About Lumbeat

Lumbeat is a family of iOS drum and bass apps built to make your grooves sound like a real drummer, expressive and human, never robotic. Every app shares the same interface and connects to the rest of the family, so you can move ideas freely between drums, percussion, and bass.

The app family

The Lumbeat family includes 14 apps. Each one specializes in a rhythmic tradition while sharing the same engine, MIDI features, and inter-app connections.

Full AUv3 plugin support currently ships in Pop Drummer, iBassist, and Soft Drummer. The other apps run standalone and connect through IAA and Audiobus; AUv3 is being rolled out across the catalog.

How the apps run

There are three ways to run a Lumbeat app, and a few features depend on which one you use.

• Standalone, the app on its own, with the full feature set: Settings, Export, iCloud Backups, and Sound Module mode.
• AUv3 plugin, load the app inside a host like Logic Pro, Cubasis, AUM, GarageBand, or Drambo. You get maximum stability, multiple instances, and full state-saving inside your project. See Using Lumbeat as an AUv3.
• IAA (legacy), Inter-App Audio and Audiobus, used by the older apps. For tempo sync, prefer Ableton Link.

Background audio

All Lumbeat apps keep playing when you switch to another app, except the Free / Lite versions, which stop in the background. Use the Full version for any live or recording workflow.

Free trial & Full Version

Pop Drummer, Soft Drummer, and iBassist offer a 7-day free trial, after which premium features need a one-time Full Version purchase. The apps keep working after the trial, with some added limitations. Your saved grooves, songs, and live pad sets are never deleted. See Trial & Full Version for the complete breakdown.

The Interface

Every drummer app organizes the main screen into three zones. Learn these once and you know your way around the whole family.

The three zones

• Control Panel (top), playback, tempo, real-time performance controls, and global toggles like Link, Cloud, MIDI, and Song Mode. See Transport & Tempo.
• Rhythm & Sound Library (middle), the Bank → Rhythm → Sound browser, plus Lock Groove, Favorite, and the add button. See Rhythm & Sound Library.
• Pattern Editor & Navigation Bar (bottom), the step-sequencer grid and the mode buttons (Edit, Patterns, Sounds, Mixer, Effects, Jam, Live Pads, Basic, Full) plus Save, Replace, Rename, and Delete. See Pattern Editor.

iPad Header

The header is the bar across the top of the screen. On iPad it shows every performance and global control at once, transport (Play, Fill), tempo, the Jam and Swing controls, the cymbal and snare toggles, the effect quick-buttons, and the global tools (Mixer, Cloud, MIDI, Song Mode, and more). On iPhone the same controls are reorganized into menus and dedicated buttons.

Tap any control in the iPad header below to jump to its section in this manual.

iPad vs iPhone

The two layouts expose the same features, arranged differently.

• iPad shows all three Bank/Rhythm/Sound columns at once and places effect quick-buttons and several extra controls directly on the top bar.
• iPhone shows the columns one at a time and moves some controls into a side drawer (☰) or behind dedicated buttons, for example, you reach the effects through the Effects button instead of header quick-toggles.

Transport & Tempo

The controls that start, stop, and time your groove. Everything here lives on the Control Panel at the top of the screen.

Play / Stop

Starts or stops playback. The drummer always enters at the top of the next bar, so you get a clean musical entry every time.

FILL ► (Fill + Play/End)

Two related transport buttons make the drummer play a musical fill. The difference is what happens around it.

FILL ► (Fill + Play) is the quick, hands-free way to start and end a performance with a fill, one of the most practical controls in the app:

• To start playing, with the drummer stopped, tap FILL ►. The drummer plays a lead-in fill and the groove kicks in right after, a natural count-off that sounds like a real drummer starting the song.
• To stop playing, while the drummer is playing, tap FILL ►. The drummer plays a closing fill and then stops on the next bar, ending the take with a stylish flourish instead of an abrupt cut.
• Cancel the stop, while that closing fill is playing, tap FILL ► again to cancel the automatic stop and keep the groove going.

So you can open and close a whole take from this one button, without reaching for Play/Stop separately.

FILL is for fills during a performance, transitions, breaks, and spontaneous jamming:

• Stopped, tap FILL to play a one-bar fill, then the groove starts.
• Playing, tap FILL to drop a live fill into the current bar and keep the groove going (it does not stop, that's what FILL ► is for).

Live Fill

Drops a real-time improvised fill the instant you tap it, without stopping playback. Unlike FILL ►, it has no built-in ending, it's a spontaneous rhythmic addition that makes your tracks feel like a live drummer.

COUNT

Adds a count-in before playback so you're ready from the first beat, perfect for practicing or recording. COUNT is off by default; when you turn it on, two buttons appear so you can choose a 1-bar or 2-bar count-in. Each bar counts the full measure of the current groove (for example, four beats in 4/4).

TAP & BPM

Set the tempo by feel: tap the TAP button in time with a song or idea. The tempo display updates in real time, and the + / − buttons nudge the BPM up or down.

Bars to Fill

A number control on the header (shown as 8, for example) sets how often the drummer plays an automatic fill, every 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, or 32 bars, or Off for no automatic fills. It's the quick header shortcut to the same Bars to Fill setting in the JAM panel (see Fill behavior). The FILL and FILL ► buttons still work at any time regardless of this setting, which only governs the automatic fills.

