$300 iPad App, Different Drummer, Lets You Tap Into The ‘Fountain Of Drumming’

Hologramophone has released a iPad drum machine app, Different Drummer – priced at $299.99 – that promises to let you ‘use the innate rhythmic power of waves to control all aspects of drumming.’

Here’s what they have to say about their approach:

Since waves are the primal source of all cyclical motion in the Universe, it makes sense to tap into them for musical purposes other than synthesizers. Not only can waves create sounds, they can play sounds too! Basically, we have discovered the “Fountain of Drumming” and we are sharing our discovery with the world!

Features:

  • 8 Drum Tracks with 4-wave Cyclophone Controls
  • Control drum pitches, rests, ties and dynamics
  • Instant Capture in case you hear a killer beat you want saved
  • Save Wave Sets to Wave Library
  • String Wave Sets together in saved Sequences
  • Export Wave Sets as MIDI Files (via iTunes)
  • Over 70 stereo drum sounds (each update will have more)
  • Over 70 musical scales
  • Reverb effect and mixer
  • Automation for randomizing and morphing playback

No demo videos or audio demos are available at this point for Different Drummer, and features like MIDI sync, found in other iPad drum machine apps, are missing in action. Other developers, though, have not tapped into the “Fountain Of Drumming”.

Different Drummer is available for $299.99 in the App Store.

80 thoughts on “$300 iPad App, Different Drummer, Lets You Tap Into The ‘Fountain Of Drumming’”

  7. No way – this has to be a joke – and no video either? I dont care about this developer but I would like to meet the person who actually bought it. Buahahah

  16. Oh Apple, have you worked yourself into commercially ripping people off with these nutty developers in your back pocket

    I reckon Steve Jobs would have seen this as obscene

    But whatever

    1. yep:
      Lemur
      Auria
      animoog
      There are a list of apps actually worth more than $20 on the app store. There’s no way this is one of them, haha.

        1. Actually, Beatmaker2 is on another list: costs-less-than-$20 but worth way more :).
          But honestly, I’d love to see an innovative drum app on the way-expensive-but-worth-it list. I shouldn’t have said there’s no way this app is good… It just has a lot to live up to even if they adjust the price to 29.99

      2. I own animoog. Although is a bit expensive its worth every penny. Its not a silly drum app. Love the ”random preset” and “force to scale” features from that app/synth. I dont have a lot of synths in my ipad, then animoog is the first choice. Also it supports the current version of iOS from my ipad1 (4.2). Sorry, too laze here to make a upgrade to the 5.11

  21. Intrigued as to why our erstwhile Synthtopia leader hasn’t commented on the price? That’s more of a story than the app itself! They probably blew the budget of marketing bollocks – ‘fountain of drumming’?!!

    1. Look closer, they have.

      “No demo videos or audio demos are available at this point for Different Drummer, and features like MIDI sync, found in other iPad drum machine apps, are missing in action. Other developers, though, have not tapped into the ‘Fountain Of Drumming.'”

  24. I like the scientology style introduction text. It’s the kind of products that are targeted at whack people. There are examples of this everywhere so it’s just about time that esoteric apps arrive at the iOS music platform. Proves that the platform has matured.

  30. I guess is people are stupid enough to pay 300 bucks for something that they have never seen in action or have no way of seeing it on action, they deserve what they get…

  31. Yeah this is most definitely whack. In a market where first impressions and looks are everything having a gui that looks awful (looks like a freeware app) seems like an awful idea when trying to sell it for 300 bucks. and don’t even get me started on the fact that theres no demos, ugh thats a whole other story.

  34. If you ask me, this is pretty clever marketing – put an app out at a ridiculous price point, have blogs write about it and generate buzz, then drop the price down to $2.99 “oops we made a mistake”… I imagine a lot of people will pick it up at that point JUST to see what the hell it is!

  35. I love this on their site…

    “VIDEOS COMING SOON: We know you need to see and hear it before you buy! Also, we are planning an update soon so you should wait until version 1.01 anyway.”

    Genius.

  36. You know what would be truly funny? Is if it turned out that once they set it at $2.99, a shitload of people buy it to try it out and realize it’s this mindblowingly awesome drum synth? Like so cool it creates a new genre of electronic music and it becomes the #1 drum sound in Western music? Yeah, probably not, but it would make a hilarious story.

  39. Intriguing…possibly worth it for a larger studio and not geared to hobbyists on an app budget. You may never know until you hear a new beat style popping up in 2013 and by then they’ll probably have a lite version. Apps go up to 1k for study apps like BarMax.

  40. Their description sounds like it’s a sequencer with parameters based around interacting quantized lfos… or at least, a patch I made doing that in Plogue Bidule is what it made me think of. I’ll sell anybody the patch for only $199. Can’t guarantee that I won’t be underpriced from absolutely anybody else who knows how to use Bidule or Reaktor or Max or PD or Usine any of the other programs for people who want to do weird shit. I would love to see some new legit software, that’s easier to use than those, which leads to “a new beat style,” but I think there’s something about the iPad software market that leads to underdeveloped ripoffs at the moment.

