Fingerlab DM10 Drum & Synth Machine For iOS

Fingerlab has introduced DM10 Drum & Synth Machine, a sequel to their award-winning DM1 Drum Machine from 2012.

Updated with a modern audio engine, DM10 has all the capabilities of DM1, plus many new features: Bass & Lead synths, AudioUnit support, polyrhythmic tracks, new FX modules, and more.

Fingerlab DM10 Drum & Synth Machine Video Intro:

Features:

  • 170 drum kits (Vintage & Classics, Acoustic & Percussions, Hip-Hop, Electro, …)
  • 10 instruments (Piano, Vibraphone, Wurlitzer, …)
  • Bass synth with 3 VCO, Square/Sawtooth/Triangle, 3 octave, Low pass Filter, ADSR, BitCrush, Detune
  • Lead synth with 2 VCO, Sine/Sawtooth/Triangle, 3 octave, VCO Modulation, Low pass Filter, ADSR, Vibrato
  • 40 Bass & Lead Factory presets
  • Drum & Synth Steps sequencer
  • Sequencer variable steps count
  • Sequencer Accent & Triplets
  • Track polyrhythms support
  • Drum Pads with customizable layout
  • Synth board
  • Mixer with level, pitch, length, pan and automation
  • Tracks custom kit support
  • 4 FX with real-time automations
  • FX per track
  • Song mode with intuitive editing
  • Time signatures
  • Track renames
  • Randomizer tools
  • User drum kit creation module with samples import
  • User drum kit import & export
  • Audio fast export (master & separated tracks)
  • Project import & export
  • Midi full support
  • Midi mapping
  • Midi export
  • Computer keyboard support
  • Ableton Link support
  • AudioUnit support

Pricing and Availability:

Fingerlab DM10 is available now to pre-order for $9.99, and is expected to be released Feb 13, 2025. DM10 is universal for iPad, iPhone and Mac.

16 thoughts on “Fingerlab DM10 Drum & Synth Machine For iOS

  1. I still use DM1 on my iPhone and Mac as a quick rhythm sketch pad. This looks like a nice update, but I am a little disappointed that it is not compatible with Mac.

  2. DM1 is a user-friendly, fun drum machine for iOS/Mac. It’s easy to recommend to beginners.

    It’s not a very “sophisticated” drum machine; e.g., 6/8, 9/8, 12/8 aren’t really dotted-quarter per BPM beat (as they should be). It’s likely that the developers won’t fix this with DM10, as they might not understand it as a flaw. It is also likely that “track polyrhythms support” just means you can set the length (in steps) of each track separately, but not that you can depart from the main step rate. And “triplet” just means the ability to cut a step into 3 slices, but you can’t turn individual hits within that triplet off. I’m basing all that on the screen shot, so take my predictions with a grain of salt.

    For more powerful, and rhythmically advanced drum machines, I love all Lumbeats apps, and John Nastos’s Metronomics.

    I’m looking forward to including bass synth & chords with the drum grooves.

  3. The DM1 is a fantastic example of an elegant and beautiful user interface, that is also very functional. It’s a beginner-friendly drum machine app with nice features & sounds, with a best-in-class song editor.

    My one gripe with the DM1 is that though it provides time-signatures for 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8, they are functionally identical to 3/4, “4.5/4” and 6/4– in that a quarter-note is the BPM beat, not the dotted-quarter as it is in real life. I don’t expect that will change.

    Based on that DM10 screenshot, I’m guessing that “Track Polyrhythms Support” probably means that you can set the length in steps for each track; but you can’t affect each track’s step rate (just the loop point). Looks like “Triplet” just slices a step into 3, but you can’t turn any of the three individual sub-steps on/off.

    Despite those limitations, I expect DM10 to be every bit as fun to use as the O.G.. I’m especially excited about being able to sequence bass & chords in that environment.

    Insta-buy, for sure.

  4. Interesting how one of the notable OG ipad apps has morphed from a little drum machine to full blown groovebox. The UI still looks clean and easy to use. Although this space is almost too crowded these days, I might just buy it out of nostalgia.

  5. I’m too much of a finger-drummer to play directly on an iPad, but I appreciate how clean this thing is. I’m glad it’ll speak Mac. I love apps I can just grab on the fly when I’m in the zone. I don’t need the synths, but the rest is well thought out. Nice color scheme, too!

  6. Polymeter: tracks with different meters that share the same step rate– i.e., looping tracks that share a step-rate, but different numbers of steps per track.

    Polyrhythm: tracks with different step rates.

    Yes, it is true that you can fake slow polyrhythms by enabling steps at different ratios. E.g., I can have a step rate of 4 steps per beat, and in one track enable a hit the first of every 4 steps, and on another track the first of every 3 to make a 3. But you could always do that with a single rate step sequencer, that’s not a feature, that’s a workaround– as you never leave the native step rate.

    In Lumbeat’s apps, you can tap/hold/drag a beat to choose different step rates for that one beat on that one track– and from there you can generate some polyrhythms as each step can be enabled freely (unlike these DM10 “triplets”)

  7. This was one my first and beloved Drum-Apps on my first ipad (Gen4).. and it is still running all these “old” music-apps, like the DM-1. Had a lot of fun with it…and good to see it is still supported on newer OS. ?

  8. Between this and the new Groove Rider 2 from Jim Audio, I’m having a hard time deciding so, I will probably just get both. That’s the beauty of IOS apps, they are cheap enough to scoop up and even when the IPad you own is outdated it can simply function as a groove box/ production tool. My first iPad can’t even visit the App Store or go online, but the few music apps I have on it work fine and still get plenty of usage.

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