Feel & Dynamics

The controls that shape how the drummer plays, how loose, how hard, how shuffled, and in what personal style.

Drummer Style

Choose a drummer "character" that adapts the improvisation and fills, not the sounds. The Drummer button sits next to the Jam control. Available in several apps, each with its own sub-styles (for example, Jazz Drummer offers Swing, Be Bop, and Modern Bop; Reggae Drummer offers Classic, Modern, and Contemporary).

Pop Drummer includes three drummers: Grover (free), plus Cindy and Beaton as premium drummers bundled into the Full Version.

Soft Drummer includes its default drummer plus Clayton and Joe, sold as separate in-app add-ons (purchasable once you have the Full Version).

Humanize

Humanize gives your pattern a natural, human touch by varying the velocity of notes, how hard each note is played, so hits don't all land at the same strength, like a real drummer. It affects velocity (note intensity) only; it does not change timing.

Start with a tighter preset for subtle motion and a looser one for a more organic, played-by-hand feel. Because the columns are the three hit types, you can humanize ghost notes more than accents, for example.

Jam & Intensity

The single most expressive control: how much the drummer improvises, and how hard it plays.

Several apps, Soft Drummer, Rock Drum Machine, Jazz Drummer, and Funk Drummer, use a 2D slider: drag horizontally to set Jam (improvisation, from zero variation on the left to maximum spontaneity on the right), and vertically to set Intensity (how hard the drummer plays, softer at the bottom, stronger at the top). It snaps back to center vertically for a balanced standard intensity.

Pop Drummer uses a one-dimensional Jam slider (no vertical intensity axis), and adds a separate Jam Effects control. See The JAM Panel.

Swing

Swing adjusts the rhythmic feel by delaying every second 16th note in a pair, creating a "lopsided", shuffled groove that feels more human. The more swing you add, the less mechanical the pattern sounds.

• Double-tap to reset, double-tap the Swing control to snap it to the natural default for the current groove: a moderate swing for straight grooves, the standard shuffle amount for triplet grooves.
• Show Swing, the red eye icon next to the Swing control, toggles a visual overlay of the swing offsets in the editor. The icon sits to the right of the slider on iPad, and above the knob on iPhone and in the AUv3. This is visual only; the swing is heard either way.

Performance Toggles

One-tap switches that change the character of a groove without editing the pattern by hand.

Toggle Ride / Hats

Switches the cymbal pattern between hi-hat and ride cymbal instantly.

• Hi-hat, tighter, more controlled, sharper and more driving (funk, pop, electronic).
• Ride cymbal, open, sustained, with a wider, flowing feel (jazz, rock).

Toggle Cross / Snare

Switches the snare track between a soft cross-stick (a rim click for ballads, bossa nova, and jazz) and a full snare hit (sharp and pronounced for rock, pop, and hip-hop). Great for contrasting sections within a song.

Effect quick buttons

On iPad, Comp, EQ, Delay, and Reverb appear as quick toggles directly on the Control Panel. On iPhone, reach them through the Effects button. Full controls live in the Mixer & Effects view, see Mixer & Effects.

Rhythm & Sound Library

The middle section is your content browser, built around a simple hierarchy: Bank → Rhythm → Sound.

Bank, Rhythm, and Sound

On iPad all three columns are visible at once; on iPhone they appear one at a time.

Banks

Tap a bank to filter the rhythms to that style. Factory style banks are read-only. The starred (★) bank at the top holds your Favorites, and the list ends with a permanent User bank plus any custom banks you make. See User Banks.

Lock Groove (Sound Lock)

Locks the active groove against the Randomize function and accidental changes. Use it when you've found a groove you want to keep while you experiment with sounds or other settings. A lock icon on a rhythm shows it's protected.

Randomize (dice)

The dice button generates a random groove and, if Sound Lock is off, also rolls a random drum kit. With Sound Lock on, only the groove changes and your current sounds stay intact. It's a fast way to spark ideas and discover new beat and sound combinations.

Favorite

Tap the ★ to save the current groove to your Favorites for instant access later. Favorites live in the starred bank at the top of the bank list.

The add (+) button

Adds or modifies rhythms and sounds, your entry point for expanding the library. On iPhone, the + is also how you open the New Groove generator. See New Groove.

Quick rhythm transforms

Three small buttons at the top of the iPad layout transform the current rhythm into a temporary "scratch" version you can audition, then keep or discard.

• Groove ×2 / Groove :2, doubles or halves the rhythm's length (the label flips automatically). ×2 repeats the whole pattern back-to-back; :2 keeps only the first half. Tempo stays the same.
• TIME /2, reinterprets the same notes at half the time scale, packing twice the subdivisions per beat for a busier, more driving feel.
• TIME ×2, the opposite: each hit lasts twice as long, for a spacious, laid-back half-time feel (ballads, slow hip-hop, trip-hop).

Pattern Editor

The step sequencer at the heart of every Lumbeat app, giving you precise control over every drum hit.

The grid

Each row is a drum instrument; each column is a rhythmic subdivision. Tap a cell to add a hit, or tap it again to cycle through the intensity layers.

The color system

Cells are color-coded by velocity layer (also called a hit type), and each color triggers a different audio sample, not just a different volume. That multi-sample approach is what makes Lumbeat grooves sound human instead of like a machine gun.