  42. Last Words in Different Drummer web :

    ABOUT THE PRICE: First, we don’t know what the final price of this will be but it won’t be $2.99! Esoteric software is not required to conform with any expected norm, including pricing. Maybe we don’t want to sell any and maybe you can’t afford it. We understand it seems odd. Pretend it doesn’t exist (like before) and your ‘problem’ is solved. Just because there are thousands of great apps for a buck or so, doesn’t mean that’s what they are actually worth. In fact, the app market has greatly undervalued great software, leading to many losses for developers and a few sparse wins. Thousands of people shell our 150 bucks for drum machines and autotune every day. What’s a really great drum beat worth? Or thousands? How much time does it take to create them? No matter what, we only expect to sell this to a few serious producers and intrepid musicians who are bored with the status quo in drum programming, just like their audience is. They’ll have it and others won’t, that’s all.
    That said…we will be offering a Christmas Special for a very limited time so be on the lookout.
    http://www.technemedia.com/drummer/

    My words : Crazy

  44. From there site:

    “ABOUT THE PRICE: First, we don’t know what the final price of this will be but it won’t be $2.99! Esoteric software is not required to conform with any expected norm, including pricing. Maybe we don’t want to sell any and maybe you can’t afford it. We understand it seems odd. Pretend it doesn’t exist (like before) and your ‘problem’ is solved. Just because there are thousands of great apps for a buck or so, doesn’t mean that’s what they are actually worth. In fact, the app market has greatly undervalued great software, leading to many losses for developers and a few sparse wins. Thousands of people shell our 150 bucks for drum machines and autotune every day. What’s a really great drum beat worth? Or thousands? How much time does it take to create them? No matter what, we only expect to sell this to a few serious producers and intrepid musicians who are bored with the status quo in drum programming, just like their audience is. They’ll have it and others won’t, that’s all.
    That said…we will be offering a Christmas Special for a very limited time so be on the lookout.”

    genius…

  46. I looked through their site and I think they have some legit ideas. SOME. It looks underdeveloped, and with the attitude of that statement they’re gonna put people off this before they have a chance to develop it more. People would totally get into this if it was a free Max for Live patch instead of what appears to be CD-ROM-ware from 1994.

  47. Also, I really recommend learning some kind of patching program to anybody who’s got the time, you can make your own version of apps like this, that’s what’s making me come back here for more details.

  48. I seriously doubt a “patching program” would be as nice to work with as a dedicated app and it sounds like you’d be just ripping off other people’s ideas in a lame way and wasting weeks or months of time to do it. I’d rather spend $200 and work on the music instead of the nerd approach. Every time I see someone using MAX or one of those patch programs it seems like someone who’s never been laid.

  50. That is really attention-grabbing, You are an excessively skilled blogger. I have joined your rss feed and look ahead to seeking more of your fantastic post. Also, I’ve shared your web site in my social networks

  51. Have the app and love it! Jammed with a friend of mine and she loved it too. There are now two audio samples on the site, i am sure more will be coming. See another guy’s quote up there– great endorsement. The creator of the app is also the author of pixound app and Quark Design Pad. Here is developer’s personal website http://www.petermcclard.com.

    1. The app has already dropped to 149.00 with no reviews, it obviously not selling, a bit costly for just a drum app. You can get a full daw app with sampler drums sequencer and more for much less.

    2. Sorry I usually don’t comment on iOS or mobile stuff – I’ll never own this app and I don’t even own an iOS device, but I thought this deserved comment.

      This app looks very interesting – it does seem to have more up-front modulation capability than most drum sequencer plugins. However, the developer seems to be trying to patent something called “Cyclophone Technology” that is meant to be a new way to modulate music and timing parameters. After reading the background material on it, I can’t figure out the difference between this and LFO modulation. Can someone explain what you’re supposed to be able to do with “waves” in “Cyclophone Technology” that you can’t do with LFO modulation applied to the appropriate parameter?

      Again, this seems like a very interesting program in the *way* modulation sources are presented, but what exactly is patentable about all this? Maybe someone with some more hands-on experience with the app, like Valeriya can comment?

      1. I’ve never heard of a Tie or Rest “parameter” in LFO parlance or for that matter “Cycles per Measure”. I’ve heard of unquantized pitch and dynamics and panning but this app seems to have a unique approach and they are not claiming to patent LFOs. How can Apple patent an iPad since it’s made out of metal, glass and plastic…common materials? It’s the way it’s organized that matters not the components that everybody “after the fact” thinks are so obvious. Anything becomes obvious once someone has shown you the idea and that why patents are there to protect inventors from imitators.

    2. while it looks interesting, but i would be a $20 wanker.

      i wonder if their buisness model can survive this price and concept.

      if they’re hoping for higher-end studios, i would imagine that a computer daw makes more sense for those folks, not an ios drum machine.

      just my two cents

  55. At least it has a fan, and perhaps a buyer. One buy, and that’s a deal for the developpers.

    150€… Really for differents people than me.

  56. actually 129€ or something.
    still, judging by the “new and redesigned” homepage, this looks like a scam.
    i am sure it is not but the presentation of this app just radiates unprofessionalism, sorry to say.

    i invite everyone to go and have a look themselves.

  57. How could it be a scam if they have sold them and the users are happy with it? I have yet to find one negative comment about the app from a user of the app, only from non-users. Yes, their website is a little amateurish but it doesn’t make them dishonest. I find your comments to be pointless as to the actual value of the software and more about your own aesthetics or pricing model. I don’t see why it’s OK to sell loops for 100€ but it’s a crime to sell quality software for generating all sorts of loops for slightly more. I’d like to see the price drop too but I’m not judging these guys for exercising their rights. People are just spoiled now and want everything for nothing. I think I just talked myself into buying it.

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