Two apps · one idea
Every sound
has a color.
Two iPhone apps that map every sound in twelve-tone music. Hear it, see it, and find it on your instrument.
Two apps · one idea
Two iPhone apps that map every sound in twelve-tone music. Hear it, see it, and find it on your instrument.
The Color Tree
Take any set of notes that sit side by side on the circle of fifths. Collect every one of those sets and they self-organize into a 12-row object of 67 sounds, arranged from simple to complex and from dark to bright. Andrew Sheron discovered it in 2021.
Completely free: no ads, no account, nothing to unlock
Listen: customizable playback for every sound on the object
Scale visualizer: see the notes laid out on your instrument of choice
Fully offline: the whole object travels with you, no connection required
Familiar and strange: many common scales and chords you know, alongside many you won't recognize
Deep links: jump from any sound to its full entry in The Color Encyclopedia
The Color Encyclopedia
Every sound available in twelve-tone music, all 2,048 of them, organized into 351 colors. Each family gets an entry: hear it, see it, learn its name and how it relates to everything around it. Familiar scales and chords sit alongside thousands more, under a sky that shifts as you go.
Listen to any color: customizable playback for every set of notes
Scale visualizer: see the notes laid out on your instrument of choice
Filter and search: narrow by scale degree, interval range, and more
Curated and custom lists: browse collections or build your own favorites
Randomize: surprise yourself with sounds you've never heard
Fully offline: the whole map, no connection required
Modes, inversions and rotations around the circle of fifths are all the same concept. A color has as many modes as it does notes.
As you rotate a structure around the circle of fifths, hear how the sound changes and see the sets of notes appear mapped to your instrument of choice.
Better together
The Color Tree maps the special cases: the sounds whose notes are all adjacent along the circle of fifths. The Color Encyclopedia contains the entire space, every family of notes there is. Find something you like in the Tree and jump straight to its full entry.
67 sounds → 351 families
Support
Not at all. Both apps are built for exploring by ear. Tap around, listen, and the names and structure reveal themselves. If you do know theory, there’s plenty of depth waiting.
The Color Tree is one object: the 67 sounds whose notes are all adjacent along the circle of fifths, laid out in 12 rows from simple to complex and dark to bright. The Color Encyclopedia is the complete map: every family of notes in twelve-tone music, searchable and filterable, with a full entry for each one.
The Color Tree is free: no ads, no account, nothing to unlock. The Color Encyclopedia is a one-time purchase; the current price is on its App Store page. Neither app has ads, subscriptions, or sign-in.
Neither app asks who you are. There’s no login, no advertising, and no personal tracking, just anonymous, aggregate usage counts that help us improve the apps. See the full privacy note linked in the footer.
The Color Tree and The Color Encyclopedia are iPhone apps and run on recent versions of iOS. Both work fully offline once installed.
Please tell us. The note and mode names are always being refined, and reports genuinely help. Email us and we’ll take a look.
Privacy Policy
Both apps are built to be private. There is no account to create, no advertising, and nothing that identifies who you are. Last updated 8 July 2026.
To understand which features people use and to improve the apps, we collect anonymous, aggregate usage information through a privacy-friendly analytics service (PostHog):
This data is not linked to your identity and is not used to track you. Both apps work fully offline; analytics simply won't be sent.
Your settings, favorites, and collections are stored on your device and are not uploaded to us.
The apps are rated 4+. Because we collect no personal information, they are suitable for all ages.
Questions about privacy? Email colortreemusic@gmail.com.