drag in any samples you like.

[@JakobHaq]

You could easily get a sampler based instrument instead yeah. But there’s a lot of work to put into building instruments and then programming patterns. It takes time setting up multi sampled instruments together with all other settings. The lumbeat series drumming apps are targeted towards people who mostly just want to press play and fiddle with a few dials. All the sounds have been setup and all the rhythms programmed in. Want some variation, just press a button. Some people will happily pay for that convenience. 😅

[@EnriquePage91]

Watched your poll… didn’t know how to vote cause I had two options, both rompler and also true drums 😬. My “true drums” though, are just drum samplers triggered by an electric Drumkit so I guess I’m a Rompler guy? Lmao Not the “drummer” apps kinda guy tho (the Afro drummer, jazz drummer.. etc) like, the samples on those are AMAZING but I do not like the the apps so much (to begin with, it’s impossible to use them as sound banks for an actual Drumkit “controller”… so I basically bought them to sample from them and then use them inside Drambo and Digistix) I sometimes also mess with drum sequencing though… hammerhead was definitely one of this year’s surprises, probably my favorite “get a quick rhythm down” app 🙂

[@EnriquePage91]

Jakob. I see you’re reviewing Indian drummer… never thought of you as someone who’d be interested in those apps! Please correct me if I’m wrong but I believe the worst part of those apps (cause like you said, for your use case they are honestly probably the best apps, but not when you want to take control of what’s actually happening), really Is that you can only send midi in to most of them in order to trigger “program changes” and probabilities. Can’t actually send a simple “4 on the floor” groove from a sequencer and have it be used by the drummer app. Not having true midi input is honestly the worst part of these apps. For the other use cases (like yours), they’re probably the biggest “jam drummer” apps out there and in that regard they truly are one of a kind. If you’re like me, it takes a while but you can just sample them and then use them outside of that context (app so to speak), and they’re fantastic sound banks (albeit, primitive as you said). My favorite drum samples by far all come from the “drummer” apps, even though I literally use them like 2 times (to sample them) and then never use them again lmao.

[@fuxinferior2195]

Perhaps it’s just me or I’m missing something but I’m very surprised in regard to the lack of vintage old style drum machines/rhythm machines on iOS. It’s actually very very annoying to the point I’m considering leaving iOS. Surely there is a developer that can see the blindingly obvious? Concentrate on the sound - I do not want a multitude of options crammed in - in my opinion just leave the rest to those making music. Like I say, perhaps it’s just me, If I was a developer I’d make one anyway- The opportunity to look and sound wonderful is huge! This might be the part where someone says “FunkBox?” Yeah I have heard of that one 😂

[@soulsynthesisrecords]

Drumlab not being auv3 is criminal

[@spellerlittlewing]

Nice how about something simple

[@thomasipad7719]

Jakob. Really. PLEASE name your video timestamps with the names of the Apps!!! Not some strange title, even if you call the chapter so. THANKS!

[@PlexxBeatz]

Where would I be w/o Mr.HaQ

[@JakobHaq]

Where would I be without my viewers? 💋💋💋

[@trancemuter]

drumjam is also very very good and nobody talks about it

[@JakobHaq]

Sure, but it does not fit a 2021 list since it came out back in 2012. I do think Doug (The sound test room) uses it a lot.

[@kin4351]

Here’s a comment

[@kin4351]

Comment

[@illusorymail]

good review. drop the silly graphics of your face tho

[@JakobHaq]

Nope but thanks for watching! 👊

[@kin4351]

Apparently u tube likes comments

[@spellerlittlewing]

Most of these are just for iPad I’ll hunt for a simple one for my iPhone

[@TheChameleon2008]

but many of these apps just have to many button to configure so its hard to make them for the iphone.

[@databang]

( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ" Great, I just fired my drummer! LOL

[@JakobHaq]

😂