New App and New Company Name

I'd like to take this moment to personally thank all the great customers of theDrumDictionary! It has been a tremendous thrill to release my first app ever to such great success. Thanks for your support, for leaving great reviews, and most of all for spreading the word. Just a few short years ago, I could never have imagined I would be at the point of not only releasing an app, but of creating a music app company. There's always the possibility that I'll branch out more in the future, but for now, Gig Bag Apps is who I am, and music apps will be my focus. I hope this name will become the first place you look for great music tools for iOS. As the next step in this process, I've recently submitted a new metronome app called Click. It will be the second full release for Gig Bag Apps, and I hope it can bring something new to the iPhone metronome genre. What I've always notice while browsing the app store for metronomes is: 1) That there are a LOT of options, but most of them are poorly implemented or designed, and 2) They always seem to be a compromise between simplicity with good looks, or powerful features but a screen full of too many buttons. So, one of my main goals with Click was to find a way to include the most commonly used features AND keep a clean, simple interface. I guess time will tell whether or not that goal was achieved in a way that people can understand and find useful, but I'm hopeful!

Now, for those of you wondering if I've abandoned theDrumDictionary, the answer is definitely "no!" I sincerely apologize for the delay in getting out new features and content. This metronome app turned out to be a much bigger project than I had anticipated, and there's so much about this app - and about requested features for theDrumDictionary - that's new for me as a developer, and everything is taking longer than I would have hoped. Thank you for your patience, and even if maybe you haven't used theDrumDictionary for awhile, please keep an eye out for updates and check them out when they happen. I've heard the pleas for variable tempo audio examples, and I am working on a solution! Thanks for reading and most of all for helping to make Gig Bag Apps a reality.

Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from theDrumDictionary!! Hope everyone had a wonderful year and an even better 2011. We're really excited here about what a year it's been for theDrumDictionary. After being released just before Christmas over a year ago, the app sold pretty steady for a few months. In February, it was a huge honor to be featured by Apple on the New and Noteworthy section of the US app store! It was an amazing chance to get the app into the hands of so many more drummers, and I was excited to continue working on updates. Unfortunately, it was a LONG time between February and when the. Next update actually came out. On top of trying to rethink and reprogram the interface to allow for many more beats, there was a whole slew of new things to plan for: first, came the announcement of the iPad, and I wanted to make theDrumDictionary universal. Then came the new iPhone 4 and the need to redo all the graphics for high resolution displays. On top of that came the iOS 4 announcement and release and the need to prepare the app for the new operating system. Needless to say, it was a big mistake to try to accommodate for all these different features in one update! Sorry to keep everybody waiting so long, but I'm really pleased with how version 2.0 turned out. Hope everyone loves the new features, and there should be plenty of new updates as we come out of the holidays. I also need to say a big welcome to so many new users in the UK, Canada and Ireland! We were so excited to see theDrumDictionary features on those app stores over Christmas! Thanks for all the great reviews and the feedback as well. Keep on drumming in 2011, and keep on eye out for some new beats and features.

Version 2.0

Version 2.0 of theDrumDictionary is currently under review by Apple. I know it's been a long wait, but hopefully the update will be worth it, especially for all those iPad users out there! I think I'll post again soon about why it actually took so long to get this update out - for those who might be interested - but for now, I'm just waiting right there with you! Hopefully Apple will approve, and everybody can enjoy the new version. Thanks for your patience and most of all for your interest in theDrumDictionary. Keep on drumming!

About theDrumDictionary

For all those who purchased theDrumDictionary in the last few days, thanks, and I hope it will become a valuable tool to you in your practice and learning. I just wanted to write a little bit about why I wrote this app and what I hope for in the future.

When I began the process of developing this app, there were about a billion "play-drums-on-your-iPhone" type apps - you know, the ones with 8 'pads' you can tap on to make sounds - but there was nothing to help drummers who wanted tools to help them learn and practice drums in the real world. As a drummer and teacher looking for an app like that I was actually amazed to find that out of the over 100,000 apps on the store, there really was nothing like what I was looking for. So, I set out to make one myself - a process that ended up taking much more time than I was planning on! The end result was theDrumDictionary, and I'm so glad that others are finding it a useful tool. I hope that it can continue to be your "go-to" app when you sit down to practice the drums.

As for what's coming in the near future, I'm working on integrating a metronome that will let you view the rudiments/beats and play along to the click. I've also begun reworking the navigation structure to allow for the addition of many more beats and styles. One of the most desired features that has been mentioned in reviews is the ability to change tempo. First, let me say I totally agree!! That was one of the functions that I most wanted to implement myself, but from a programming standpoint, it's very difficult. It is definitely in the works however. The key will be providing that functionality while still maintaining the same quality of audio. Also, you might be wondering about support for the upcoming iPad. I'm really excited about this new device, and I think the larger screen will open up all kinds of new possibilities for a practice tool like theDrumDictionary. According to Apple's statements, all iPhone apps currently available will work automatically on the iPad at its launch in the next month or so. theDrumDictionary will also be reworked to take full advantage of the larger screen of the iPad, so keep an eye out for that too. I plan on keeping the app universal, so with one purchase, you'll get an app that will work great on whatever device you own, the interface adapting to each specific device!

As always, I'm eager to hear about any suggestions/requests you might have, and especially hearing about how theDrumDictionary is helping you in your drumming practice and learning. Thanks for reading, and keep on drumming!