DrumClock - Drums to MIDI

Your drummer is the click.

DrumClock listens to the drums and turns the groove into MIDI clock and tap-tempo CC, live. No click track, no count-in from a laptop, no tapping a pedal every song. The drummer plays, and your delays, arps and sequencers land on the beat.

Bands without in-ear monitors can't follow a click, and plenty of musicians hate playing to one. DrumClock flips it around: the drummer leads, and the rig follows.

HOW IT WORKS
Put a phone in the drum cage or clip it to a stand, or feed a kick/snare mic through a USB audio interface. DrumClock finds the tempo in a few bars, locks to it, and keeps following when the drummer pushes or pulls. A stick count-off locks it before beat one. Fills and ghost notes don't throw it. Breaks don't either: it holds the last tempo and picks the beat back up when the drums return.

WHAT IT SENDS
• MIDI clock (24 pulses per beat, Start/Stop) for anything that syncs to clock: Boss GT-1000, Line 6 Helix, Quad Cortex, Strymon, Ableton, synth arpeggiators.
• Tap-tempo CC: a controller message on every beat, for apps and pedals that can't read clock but can map a CC to Tap Tempo (Sunday Keys, many delays).
• Either one, or both at once. You pick.

WHERE IT SENDS
• Wired USB MIDI: the way to go for clock. A class-compliant interface into a powered USB-C hub, a 5-pin cable to the keys rig. Sub-millisecond jitter.
• A "DrumClock" MIDI device that other MIDI apps on the same phone or tablet can open. Zero latency, no hardware.
• Network MIDI (RTP-MIDI) over Ethernet or Wi-Fi, for a Mac running your DAW, rtpMIDI on Windows, or an iPad.
• Bluetooth MIDI adapters such as CME WIDI and Yamaha MD-BT01, for cable-free rehearsals.
Each output tells you what it's good for and where it falls short, with a step-by-step guide.

USING SUNDAY KEYS?
Sunday Keys can't take MIDI clock, only a tap tempo you MIDI-Learn, so someone has had to tap it by hand, every song. DrumClock taps it for you on every beat, on the drummer's time. Map it once and the delays and arps are in time all service long. (Sunday Keys is a product of Sunday Sounds; DrumClock is not affiliated.)

SETLISTS AND IMPORTS
Bring a setlist in instead of typing it:
• Planning Center Services: sign in and pull a plan's songs and BPMs.
• CSV and spreadsheets: choose a file, or paste cells from Excel or Google Sheets.
• OnSong, SongSelect and Setlist Helper: titles and tempos from their text exports (ChordPro, .onsong).
• Songs with no tempo are flagged so you can type one in.
• Export your setlist as CSV or a DrumClock file. iPhone and Android files are interchangeable.
DrumClock is not affiliated with Planning Center, OnSong, CCLI SongSelect or Setlist Helper.

BUILT FOR A STAGE
• One screen: tempo, a pulse you can read from behind the kit, Tap, and a big Start/Stop.
• Set an exact tempo on a ruler and hold it. Save tempos as named presets, put them in set order, and step through them with ‹ › or a page-turner pedal.
• ÷2 and ×2 when the tracker picks half-time. Hold freezes the clock through a rubato bridge or a drum solo.
• Gain control with a meter, because some drummers are loud. Automatic gain and noise suppression are off while DrumClock listens.
• Keeps running with the screen locked or another app in front.
• Phones and tablets: a setlist console on big screens, a focus mode you can read from the drum throne, and keyboard shortcuts.

Nothing is recorded. Audio is analysed on the device and never leaves it.

Made by Creedy Solutions, the people behind Chartless.

DRUMCLOCK PRO
Everything is unlocked for your first 14 days. After that, tempo detection, the pulse, Tap and presets stay free, and MIDI output runs 10 minutes a day. DrumClock Pro removes the limit: $19.99 a year (auto-renewing subscription, cancel anytime in Google Play) or $49.99 once for lifetime access.