liveBPM - Beat Detector App Reviews

Top Bpm counter, fast and accurate even at low volume! The ui could be improved, rather low-level design.

As a drummer, I always dreamed of having a gadget for real-time feedback of my tempo. As an electrical engineer, it seemed a mobile app would be the perfect way to go. But to reliably extract the bpm from whatever acoustic sounds the mic is picking up? Wow, thats a tough problem. While looking around for ideas and tools on how I might make my own, I stumbled upon liveBPM. There must be a lot more under the hood than the simple interface would suggest, because this app is very robust. Im very impressed with how it responds to changes in volume, rhythm pattern or tempo. Clap a simple rhythm along to a metronome in the background, then turn off the metronome to watch your how your internal tempo drifts. Its fun to watch the bpm graph with your eyes open or closed. If new releases of liveBPM are planned Id love to add a second graph displaying the position of individual claps relative to the current measure. An excellent, well-engineered app.

I took to this app the first time I ever used it. I have it installed on an old 3GS for back up. Sometimes I put the extra (the 3Gs) on the floor close to the bass player so he can have his own reference. I use it on my iPad for non-singing gigs and on my iPhone for all the rest. A must have for any serious drummer or bass player wanting to rein-in an errant drummer! It works on the floor, sitting on my bass drum or mounted on a stand!

The others Ive tried were grossly inaccurate or required tapping.

This app seems nice in principle, but it cant count very high. Its counting every Coltrane tune I put on in halftime (160 vs. the actual quarter note speed of 320, etc.). If the developers are going to charge four dollars for this, youd think they might have listened to a jazz album once or twice. If you play jazz, save your money.

The app does what it claims to do... for some music. If a tune has a consistent down beat, it keeps track pretty well. But it cannot keep up with anything that has a lot of off beats; it gets confused very easily. If you plan to use this with rock, jazz, etc. it will probably work very well for you, but if you are doing something more advanced dont expect much.

Simple Tool, does exacly what it should. im a dj and this really simplyfies syncronization! Thx!

This beat tracker enables live measurement of your beat performances and rehearsals. It works very well and is extremely usable to monitor your drummer. An export function for the tempo graph would be desirable as well as the ability to run in background. This software should not be missing in any musicians collection.

Fantastic app. Im still in shock it actually works. Would love a version with a "count off" feature so I dont need two devices for gigs. I currently use this and set list maker. Thanks again.

Thanks to Daniel for creating this! This app is a great tool for performances, rehearsal and practice sessions. I am certain that working with this app will surely improve ones time and confidence. I highly recommend this app and I cant wait to see where Daniel takes this. A must have for any rhythm section player!

I am a professional drummer, and I am in love with this app. I have used it with numerous styles and various rhythms, and it works perfectly. I have also checked it with my metronome to ensure accuracy, and its dead on. It even is able to figure out 2/2 as opposed to 4/4. I dont know how, but Im impressed!!!!

Brought it to last nights gig on an iPod Touch. I play bass. Set it up where the drummer and I could both see it. Way more useful than a metronome in this application, because its not forcing anything. It just tells you which way youre drifting.

I heard a lot about the accuracy of this app. Was exited to do a trail run. Paid my money. Then nothing but a blank screen. Ive got a IPod touch running iOs 5.0.5. And would really like to have this app.

I usually dont rate apps. I wanted to rate this one because I was so impressed. Im using it on an iPhone 5 with the latest OS. Its not optimized for the taller screen, but that doesnt affect functionality. I used this at my last band practice and wasnt expecting it work. I couldnt believe how quickly and accurately it started tracking the bpm, even despite the very loud volume of our music. One thing I noticed is that it sometimes loses the time signature. For example, it might be reading at 120bpm, but then a change in drum pattern will cause it to read at half or double tempo. This happens very rarely and doesnt affect the usefulness of the app. The only change Id like to see in future updates, other than being optimized for iPhone 5 screen, is the ability to tap something to indicate where a song starts and stops. Sort of like a lap timer on a stopwatch. That way I could go back and look at the tempo graph for various songs. All in all, its a great app.

Keeps things from getting out of control. Of course, what is control? Dan, great work. I wish you would create a looper.

I use this app every time my band and I get together and practice. Its a great way to accurately determine exactly what speed we like playing a song at. Whenever some says, "That felt a little fast," I can just show them the graph.

First off this app is totally worth the money and I recommend it to any serious rhythm player. I have already been promoting it a lot. I am a professional drummer and I have been looking for something like this for years! Unless your playing with backing tracks or recording, Playing with a Click is too Mechanical. This app allows the tempo to breathe, and its like a little angel on your shoulder telling you the band is speeding up or slowing down. It is totally worth the money, but I have two requests: 1) MUST HAVE Include integrated metronome with capability to store tempos for a set list like the "Tempo" app this way I could click on a song and see the tempo to start out with. It would be great if you could choose how many measures for that to go for, just to help start at the right tempo, then the app could go into BPM detection mode. Thats the only problem with this app is that it does not help me know exactly what tempo to start a song, and during a show I do not have time to experiment with different taps to find the right tempo. 2) NICE TO HAVE Ability to save the graph for different performances If you could integrate number 1 above this would be the best tempo tool app on the market and I would easily pay at least twice as much maybe even four times the current value. Please add number 1 above!! Great app thanks!! CV

It would be great if there would be an option to scroll back in the tempo line, say you would record a half hour performance to see how the tempo steadiness was.

I loved this, but not since change to io7. It no longer works at all. A bandmate bought with io7 and his doesnt work either. Or only at much higher db than before. But not with the graph function. Anyone else?

Its not perfect but it really does the job. I use a mount on my hihat stand to hold the phone on gigs. There is a 3 or 4 second lag so the trick is not to chase the reading. With the running graph and the bpm display its easy to see if songs are tending to speed up or slow down before things get out of control. As mentioned it sometimes drops the time signature and will display double or half time, but it recovers quickly. I love this thing! What astounds me is that it actually pretty much works! One bug is that if I get a text it stops working. It would be great if there was a count in metronome. Currently itss my favorite music app.....