# Concentric Rhythm

> Interactive tool for generating and exploring musical patterns with geometric transformations. (iPhone/iPad app by Jeff Holtzkener.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/concentric-rhythm/id1188907944 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Jeff Holtzkener](https://appshunter.io/developer/1087693055)
- Category: Music
- Price: $3.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.70/5 from 43 App Store ratings · 30 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 10.0 · 44 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2017-02-14
- Data updated: 2026-09-02
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/concentric-rhythm/id1188907944/reviews.md

## What is Concentric Rhythm?

Concentric Rhythm is an interactive tool for generating, developing, and exploring musical patterns. It uses geometric transformations and many other simple processes to create, develop, and evolve music. 

The looping musical timeline is visualized as a circle, which allows you to treat musical patterns as concentric shapes.   This makes performing geometric transformations such as rotations, reflections and folding very natural and intuitive. 
It also provides tools for melodic lines such as random-walk generation and scale-based inversion and transposition.
You can generate rhythmic lines using cross-rhythms or the Euclidean algorithm, and allows for great visualisations of complex polyrhythms.

Concentric Rhythm now allows you to assign each pattern to a different MIDI channel and send your results to other MIDI compatible apps or devices.

Concentric Rhythm was originally developed as a new way to improvise electronic music, but it is also a great tool experimenting with and developing musical material, or just for casually playing with music in a unique, hands-on, way.

Many of the ideas here were inspired by the book ‘The Geometry of Musical Rhythm’ and this app is a powerful tool for anyone who is interested in exploring these ideas.  But at the same time is easy enough to use that anyone (even with no musical or mathematical background) can make interesting musical patterns and think about the musical world a little differently.

Note: There are known compatibility issues when used with AUM, especially on iOS 14

## Key features

- Geometric pattern generation
- Circular musical timeline visualization
- Melodic line tools (random-walk, scale-based)
- Rhythmic line generation (cross-rhythms, Euclidean algorithm)
- MIDI output to other apps/devices
- Visualizations of polyrhythms

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $3.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| MIDI Send | $4.99 | one-time |


## Chart rankings

- #182 in Top Paid · Music (US App Store)

## Recent user reviews (10 of 30)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/concentric-rhythm/id1188907944/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Amazing

*2025-03-15*

When I first picked this up 5 years ago (or whenever it came out), I didn’t fully appreciate the genius.  I was still relatively new to music production and didn’t see how unique this gem really is.  Over the years, I find myself using it more and more and more.  It’s an amazing tool.

I only wish I could get it for my old MacBook Pro!

### 1/5 — Very low subdivision , 36 seriously 🥲

*2022-10-20*

It would be the best sound app ever if it has a maximum of 96 beats but i dont know the developper choosed to put a limit of 36 please upgrade it to 96 or even 64 please !

### 5/5 — Love this tool

*2021-08-18*

Helps to really see what’s happening rhythmically. 

Wish it could create a notable transcription for performance. 
Wish it was on my Mac. 

Thanks
George

### 5/5 — Great sound library

*2021-08-14*

Just missing a ride cymbal sound  to be perfect!

### 4/5 — Much improved from a few month ago!

*2021-07-08*

In my opinion this app has seen a lot of improvements since I used it a few months ago!  
I launched it inside AUM, as an interapp audio device on an audio channel.  In the Concentric settings, I chose midi out to AUM, and set each separate concentric "ring" output to a separate midi channel.  In AUM, I set up multiple instruments, on separate audio channels.  I then filtered the incoming midi signals for each of these AUM instrument channels, to match the incoming Concentric midi channel I wanted to use. Seems to work so far!  

The app doesn't seem to tempo match with the AUM tempo.  Can this be done??

The settings menu, and the organization of the input and control buttons, could benefit from some workflow improvements.

### 4/5 — Doesn’t work on iPhone 12 Pro Max

*2021-05-27, version 3.0.4*

The app quits a second after you open it. Not sure why, no other apps open so can’t be memory issue. 

Works on iPad, great app, and all other apps by this developer are awesome.

### 5/5 — Revolutionary

*2020-10-22, version 2.0*

This program will change your rhythm composition workflow forever. Elegant UI, instant gratification, deep experimentation. Highly recommended.

