Support

Questions, bugs or ideas: email hello@giffen.me. If it's about timing, say which headphones you use.

Getting set up

1. Put headphones on. Sessions need them: on the device's speaker, the drums cover up your notes.
2. Calibrate your headphones. Tap the audio row on the home screen to open Audio setup. Don't wear the headphones for this: hold an earbud (or press a headphone cup) right against the bottom of the phone, where the mic is, at medium volume. Tap Calibrate and keep still while it plays clicks. Each pair of headphones keeps its own calibration, so do this once for each.
3. Check the mic. In Audio setup, tap Start mic check and play a few notes. Set Sensitivity so every note you play counts and nothing else does.
4. Place the phone. Put it between you and your amp, about an arm's length from the speaker. Playing unplugged? Put it close to the strings. A USB audio interface, if you have one, is used automatically.

How the score works

For each kick, the app takes your closest note within 75 ms. Notes that aren't near a kick don't count for or against you.

Sitting a little ahead of or behind the kick is free. Most players do it, and up to your strictness setting (25 ms on Relaxed, 15 on Normal, 8 on Tight) it costs nothing. The feel target moves where that spot is: laid back aims behind the kick, push ahead of it.

What's scored is how consistent you are around your own spot, times the share of kicks you played. On Relaxed, kick notes that vary by about ±10 ms score in the 90s, ±20 ms around 78, and ±30 ms around 62.

Common problems

"Start needs headphones"

The app won't start a scored session on the speaker, because the drums would drown out your bass in the mic. Connect wired, USB-C or Bluetooth headphones. Just drums plays on the speaker, with no scoring.

It misses notes I play

Raise Sensitivity in Audio setup and use the mic check to confirm every note counts. Make sure the app can use the mic: Settings › Automatic Pocket › Microphone. Moving the phone closer to the amp or the strings helps too.

It counts notes I didn't play

Usually drums leaking from the headphones into the mic, or string noise. Closed-back headphones or earbuds help, as does turning the drums down a little or lowering Sensitivity.

Every note looks early, or every note looks late

Calibrate the headphones you're using now. If you know you're on the kick and the app still disagrees, use Fine-tune in Audio setup: slide right if it says you're behind.

A warning that your Bluetooth device keeps adding delay

Some Bluetooth devices add more delay the longer they play. One we tested drifted by about 65 ms over its first minute. The app can't correct a delay that keeps moving, so the later in a session, the later your notes look. Use wired or USB-C headphones, or Bluetooth headphones whose delay holds steady (AirPods did when we tested them). Calibration tells you which kind you have.

The score seems low

The results screen shows where it went: kicks you missed, how far your notes spread around your spot, and the notes a listener would actually hear as off. Relaxed is the most forgiving strictness.

Credits

Drum samples from DRSKit by the DrumGizmo team and Jes Eiler of DRSDrums, used under CC BY 4.0.