Percussion apps go further. The percussion apps, Indian Drummer, AfroLatin Drum Machine, and Mid East Drummer, use four hit types: Ghost, Accent, Slap, and Open, with their own colors instead of the grey/white/red convention. The exact hit types can vary depending on the specific percussion instrument.

The Red Box trick

A hidden feature for building complex rhythms inside a standard grid:

1. Long-press a step column in the editor.
2. A red box appears around the beat that column belongs to.
3. Drag up or down to change the number of subdivisions for that specific beat.

This lets you drop triplets, rapid rolls, or polyrhythmic subdivisions into a single beat without changing the overall time signature. Different beats in the same bar can each have their own subdivision density, for example, a triplet fill on beat 4 while beats 1–3 stay straight 16ths.

Basic vs Full

• Basic, shows only the core tracks (hi-hat, snare, kick).
• Full, shows every available instrument track.

You can toggle this from the Basic / Full buttons on the navigation bar (below), or from the Full / Basic item in the editor's top chevron toolbar.

The chevron toolbars

The Pattern Editor has small chevron tabs centered on its top and (on iPhone) bottom edges. Tap a chevron to slide out a row of extra controls, then tap it again to tuck the row away. You can also swipe the tab open or closed. If you leave a toolbar open without touching it for a few seconds, it shrinks and dims so it stays out of the way, just tap it to bring it back.

Top toolbar (down-chevron), on iPad and iPhone. Slides down from the top of the grid with three view controls:

• Sound buttons (speaker icon), shows or hides the left column of per-instrument drum images. Hide it for a wider editing grid; show it to tap a drum and change its sound (see Drum Kits & Sounds).
• Scroll (the ↔ icon), toggles horizontal scrolling of the grid, handy for long bars or dense subdivisions that don't fit on screen at once.
• Full / Basic, the same track toggle as above, right on the editor.

Bottom toolbar (up-chevron), iPhone only. Slides up from the bottom with Save · Replace · Rename · Delete, the groove-management actions (see below). On iPad these are a permanently visible bar, so there is no bottom chevron.

The Navigation Bar

The bottom bar switches between modes, each with tools for a different part of drumming: Edit · Patterns · Sounds · Mixer · Effects · Jam · Live Pads · Basic · Full.

Save, Replace, Rename, Delete

On iPhone these four buttons live behind the up-chevron at the bottom of the editor (see The chevron toolbars). On iPad they are a permanently visible bar.

New Groove

Generate a fresh pattern from scratch by choosing a time signature and the hi-hat, snare, and kick parameters. On iPhone, this is the + button.

Time signature

Define the measure in two equivalent ways, they describe the same bar, so changing one updates the other. Use whichever you think in.

Beats & Subs

BEATS is how many beats are in the bar (the pulse you count); SUBS is how many subdivisions each beat is split into (the grid cells per beat). The bar's total number of steps is BEATS × SUBS.

Time Signature (NUM / DEN)

Standard musical notation, a top number over a bottom number. NUM (numerator, top) is how many beats are in the bar; DEN (denominator, bottom) is the note value of each beat, 4 = quarter note, 8 = eighth note. The app translates the time signature into Beats & Subs: simple meters (DEN = 4) give NUM beats each subdivided, while compound meters (DEN = 8 with NUM a multiple of 3) are felt in groups of three eighth notes per beat.

Pattern options

• Hats / Ride, None · Beats · Eighths · Sixteenths · Random
• Snare, None · Beats · Off Beats · Random
• Kick, None · Beats · On Beats · Off Beats · Random

Action buttons

• Cancel, discards your settings and exits.
• Adapt Current Groove, restructures your existing pattern to fit the new time signature while keeping its core feel. For example, a 4/4 rock groove adapted to 12/8 becomes a smooth shuffle.
• OK, generates a completely new pattern from the parameters you set.

Drum Kits & Sounds

A drum kit is the set of sounds the app uses to play your groove. Pick a preset, build one by hand, randomize it, or save your own.

What's in a kit

A kit assigns one sound to each drum track, kick, snare, hi-hats, ride, cross-stick, high tom, and low tom, plus two crash cymbals that fire on accents and the ends of fills. Every sound belongs to exactly one track type, so you can't accidentally land a snare in the kick slot.

The two crash cymbals

Each kit always carries two crashes (a left and a right), drawn from a shared crash pool.

• Tap a crash slot in the Drum Kit view to open the crash list and pick a different cymbal. Each slot is independent, you can even pick two of the same.
• Both crashes are saved with the kit, so recalling a kit restores the exact pair.
• Crashes are included when you Randomize.

Picking or building a kit

1. Pick a preset, open the Drum Kit picker and tap a kit; every track is set at once.
2. Build it sound by sound, tap a track to open its sound list, which shows only sounds that fit that track. Pick one and only that track changes; the rest of the kit stays.

How sound selection looks depends on the app. Pop Drummer and Soft Drummer use the modern Drum Kit view shown above, tap a piece to change its sound (rolling out to more apps). The other apps use a set of sound selector wheels: one scrollable column per kit piece (or percussion voice), where you spin a column to choose that piece's sound. Either way, the result is the same, one sound per component.

Randomizing the kit

The dice (Random) button rolls a fresh, always-playable kit: one random sound per track plus two new crashes. Random doesn't save anything, so if you like the result, save it as a named kit before rolling again.

Saving custom kits & in-app sounds

Save any combination, hand-built or random, as a named custom kit. It appears alongside the presets and can be recalled anytime.

