1. Agreement
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of the Drum Buddha mobile app and the drum-buddha.com website (together, the "Service"). By downloading the app or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the Service.
If you are using the Service on behalf of someone else, you confirm that you have authority to bind them to these Terms.
2. What Drum Buddha is
Drum Buddha is a drum practice companion app. It helps you learn grooves from real notation, keep time with a metronome, jam to a backing band, work through rudiments and drills, and capture musical ideas. It does not teach you to play drums; it is a tool, not a course.
The app is local-first: your library, recordings, and settings are stored on your device. We don't operate a server that holds your music.
3. Your license to use the app
We grant you a worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use the Drum Buddha app on devices you own or control, solely for your personal, non-commercial use.
You may not:
- Copy, modify, or create derivative works of the app or its assets;
- Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the app, except as expressly permitted by applicable law;
- Remove or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices;
- Distribute, sublicense, rent, lease, sell, or otherwise transfer the app or any of its assets to a third party;
- Use the app to build a competing product, or to train a machine learning model.
4. Your content
Anything you put into the app — grooves you build, notes you write, ideas you capture, audio you record — is your content. We never see it because it never leaves your device. You retain all rights to it.
You're responsible for making sure you have the right to record, store, or share whatever you put into the app. Recording yourself playing along for personal practice is generally fine in most jurisdictions; sharing or publishing that recording may require a separate license from the rightsholder. We can't advise on this, and we're not responsible for how you choose to use your recordings.
5. Acceptable use
You agree not to use the Service to:
- Violate any law or regulation;
- Infringe anyone else's rights, including intellectual property and privacy rights;
- Distribute malware, exploit security vulnerabilities, or interfere with normal operation of the Service;
6. Tips & in-app purchases
The app is free. It contains an optional "tip jar" with three consumable in-app purchases: $0.99 (Thanks!), $4.99 (Supporter), and $9.99 (Keep it flowing). This website also offers an optional tip jar processed by Stripe ($3, $5, $10). Tips support continued development of Drum Buddha.
Tips are optional. No feature is locked behind a tip, and no tip will ever be required to use any part of the app.
In-app tip purchases are processed by Apple's App Store, subject to Apple's terms; website tips are processed by Stripe, subject to its terms. Refunds for in-app tips are handled through Apple according to its refund policy — we don't process those refunds directly because we never receive your payment information. For website tips, contact us and we'll work with you and Stripe.
Tips are non-recurring. We will never charge you again unless you initiate another purchase.
7. Third-party content
The grooves, fills, rudiments, and drills bundled with Drum Buddha are original patterns written for the app — there are no licensed songs, and the app does not fetch content from any online service. Anything else in your library is content you create yourself in the grid editor or capture as a recording.
The bundled instrument sounds are drawn from freely licensed SoundFonts. The acoustic drum kits ("Black Pearl" and "Blonde Bop") are from AVL Drumkits by Glen MacArthur, redistributed unmodified under CC BY-SA 3.0; other percussion, drum, and bass voices are public-domain (CC0). Attribution is shown in the app's Settings. These licenses cover the sounds only; anything you record or create with them is yours.
8. Availability & updates
We aim to keep Drum Buddha working on currently-supported versions of iOS. We may release updates that add features, fix bugs, or change how the app works. We may also discontinue support for older OS versions over time.
Because the app is local-first, your library and recordings remain accessible on your device even if we stop publishing updates — there is no server that can "turn off."
9. Disclaimers
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
We make no promise that the app will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of bugs; that any particular groove or feature will suit your needs; that recordings will save successfully in every condition; or that the app will be compatible with every device or OS version.
10. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, DRUM BUDDHA AND ITS MAKERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE.
Our total cumulative liability to you for any claim arising out of or related to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the total amount of tips you have paid in the past 12 months, or (b) USD $10.
11. Termination
You can terminate this agreement at any time by uninstalling the app. We can terminate or suspend your access to the Service if you materially violate these Terms — though given the local-first design, in practice this means we may stop providing updates or pull the app from the store. Your local data on your device is yours and we have no way to remove it remotely.
12. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make a material change, we'll update the "last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the Service after a change means you accept the updated Terms. If you don't accept them, your remedy is to stop using the Service.
13. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco County, California, and you and we both consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.
If you are a consumer in the EU, UK, or another jurisdiction that grants you mandatory rights to sue locally, this section does not override those rights.
14. Contact
Questions about these Terms, or notices required under them:
We aim to respond within 7 days.