DrumBuddy

A cross-platform app for drummers, allowing them to record, manage, and learn new digital sheets, with real-time feedback.
Bachelor's Thesis Project by Szabó Balázs

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Table of Contents

1. About The Project
   • Built With
2. Getting Started
   • Installation
3. Usage
4. Roadmap
5. Contact
6. Acknowledgments

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About The Project

DrumBuddy is a cross-platform desktop application built for drummers who want to record, analyze, and improve their rhythm.
It allows users to record their beats onto a digital sheet, get real-time feedback, and store their ideas for future practice or composition.

One of DrumBuddy’s core features is the ability to compare two sheets:

• Use one as a base sheet (your intended rhythm)
• Use another as your played performance
  → The app then provides feedback, helping drummers identify mistakes and improve their timing.

It’s designed to work with any electronic drum kit, with customizable MIDI mappings for flexible compatibility.

NOTE: The app has limited drumming functionality, as for now it can only record in 4/4 time signature, and the smallest division unit is a 16th note.

🎓 This application also serves as my Bachelor’s thesis project

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Built With

DrumBuddy is 100% C#, leveraging modern cross-platform and reactive technologies:

• AvaloniaUI — for building the cross-platform UI
• ReactiveUI & System.Reactive — for declarative, reactive programming
• SQLite — lightweight embedded database for sheet persistence
• ManagedBass — audio & MIDI library for handling drum input, and metronome audio playback

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Getting Started

Installation

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🪟 Windows

1. Download the latest DrumBuddy-Setup-x.y.z.exe from
   👉 https://github.com/sz-balage/DrumBuddy/releases
2. Run the installer and follow the setup wizard.
3. Launch DrumBuddy from the Start Menu or Desktop shortcut.

⚠️ Windows SmartScreen may display a warning.
Click More info → Run anyway to continue.

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🐧 Linux

DrumBuddy is distributed as an AppImage, which works on most modern Linux distributions.

1. Download DrumBuddy-linux-x64.AppImage from
   👉 https://github.com/sz-balage/DrumBuddy/releases
2. Make the file executable:

   chmod +x DrumBuddy-linux-x64.AppImage

3. Run the application:

   ./DrumBuddy-linux-x64.AppImage

You can also integrate the AppImage into your desktop environment using your file manager.

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🍎 macOS

Due to the lack of a paid Apple Developer certificate, DrumBuddy must be manually authorized before first use.

Apple Silicon (M processors)

1. Download DrumBuddy-osx-arm64.dmg from
   👉 https://github.com/sz-balage/DrumBuddy/releases
2. Open the disk image and drag DrumBuddy.app into the Applications folder.
3. Open Terminal and run:

   cd /Applications
   sudo xattr -cr DrumBuddy.app
   sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine DrumBuddy.app
   sudo codesign --force --deep --sign - DrumBuddy.app

4. Launch DrumBuddy normally.

Intel Macs

1. Download DrumBuddy-osx-x64.dmg
2. Follow the same steps as above.

📝 On first launch, DrumBuddy will request permission to access your Documents folder for exporting and storing user data.

If you wish to run the whole stack, you can use the docker-compose-dev.yml file for the database.

Usage

After installation:

• Create an account, or continue in offline mode (as a guest)
• Connect, and select your electronic drum kit (or try out the app via keyboard input)
• Configure your MIDI mappings in the Configuration section
• Create new sheets either by recording your beats, or creating them manually
• Sync your work to the cloud, so you can access it from any device
• Compare sheets to see the difference

Roadmap

• MIDI, and MusicXML export/import
• User management, and cloud sync
• Multiple time signatures, and note division (1/32, triplets, sextuplets)

Any feature requests, and feedback is welcome and appreciated. (https://github.com/sz-balage/DrumBuddy/issues)

Contact

Szabó Balázs, [email protected]

Acknowledgements

• AvaloniaUI Community
• ReactiveUI Team
• ManagedBass
• JetBrains Rider

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For more info, visit the documentation.

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