Soft Drummer expands its sound library through purchases in the Soft Drum Shop. The add-on packs are Tight Control, Presence, Big & Low, and Raw Brush. After you buy a pack, the new sounds appear in the per-track lists in their correct slot, new kits appear in the picker, and Random includes them right away, no restart needed. Locked sounds show a lock indicator; tapping one opens the purchase screen.

Other apps offer extra sounds too: Future Drummer, for example, has additional sounds available as in-app purchases.

Mixer & Effects

Balance your kit and shape its tone with per-instrument controls and four built-in effects.

The Mixer

The Mixer gives every drum its own channel, a volume fader, a set of knobs, Mute (M) and Solo (S), and a sound button, plus a Master channel and a dedicated Crash channel on the right.

Per-channel controls

• Volume fader, the vertical slider; sets the channel's level in the mix.
• GHOST, the level of that drum's ghost notes (the soft, un-accented hits, the grey layer in the editor). Raise it to bring ghost notes forward, lower it to tuck them under the main hits. Standalone only The ghost level can't currently be changed in the AUv3.
• PAN, stereo placement, left ↔ right.
• REV, how much of that channel is sent to the reverb (its reverb amount).
• TUNE, the drum's pitch (in the apps and views that include it).
• M / S, mute or solo the channel.
• Sound button, shows the drum as an image (or the drum's name in some apps). Tap it to open the sound picker and choose a different sound for that track.

Master, filter & sends

• Master fader, the overall output level.
• LPF, a master low-pass filter (only in some drummers).
• Send Reverb, the amount of the aux send reverb. Each channel's REV knob feeds this one shared reverb, and Send Reverb sets its overall return. It's separate from the insert reverb in the effects chain, which processes the whole mix (below).
• Crash, a dedicated channel for the crash cymbals.

Tap SAVE to store the current mix into the drum kit (soundset), each time you load that soundset, these mixer values come back. RESET returns the mix to its defaults. The screen above is the simple Mixer view, just the channel strips. A full Mixer view shows them together with the series (insert) effects and the drum kit on one screen. On iPhone the Mixer is its own uncluttered section; reach effects through the Effects button.

The effects

Four built-in insert effects process the whole mix in series, each with its own on/off toggle.

Effects send routing

Configure how much of each instrument feeds into the effects bus. Pop Drummer can also couple the effects send to the Jam amount, see The JAM Panel.

The JAM Panel

One place to tell the drummer how loose or strict to be, how much it deviates from the pattern, how often it fills, and when it crashes. Every control acts in real time; changes are heard on the next bar.

Jam & Intensity

The master Jam slider (0–100) sets the amount of improvisation. At 0 the drummer plays the pattern exactly; raise it and the drummer adds ghost notes, opens hats, displaces accents, varies the snare, and invents micro-fills. Past about 70 the playing gets visibly busy.

Soft Drummer adds stepped Jam and Intensity pads beside the slider, tap to step the values up and down. Higher intensity makes the drummer play harder, opening more accents and crashes.

Jam Effects

Pop Drummer adds a Jam Effects row that couples the jam amount to the effects bus:

• Jam Effects slider (0–100), as it rises, the drummer sends progressively more signal into the enabled effects.
• Delay, toggle the delay return for the jam-driven send.
• Del Subs, add a sub-octave layer to the delay return for fatter low-end repeats.
• Reverb, toggle the reverb return for the jam-driven send.

Fill behavior

• Bars to Fill, Off / 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 24 / 32. How often the drummer plays an automatic fill. Off means no automatic fills (you can still trigger them by hand with FILL).
• Crash Cymbal After Fill, Never / Seldom / Sometimes / Usually / Always. How likely the bar after a fill starts with a crash. The middle choices add randomness so repeats don't sound identical.
• Add Kick With Crash, No / Some / Always. Whether the drummer doubles a crash with a kick on the same beat. "Some" is probabilistic, like a real player.

How Jam and Bars to Fill work together

User Banks

User banks are where every groove you save lives. Factory style banks are read-only; your banks are yours to name, reorder, and delete.

The User bank vs custom banks

• User (default), always present, always at the bottom, and can't be renamed, moved, or deleted. It's a permanent safety net.
• Custom banks, banks you create (like "Live Set" or "Demos"). Rename, reorder, and delete them freely. If you delete a custom bank, all its grooves move into the default User bank, nothing is lost.

Saving a groove

1. With a groove loaded, tap Save.
2. Enter a groove name.
3. Up to four user banks appear as buttons; the current one is highlighted. Tap one to choose the destination.
4. Tap Save to "[bank name]". The groove appears in that bank.

Creating a new bank

From the same dialog, type the groove name, tap Save to New Bank…, then enter the bank name and tap Create & Save. Every bank is born with its first groove, there's no "create empty bank" command.

Managing a custom bank

Long-press any custom bank to open a management card with Rename, Move Up / Move Down, Delete, and Done. Deleting asks for confirmation, then moves the bank's grooves into the default User bank.

Moving a groove between banks

There's no drag-and-drop. To move a groove from bank A to bank B:

1. Select bank A and tap the groove (it loads).
2. Switch the bank list to B, the loaded groove stays.
3. Tap Replace and confirm "Replace groove and move to bank 'B'?".

This works only between user banks. You can't move a groove into a factory bank or move a factory groove (saving a factory groove always copies it). If you stay on the groove's own bank and tap Replace, it simply overwrites the groove, your normal "save my edits" flow.

