If you want to test the accuracy of the Drummer ITP app, then theoretically you can play a drum machine or recorded click-track into it and it should score 100%, depending on the quality of the drum machine and the synchronisation of the click timing that is played to ITP. You can even turn the loudspeaker volume up on your device and Drummer ITP will listen to its own click sounds, and should read 100% if you have a good loudspeaker and are in a noise free environment.
The video below verifies the measurement accuracy of Drummer ITP by using two different external metronomes (one of which is Logic Pro) as the measurement input sound. So we use another metronome as a replacement for the normal stick pad hits which ITP normally measures – so we are tricking the app into thinking another metronome is someone playing stick hits on a practice pad!
In the video, we start the Logic Pro or another metronome app at a particular tempo, we then start the Drummer ITP app analysing at the same bpm. You’ll see that the scores are not initially 100% because it is impossible to start the two metronomes perfectly at the same time.
In order to get the two metronomes in sync we need to speed up or slow one of them down until they are perfectly aligned, and then return them both back to the same bpm when they are locked together. At this point, the ITP app shows that it is measuring the clicks it hears at 100% – which is the equivalent of a perfect ‘in the pocket’ player or robot drummer! Just a little note here: it is also possible to learn to play ahead or behind the beat of the song or metronome, this is good if you have the control to stay consistently just ahead of the beat or consistently just behind, of course depending on how well it fits the song and the rest of the performers in the band. Drummer ITP can help you learn this skill too!
So, in both tests shown in the video, the Drummer ITP app confirms that the metronomes are 100% accurate, consistent and with consistent dynamic (loudness) profiles. You can try this experiment for yourself too if you have another high-accuracy metronome available.
With this in mind, you can be assured that Drummer ITP is measuring your stick pad performances to a very high accuracy. In many cases it’s not possible to actually play drums to 100% timing accuracy – as humans we can’t really hear timing accuracy issues if they are within a few milliseconds. So don’t expect to get 100% scores when using Drummer ITP, this is totally normal and even the word’s best drummers don’t sound like electronic drum machines (thankfully!). But you will find that practicing to a click and evaluating your own accuracy with Drummer ITP will help you gain more critical control with both your hand/finger technique and with your hearing of timing issues. So, even if you prefer to play drums loose and stylistic, with a true ‘human’ feel, practicing to Drummer ITP will give you even more control and awareness of your performance timing.
You might also be interested in the Self-Test to Verify Accuracy Tutorial – which shows Drummer ITP measuring it’s own click sounds to 100% too!
Download Drummer ITP in the iPhone App Store