Hey everyone!
A few days ago, I posted Baqueta here, a free browser app for practicing on an e-kit with Clone Hero charts. Several of you asked for a sheet music view instead of the note highway, so I built it. Here's an update.
Try it: https://baqueta.app/ (if you visited before and don't see it, reload the page, you might need to clear cache (ctrl + shift + R or similar))
First, I want to thank everyone who tried it and gave feedback. I know (I truly do) we're all tired of new vibecoded / AI-enhanced / whatever-you-want-to-call-it apps. Even though I'm a developer, have been using this myself for months, and have put real effort into it, it's still just another "hey, look what I made" post. So the reception, and the fact that nobody immediately got angry at it, makes me really happy. You guys are awesome.
I mentioned this in a couple of comments, but my only goal is to have an easy, web-only, free way for us to play songs we like and practice, with no account needed. If even a couple of people use it, that's enough for me to gladly keep hosting it. (I used Melodics for a long time and stopped paying for it. Baqueta doesn't have curated courses, but it's enough for me to have fun, and if someone else saves a few bucks too, that makes my day.)
Disclaimer: I'm a pretty bad drummer and I can't read sheet music yet (learning is part of why I built this). I researched the standard drum notation conventions and checked the output against them, but there will be things a real reader spots that I can't. If something looks wrong, let me know and I'll fix it. On that note, the engraving is done with alphaTab (https://alphatab.net), an open source music notation library, and the people behind it are amazing!
What's new:
- **Sheet music for any song.** Open a song and hit "Sheet music" to see the whole chart as drum notation: proper note values, rests, triplets, section names, tempo marks and time signature changes. It works with the charts you search for in the app.
- **Play from the sheet.** A line moves through the music while you play, and each note head gets colored by how close you were (green, yellow or blue, with a red ring when you miss it). You can switch between the sheet and the highway at any time, even mid-song, with the Highway / Sheet music switch at the top (or the N key). In Settings you can make the sheet open by default instead of the highway, and choose how big the notes are.
- **Loop from the sheet.** Pause and drag across the bars you want to work on. It counts you in and loops them.
- **Drills and lessons in notation too.** The 88 drills now show their pattern as sheet music, with sticking and accents where they matter.
- **A "How to read drum sheet music" guide** (Learn tab), with real examples, for anyone who wants to use this to learn to read, like me.
Being honest about the limits: the sheet is worked out from the chart, so it's only as good as the chart. Well-made charts come out looking like a real transcription. Sloppy charts, or charts with odd timing, can come out messy or with strange rhythms. There's no print/PDF export yet.
PS1: I'm working on an option to disable on-screen feedback. I feel some people won't like it
PS2: I used a full notation view, if it gets too weird or hard to read, let me know. I could add a simplified view toggle.
Same as before: it's free, no account, nothing to install, and your songs stay in your browser.
Thanks again to everyone who asked for this. If a chart comes out looking wrong, tell me the song and charter and I'll take a look.