Song Mode

A song is a sequence of Song Parts that play in order. Song Mode sits on top of live playing, turn it on to build, edit, and play arrangements; turn it off to return to free jamming.

Song Mode looks different depending on the app, but the concept is identical everywhere, a song is a sequence of Song Parts, each with its own groove, number of bars, and feel. The newer card-based layout ships in Pop Drummer, Soft Drummer, and iBassist (it's rolling out to the rest of the apps); the other apps use a legacy list layout with the same Song Parts, bars, and per-part settings, just shown differently.

Songs and Song Parts

A song stores a name, BPM, swing, sound set, three drummers, and a loop on/off flag. A Song Part is one section (intro, verse, chorus, fill, outro) and stores its groove, number of bars, hat/ride choice, an optional transition crash on the last beat, a color tag, and its own performance settings. Song Parts always play in the order shown.

Entering and leaving Song Mode

Tap the Song button or switch. The first time per session it loads your last song (or an empty one). Song Mode reveals the strip of Song Parts, hides live-only controls (Random groove, Bars-to-fill, Jam), and follows the Song Part sequence. Turning it off restores live mode exactly as it was, the song stays in memory.

Building a song

1. Tap + to add the first Song Part. It inherits your current live settings, the easy way to promote a live jam into a song.
2. The Song Part editor opens. Adjust groove, bars, hat/ride, final crash, color, and performance settings. Save to confirm, or Cancel to discard.
3. Tap + again to add more Song Parts. New Song Parts are based on the currently selected Song Part, and are inserted right after it.

The Song Part editor

Adding (+) or tapping a Song Part opens the Song Part editor, a full-screen card titled "[Song name] - Part [number]" (Song Parts are numbered from 1). Everything here applies to this Song Part only, it's a snapshot, so each Song Part can carry its own groove, length, feel, and color. Nothing is committed until you tap Save.

• Groove (Bank → Measure → Rhythm), the same browser as the main screen. Bank picks the style bank (★ Favorites at the top, User at the bottom); Measure filters the rhythm list to a time signature (tap the selected measure again to clear the filter); Rhythm sets the Song Part's groove. The small A–Z button cycles the rhythm list order (off, A–Z, Z–A).
• Bars, how many bars the Song Part plays. Use the − / + stepper (1 to 32) or the quick buttons 2 · 4 · 8 · 16.
• Hat / Ride, switches this Song Part's cymbal between hi-hat and ride, stored per Song Part.
• Final fill (FILL), toggles a fill and transition crash on the Song Part's last bar, a lead-in to the next one.
• Feel, the per-app performance control: Soft Drummer (and other apps with the 2D pad) shows a 2D slider, horizontal = Jam, vertical = Intensity; Pop Drummer shows two sliders, JAM and JAM EFFECTS, instead (no intensity axis).
• Color tag, tag the Song Part with one of the four harmonic colors from the song's palette, or pick any color from the rainbow strip below them.

Bottom buttons: Save commits the Song Part (you must select a rhythm first, or a "Choose a Rhythm before" message appears); Cancel closes without saving; Delete Part removes this Song Part and is hidden while you're adding a brand-new one.

Saving a song

An unsaved song lives in memory only, leaving Song Mode without saving loses it. Tap Save Song to open the Song Data dialog, where you set the name (required), BPM, swing, sound set, and three drummers (locked drummers are dimmed; tapping one opens the purchase flow). Tap Save to commit; the song appears in your list.

Editing, loading & deleting

• Edit reopens the Song Data dialog to change a saved song's name, tempo, swing, sound set, or drummers. Edit the Song Parts from the song strip itself.
• Loading a saved song replaces whatever was loaded, unsaved changes are lost without a prompt, so save first.
• Delete removes the saved song, but its Song Parts stay in memory; tapping Save Song right after re-saves the same arrangement as a new entry.

Loop

The Loop button repeats the song from Song Part 1 after the last Song Part. Loop applies to the whole song; you can't loop a single Song Part.

Live Pads

On-screen trigger pads for launching and switching patterns in real time during a performance. Each pad holds a groove and switches on the next bar boundary for smooth, beat-synced transitions.

Every pad shows its Jam value. The second value depends on the app: Intensity in Soft Drummer (and other apps with an intensity control), Jam Effects in Pop Drummer and Reggae Drummer, or no second value at all in apps that only have Jam.

Assigning pads

Long-press a pad while a groove plays, or drag a groove from the list onto a pad. A pad stores its groove, name, color, and performance settings (jam, effects, intensity). A saved set of pads is a Live Pad Set.

The Random button

The dice button only fills empty pads, it never overwrites pads you set. When you tap it:

1. If the currently playing groove isn't on a pad yet, it's saved into the first empty pad with a random color.
2. The remaining empty pads fill with random grooves and colors.

Pads you set keep their groove, name, color, and settings exactly as you left them.

Saving, loading & managing Live Pad Sets

The buttons beside the pads work on whole Live Pad Sets, a saved snapshot of all the pads. Save stores the current pads as a named set (names must be unique), New clears every pad for a fresh set, and Load opens the Live Pad Sets list.

In the Live Pad Sets list:

• Tap a set to load it; it replaces the current pads.
• Long-press and drag a set to reorder the list; the slot you hover over slides aside to preview the drop, and the new order is remembered.
• Long-press without moving (press and release in place) to reveal Rename and Delete above that set (they fade after a couple of seconds). Delete asks you to confirm, and if the set used User grooves that no other song or set references, it offers to remove those too.

