liveBPM - Beat Detector

Sharpen your sense of time! liveBPM is the tempo monitoring tool for drummers, bands and DJs. It detects music and beats via the microphone and continuously displays the current tempo in beats per minute (BPM). It is easy to use and delivers high-quality results while being energy efficient.

=== What users said about liveBPM ===

John Walden, freelance musician and music technology journalist at musicappblog.com:
"There are three obvious applications for the app. First, it would make a brilliant practice tool for a drummer, allowing them to monitor just how good they are at keeping a steady tempo without the aid of a click track to guide them. Second, sat beside your kit during a performance, it would allow you to judge just how well you are hitting the ideal tempo for each song in your set. It’s not just drummers that can benefit for liveBPM as the third use is in mapping the tempo – and any tempo changes – in commercial recordings. While this is useful for drummers, it is instructional for almost any musician."

JonLong:
"I used this at my last band practice and wasn't expecting it to work. I couldn't believe how quickly and accurately it started tracking the bpm, even despite the very loud volume of our music."

PocketDrummer82:
"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."

Chris Walther:
"I have used this about five gigs now and have quit using my previous tempo meter. I used both for a few gigs to test the accuracy. Dead on. Thanks! Every drummer should use this."

magrec:
"This has been very helpful for recording. thanks!"

=== Detailed Description ===

This is a tool designed for professional use:

• Well-tested beat detection engine guarantees trustworthiness
• Can handle most genres
• Produces results accurate to within 0.1 BPM under the following conditions:

-- The tempo is constant or almost constant
-- Strong impulses are defining the beat (drums, accentuated rhythm instruments like bass/guitar, etc.)

Further features:

• Tempo curve shows the development of tempo over time
• Multiple zoom modes to show last 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes
• Advanced audio spectrum analysis via FFT
• More accessible and usually more accurate than BPM counters that function through tapping
• Low battery drain thanks to high performance code and efficient algorithms

Using it as a musician:

• Use it as an objective tempo reference like a metronome
• It actually has several advantages over a metronome:

-- You are not tied to a click, giving you more flexibility
-- Helps you use tempo changes to enhance your musical expression
-- With blind tests, it can massively improve your timing confidence, which is especially important if you are in a tempo leading role (e.g. drummer)

• Discover how/whether your favorite artists use tempo changes
• Measure and improve your time-keeping skills
• Identify slowdowns and speedups while practicing your instrument
• Always be in control of the tempo during your live gigs and rehearsals

Controls:

• Power Button: For freezing the tempo curve and minimizing battery drain
• Clear Button: Clears the tempo curve
• Slider: Adjusts the target tempo range (i.e. 80-160 BPM)
• Zoom Buttons: Switch between zoom modes for the tempo curve. (2-30 minutes)

Note:

• You can check and improve the detection by clapping loud to the beat. Also, results can be improved by plugging in a suitable external microphone.
• You can support my work by rating it on the App Store. If you have questions and/or suggestions, feel free to contact me via e-mail or facebook.

• added 64 bit support to improve performance on current hardware and to ensure compatibility for iOS 11
• fixed a bug where during startup, the audio output would move to the small speaker on the iPhone when not using line-out
• updated connection to iOS audio, using the native sampling rate of 48 kHz
• now using the measurement mode, minimizing the amount of system-supplied signal processing

Version 2.0 is work in progress, featuring a new improved beat detection engine. Feel free to contact me if you are interested in beta-testing (via facebook or dev.daniel.bach googlemail com).