### 5/5 — Amazing

*2020-06-18*

It’s amazing. Full stop. Intuitive layout, great design and aesthetic, extremely functional. I can’t say enough good things.

### 5/5 — Phenomenal

*2020-05-17*

This app is truly a life saver. I’m a pianist specializing in contemporary music, and I was searching for an app that I could program some of the polyrhythms that I’ve been encountering in my repertoire. I love that I can program something like 11:13, but I’m even more blown away that I can adjust it to account for dotted rhythms and rests. Ive been sharing this with practically all of my friends and colleagues in the field. Thank you Jeff for creating this!

### 5/5 — About perfect.

*2019-12-02*

I tried, but so far can’t find anything negative about this app. About as good as it gets as is!

It is probably mathematically possible with all the transformations, but surprisingly I did not find an easy way of converting say a 6 note rhythm into 5 or 7 note one while keeping even distribution of notes around the circle. 

An “unwrap” feature could be handy, basically allowing user to convert the sequence into a more traditional rows/columns sequencer patterns (can be done by exporting MIDI into any piano roll type DAW but in app functionality would be useful). 

I also wish that turning the rings in relation to the other ones was not quantized and allowed in-between positions, this could create even more interesting rhythms. 

And if it was possible to divide any distance between two notes into subdivisions and create notes there...

Once again, this app is about perfect and all above is just a fantasy...

Edit: Not sure if this is a feature meant to prevent recording of IAA into an AB3 in the free version, but as soon as the AB3 is opened the app changes the sound into an echoey one and even after quitting AB3 the sound remains changed (comes back to normal if you quit the app and reload the project). IAA can be recorded in AUM without trouble which tells me the changing sound is a bug .

## Frequently asked questions about Concentric Rhythm

### What does Concentric Rhythm do?

Concentric Rhythm is an interactive tool that helps you generate, develop, and explore musical patterns. It uses geometric transformations and other simple processes to create and evolve music, visualizing the musical timeline as a circle for intuitive manipulation.

### What are the key features of Concentric Rhythm?

Key features include generating musical patterns through geometric transformations, a circular timeline visualization, tools for melodic lines like random-walk generation and scale-based inversion, and rhythmic line generation using cross-rhythms or the Euclidean algorithm. It also supports MIDI output to other compatible applications and devices.

### How much does Concentric Rhythm cost?

The application is free to download and use, but it offers in-app purchases. The exact cost of these in-app purchases is not specified in the description, but they likely unlock additional features or content.

### Is Concentric Rhythm compatible with other music apps?

Yes, Concentric Rhythm allows you to assign patterns to different MIDI channels and send your results to other MIDI-compatible apps or devices. However, there are known compatibility issues when used with AUM, particularly on iOS 14.

### Who would benefit from using Concentric Rhythm?

This app is beneficial for electronic music improvisers, musicians looking to experiment with and develop musical material, and anyone interested in exploring musical ideas through a unique, hands-on approach. It's designed to be accessible even for users without a musical or mathematical background.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 3.0.4 — 2021-03-04

- can auto-save last MIDI Send value
- significant improvements for Audiobus and AUM hosting

### 3.0.3 — 2021-02-20

- screen lock disabled while app is running
- improvements with AUM and Audiobus hosting

### 3.0.2 — 2021-02-01

- properly restores tempo when launching

### 3.0.1 — 2021-01-16

- bugfixes
- UI improvements

### 3.0 — 2021-01-09

What's new? 
•Audiobus 3 MIDI 
•Auto-rotation
•Export MIDI files
•Autosaving (restart each new session where you left off)
•Ring/track re-ordering
•Clipboard for copying and pasting tracks
•Many bug fixes, big and small

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, support, and patience!

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## More apps by Jeff Holtzkener

- [MelodyTrainer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/melodytrainer/id1087693056)
- [Classroom Fluency Timer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/classroom-fluency-timer/id1104853948)
- [Generative Tree Fractal Explorer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/generative-tree-fractal-explorer/id1111819857)
- [Langton's Ant Family Cellular Automata](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/langtons-ant-family-cellular-automata/id1142104651)

All apps by Jeff Holtzkener: https://appshunter.io/developer/1087693055

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-02.*