Cadence
Practice your part.
Hear the whole show.
Cadence is a mobile practice tool designed to help marching band musicians practice their individual part in context with the full ensemble.
A student-built project · Working iOS prototype · Beta testing on TestFlight
The problem
Marching band isn't an individual activity. So why do we practice like it is?
Students often practice alone, but performing well requires understanding much more than an individual part: ensemble timing, tempo, rhythm, musical context, movement, and how everything fits together.
Cadence started with a simple question:
How can practicing alone feel more like practicing with the ensemble?
How it started
It started on the practice field, between reps of the show.
As a drum major, I watched the same scene repeat at every rehearsal: the ensemble sounded one way on the field — and completely different when everyone went home to practice alone. Musicians were guessing at tempos, losing their entrances, and hoping their part would somehow fit back in on Friday night. So I started asking band students, drum majors, and directors what practicing alone was really like. Their answers became Cadence.
What marching band musicians told me, again and again:
The product
Meet Cadence.
Ensemble + Part Audio
Listen to the full ensemble and your individual part simultaneously.
Audio Mixer
Control the volume of the ensemble and your part independently.
Movement-Based Practice
Organize a show into movements and instantly switch between them.
Tempo + Metronome
Slow difficult music down and practice with an integrated metronome.
Loop Difficult Sections
Repeat the hardest part instead of restarting the entire track.
Record Your Practice
Record solo or with the ensemble, then review your performance.
Digital Scores
Upload part PDFs so music and practice materials stay together.
How it works
Six steps from sheet music to a better run-through.
- 1
Create a Show
- 2
Add Movements
- 3
Upload Audio, Part + Score
- 4
Practice
- 5
Record
- 6
Review
Demo
See Cadence in action
Development
Designed and built from scratch.
Cadence is being built with React Native, Expo, TypeScript, and Expo Audio. I've been responsible for the product concept, user research, interface design, development, testing, and iteration.
const ensemble = useAudioPlayer(movement.ensembleUri);
const part = useAudioPlayer(movement.partUri);
function setMix(ens: number, mine: number) {
ensemble.volume = ens;
part.volume = mine;
}
Phase 1
Research
Interviews with ~14 musicians
Phase 2
Design
Wireframes & interface
Phase 3
Build
Working iOS prototype
Phase 4
Test & iterate
Feedback-driven changes
Iteration
Designed through feedback.
Cadence evolved through conversations with musicians and repeated testing. Each version answered a real request — or removed something that got in the way.
Current status
Where Cadence is now
Cadence is currently a working iOS prototype in active development and testing.
About the founder
Oleksandra Kharytonova
I'm a student musician, drum major, and builder interested in the intersection of music, technology, and creative problem-solving. Cadence grew out of a problem I experienced personally in marching band and became an opportunity to learn product design and software development by building a solution myself.
Practice alone.
Feel the ensemble.
Cadence
Designed & built by Oleksandra Kharytonova · © 2026