Two options at the top of the list decide what else comes in when you load a set:

• Change BPM, also switches the tempo to the set's saved BPM. Standalone only in the AUv3 the tempo follows the DAW, so it isn't shown.
• Load Sounds, also loads the drum kit (soundset) the set was saved with.

Both toggles are remembered between sessions.

MIDI control

Live Pads can be triggered over MIDI (default note bindings cover pads 1–8 plus Load, Previous, Next, and Select Live Pad Set). Turn on Send Live Pad Changes to broadcast every pad change as MIDI in real time, handy for recording a live performance into a DAW. See MIDI Setup.

Sound Module Mode

Turn the drummer's kit into a velocity-sensitive MIDI sound module. While it's on, the pattern stops playing itself and the kit responds to incoming MIDI notes in real time.

Why use it

• Play the kit live with a drum pad or MIDI keyboard.
• Use the drummer as a sound module for a DAW track that's programming drums.
• Audition a kit by tapping notes before committing to a pattern.
• Layer the kit over an external sequencer that handles timing.

Turning it on

Open the side drawer and flip the Sound Module switch (iPad and iPhone horizontal), or tap the Sound Module button in the drawer (iPhone vertical). The first time you enter, the view scrolls to the Sounds section so you can see and select sounds while you play them.

What changes

The screen simplifies: the groove navigator, transport (Play/Stop/Fill/BPM/Tap), jam controls, swing, and the Send Groove / Export buttons are hidden, and the mode chooser locks to Sounds. Leaving Sound Module restores your previous view exactly.

How notes are mapped

Sound Module uses the same note assignments you set in MIDI Setup, the incoming note determines which drum is triggered. Where a drum has variants (snare normal / accent / rim, hi-hat closed / open), the incoming velocity selects the variant. This matches what the drummer sends out, so a pattern recorded from MIDI Out replays identically.

Visual feedback

Every triggered hit briefly flashes the matching drum on the kit, the mixer strip, and the editor, so you can confirm the right drum even when the audio routes elsewhere. With MIDI Setup open, the matching note-map cell flashes too.

MIDI Setup

The MIDI button (the 5-pin DIN icon) opens the central place to configure everything MIDI: which ports are connected, how incoming notes trigger drums, how controllers drive the app, and how clock and transport sync.

Opening MIDI Setup

On iPad, a wide panel shows every section at once. On iPhone, a three-button selector at the top, Notes / Controls / Connections, shows one section at a time. Tap the close arrow to dismiss.

The two kinds of map

Both maps are named, savable, and shareable. The first entry in the map list is always "…", the working map that holds your unsaved edits. Default maps are read-only; your saved maps can be deleted. Use Share to export a map as a file or to the clipboard, and Import to load one from a file, the clipboard, or a bundled example.

Octave Reference

MIDI note numbers are universal, but the octave label shown for them differs from DAW to DAW. The Octave Reference stepper changes how the app labels notes on screen, it's purely cosmetic, no audio is transposed. The default is −2, which matches Logic Pro, Cubase, Ableton Live, and Pro Tools (middle C shown as C3).

Note Map (default GM)

Each drum has three independently mappable note/velocity pairs, one per color layer. Note labels below use the default Octave Reference of −2.

Controls on the Notes tab: tap a slice and play a note to assign it (MIDI Learn); turn on Drag to swap assignments; turn on Send Notes so the app outputs a MIDI note for every drum hit (record drum events into a DAW); Flash MIDI In highlights the slice receiving a note; Reset reverts to the default General MIDI mapping. Two extra factory maps, GM2 and K Gadget, are also available.

Controls Map

Tap any control row and move a knob, fader, or button on your controller to bind it. Every binding is remappable. The most useful defaults:

Other useful controls: 4Board mode for controllers that send one message type with four discrete values; Show Controls to reveal extra Jam/Intensity send and receive options; and Send Live Pad Changes to broadcast pad changes over MIDI. The Controls-tab Reset restores the default bindings and resets the MIDI Channel to 10 and the Octave Reference to −2.

Connections

The Connections area lists every MIDI port your device exposes. Tap a row in MIDI In to enable receiving from a source, or in MIDI Out to enable sending to a destination. Enabled connections are remembered and reconnect automatically next time.

MIDI Clock

The app exposes two virtual endpoints: a general one (named after the app) for notes and CC, and a clock-only one (named "… Dr Clock") for tempo sync. Sending clock to the general endpoint will not sync the app, clock must reach the dedicated clock endpoint.

• DAW as master, send MIDI Clock to the app's "… Dr Clock" endpoint, set MIDI Clock In to receive, and leave MIDI Clock Out empty. The app follows the DAW's tempo and transport.
• App as master, set MIDI Clock Out to your destination and leave Clock In empty; put the receiver in external sync.
• Two Lumbeat apps, for symmetric peer-to-peer sync, use Ableton Link instead.

App Sync

The Sync toggle links the standalone app's transport to an AUv3 instance of the same app inside a DAW. With it on, Play/Stop in the DAW also starts/stops the standalone, and tempo and position follow the host, handy when you want the full standalone UI while the DAW drives the timeline.

Sending MIDI notes

1. Open MIDI Setup and choose your destination under MIDI Out (another app, IAC Driver, or a hardware port).
2. In the Notes map, make sure Send Notes is on.
3. Set the MIDI Channel to match the receiver, Channel 10 is the standard for drums.
4. Map articulations so each drum part lands on the note your external module expects.

Scrolling banks & rhythms by MIDI

Map CCs to scroll remotely: by default CC 32 changes the bank, CC 0 changes the rhythm, and a Program Change loads a soundset.

Bluetooth foot switch (BLE MIDI)

1. Pair the pedal in iOS Settings → Bluetooth; it must be recognized by iOS.
2. Open MIDI Setup, enable MIDI In, and set the MIDI Channel to match the pedal (usually Channel 1, check its manual).
3. Use the Controls Map to assign the pedal's notes or CCs to actions like Play/Stop, FILL, or Next Live Pad.

Sync & DAW Integration

Two ways to fit Lumbeat into a modern setup: live as a plugin inside a DAW, or as a standalone source exporting audio and MIDI.

Ableton Link

The standard for tempo sync, built on Ableton Link. Enable Link in every app on the same Wi-Fi network and the tempo and beat grid stay perfectly aligned, even as you change tempo or restart playback. Any peer can start; all follow, there's no master to configure.

AUv3

Pop Drummer, iBassist, and Soft Drummer load as AUv3 plugins inside Logic Pro, Cubasis, AUM, GarageBand, and Drambo. You get maximum stability, multiple instances, and state-saving in the project file. See Using Lumbeat as an AUv3.

IAA (legacy)

The older apps support Inter-App Audio and Audiobus. For tempo, prefer Ableton Link rather than relying on IAA clock alone.

MIDI Clock bridge

If your setup needs MIDI Clock (for hardware without native Ableton Link), we recommend the LINK to MIDI bridge app, a high-precision converter that eliminates timing jitter. It's the most accurate way we've found to work with MIDI Clock, and it pairs well with our apps over Ableton Link.

Using Lumbeat as an AUv3

Loading Lumbeat as an Audio Unit v3 plugin is the most powerful way to use it in a DAW, stable, multi-instance, and fully saved inside your project. Available in Pop Drummer, iBassist, and Soft Drummer.

Loading the plugin

Add the Lumbeat plugin to an instrument track in your host. Tempo and transport follow the host, and you can run several instances at once.

Saving and reloading state

When you save your DAW project (or a track/plugin preset), the plugin captures your full configuration and restores it when you reopen the project, the selected rhythm and any unsaved edits, the loaded song, the drum kit and any custom sounds, your jam/swing/fills/effects settings, MIDI settings, the selected live pad set, and your interface preferences. Tempo always follows the host.

Sending grooves between plugins

Any open Lumbeat plugin can send its current groove to any other open Lumbeat plugin, in the same project or another DAW window.

1. Tap Send Groove to AUv3.
2. If only one other plugin is open, the groove is sent directly. If two or more are open, a picker lists each by name and icon, plus an All option at the top.
3. A toast confirms the send (for example, "Sent to Soft Drummer, iBassist").

The groove and its swing travel; the receiver re-interprets it through its own engine and updates on the next bar. Its Swing knob jumps to the sender's value (double-tap to reset). Tempo, audio, and sound selection do not travel, each plugin keeps its own tempo (from the host) and its own kit or bass voicing.

Play / Stop / Fill across plugins

The same connection relays transport between open Lumbeat plugins: tapping Play, Stop, or Fill inside one plugin asks the others to follow. This is independent of the DAW's own transport, it's for actions you take inside a plugin window, like dropping a fill across the bass and drums at once.

• Play / Stop, the others start or stop to match.
• Fill, if the sender is playing, every receiver fills on the next bar in time with the host; if the sender is stopped, each receiver independently starts cleanly or with a fill, for natural variety.

Toggle this off per plugin with "Sync Play/Stop with other Lumbeat plugins" (on by default), for example, to start a fill in iBassist without dragging the drummer along. The DAW's own transport buttons never trigger the relay, since those tracks are already in sync.

Exporting Audio & MIDI

Save your patterns as audio or MIDI to use in a DAW or share with others.

Export is a standalone feature; inside a DAW you record the AUv3 output instead.

Audio

• Full Mix (WAV), a single stereo file of the complete drum mix. Best for quick demos and backing tracks.
• Multi-Track / Stems (WAV), a separate WAV per instrument (kick, snare, hi-hat, and so on). Best for mixing each drum independently in a DAW.

MIDI

Export a standard MIDI file to import into a DAW and trigger third-party drum libraries or virtual instruments.

Bars & End Bar

Adjust how many Bars to export to capture a specific section or loop, and set the End Bar to define exactly where the exported loop ends.

Sending Grooves Between Apps

The Lumbeat family is built to share one rhythmic idea across instruments and styles. Send a groove to another app and it adapts the rhythm to its own voice.

Send Groove to other drummers

Tap Send Groove (➟) to send your current rhythm to another Lumbeat drum app. The receiving app analyzes the data and adapts the rhythm to its own style and kit; how complex the result is depends on the receiving app's Jam Intensity.

iBassist → Drummer (Make Drums)

In iBassist, Make Drums analyzes your bass line's accents and feel and generates a matching drum pattern in a connected drummer app.

Drummer → iBassist

Use Send Groove in any drummer, choosing iBassist as the destination. iBassist receives the rhythmic structure and generates a bass line that locks into the groove.

Cloud & iCloud Backups

Keep your work safe and available across your devices.

The Cloud button

Saves your presets, rhythms, songs, and live pad sets to iCloud, so you can access them from any device signed in with the same Apple ID.

iCloud Backups

The iCloud Backups panel offers Save Backup, Load Backup, and Delete Backup. Backups stored in iCloud are never deleted by the app, they stay in your account and are available whenever you sign in with the same Apple ID. iCloud Backups isn't available inside AUv3 hosts.

Settings

App-wide preferences that persist between launches. Each change takes effect immediately, there's no separate Save step.

Open Settings from the side drawer. (Inside a DAW the host dictates audio routing and buffer, so this panel doesn't appear.)

Audio

• Send Audio to AirPlay (off by default), when off, the app mixes with other apps' audio. When on, it switches to exclusive routing that follows your AirPlay or HomePod target. AirPlay adds about 2 seconds of latency, so it's fine for listening but not for playing along live.
• Sleep on background after (1 / 3 / 5 / 15 / 30 min; default 5 min), how long the app keeps audio reserved while in the background and not playing, before releasing it. A short value is friendlier to battery and other apps; a long value keeps the app instantly ready when you return. It doesn't apply while the app is actively playing.
• Audio buffer (Low / Medium / High; default Medium), Low gives the most immediate response but costs more CPU and may glitch on older devices; High is the most stable and best for battery, with a bit more delay. Raise it if you hear pops or clicks; lower it if response feels sluggish. (Only affects standalone use, in a DAW the host sets the buffer.)

Display

• Show Swing in groove view (on by default), draws the swing offset in the editor. Turn it off for a clean grid; the swing is still heard either way.

MIDI

• External Tempo fader range (Min / Max, 30–300 BPM; default 40–240), the BPM range mapped to a Tempo Fader MIDI control. A narrower range gives finer resolution; a wider range reaches extremes with bigger steps. It doesn't affect a Tempo Encoder assignment, which always moves ±1 BPM per step.

Reset to defaults

One button instantly returns every Settings value to its default (AirPlay off, Sleep 5 min, Show Swing on, Audio buffer Medium, Tempo fader range 40–240), no confirmation dialog.

Trial & Full Version

Pop Drummer, Soft Drummer and iBassist are free to download. All three apps include core features at no cost, permanently. A 7-day trial also unlocks full-version features so you can explore the complete experience. Once the trial ends, full-version features require an upgrade.

The 7-day trial

During the trial you have:

• Unlimited saving, grooves, soundsets, mixer, effects, live pad sets, and songs.
• 3 starter drum kits and 3 starter grooves per bank.
• Up to 64 bars per groove.
• MIDI In fully working, and the AUv3 plugin in any host.
• Live Pads, save and load any set freely.

A few features are capped during the trial, once you hit the cap they lock until you buy the Full Version:

After the trial expires

Your saved content stays visible; trying to load or save it opens the upgrade prompt.

Full Version

The Full Version is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It unlocks everything: all drum kits and grooves, no bars limit, unlimited saving, random, sound changes, and export, plus MIDI In, AUv3, and Live Pads. Once bought it stays unlocked forever on the same Apple ID.

Premium drummers & add-ons

• Pop Drummer The premium drummers Cindy and Beaton are bundled into the Full Version.
• Soft Drummer The drummers Clayton and Joe and the SoundShop packs (Tight Control, Presence, Big & Low, Raw Brush) are separate in-app purchases, available once you have the Full Version.

iBassist save limits

iBassist

iBassist is the family's smart bass app, it generates humanized bass lines that follow chords and lock to your drum grooves. It's AUv3-compatible and works hand-in-hand with the drummers.

Controlling chords & progressions

There are three ways to drive the harmony:

1. Internal step sequencer (standalone), program a progression in the Progression Editor by setting the root note and chord type for each part; iBassist adapts the bass line to follow.
2. Live MIDI input, route MIDI from a sequencer, keyboard, or an app like Scaler into iBassist; it detects the incoming notes and adapts the bass line to the new chord in real time, keeping the groove's feel.
3. External MIDI output, send iBassist's MIDI note output to any synth or bass plugin to drive it with Lumbeat's humanized patterns, making iBassist the harmonic master of your session.

Make Drums & Send Groove

Use Make Drums to generate a drum pattern that matches your bass line in a connected drummer, or receive a groove from a drummer with Send Groove and iBassist will build a bass line locked to it. See Sending Grooves Between Apps.

Sound Module

iBassist supports Sound Module mode in both standalone and AUv3, broader than the drummers, so you can play its internal bass sounds from any MIDI source.

Save limits during the trial

See the iBassist table under Trial & Full Version. The Bass Lines A–Z sort is a Full Version feature; browsing and using bass lines is unaffected.

Troubleshooting

Quick fixes for the most common questions.

Common issues

Restoring purchases

1. Make sure you're signed into the App Store with the same Apple ID used for the original purchase.
2. Open the app, go to the Store section, and tap Restore Purchases.
3. If they don't appear immediately, fully close the app and reopen it.

If content still doesn't appear, check your connection, restart your device, and verify the transaction in your Apple ID Purchase History. If it's confirmed there but won't restore, contact Apple Support.

Getting support

Use Info → Report Bug inside the app to message the Lumbeat team directly. Find more at lumbeat.com and on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Glossary

Key terms used throughout the manual.