Twelve Tone vs Things
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Twelve Tone
This app helps musicians and teachers compose and analyze music using dodecaphonic and set theory. It allows users to enter tone rows, automatically generates musical matrices, and provides playback and sharing options for compositions.
- Enter tone rows via staff or piano keyboard
- Automatic generation of Prime, Inversion, Retrograde, RI matrices
- Real-time Interval Vectors and Circular Analysis updates
- Save and manage tone rows with names and markings
- Share PDF of notation, keyboard, and analysis
- Listen to row playback with selected rhythm patterns
- Matrix audio playback for pitch identification
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An extensive music composition and analysis tool. An indispensable resource for any musician or music teacher interested in dodecaphonic and set theory analysis. • Enter a tone row by touching the staff or playing the piano keyboard. • It lets you know if any notes are repeated by highlighting both notes, checking enharmonic values regardless of octave or accidentals. • Automatically creates the Prime, Inversion, Retrograde, and Retrograde Inversion Magic Square. • Constantly updates the Interval Vectors and Circular Analysis of the tone row as you edit it. • Save your rows (rows may contain from 1 to 12 notes), complete with name and current P, R, I, RI matrix markings. Saved rows appear in a list with their name and midi numbers to help you identify them. • Share a pdf of the notation, piano keyboard, and circular analysis. • Watch and listen to your row played with a selected rhythm pattern. • Playback: - Prime - Prime then Retrograde - Retrograde then Prime - Retrograde - Inversion - Inversion then Retrograde Inversion - Retrograde Inversion then Inversion - Retrograde Inversion • Each can be repeated and transposed with each iteration. • The Root is kept within an octave above and below the original pitch when looping and transposing. • Matrix Audio: Hear the pitches as you mark them in the matrix square. The marks indicate the row form in which the pitch belonged; Prime, Inversion, Retrograde, and Retrograde Inversion. • Lock the prime row and transpose it to C to use the Absolute Pitch Method for row labeling in the matrix. Comes preloaded with the following rows: Alban Berg's Lyric Suite Babbitt's Composition for Four Instruments Schoenberg's Variations for Orchestra Op.31 Schoenberg's Piano Piece Op.33a Webern's Concerto Op.24 Webern's Piano Variations Op.27 Webern's String Quartet Op.28
Things
This audio effect plugin allows users to creatively combine and manipulate two audio signals. It can be used for subtle sound morphing, rhythmic gating, adding vibrato, or extreme modulation effects.
- Side-chaining signal combination
- Volume and spatial position modulation
- Vibrato effect
- Extreme modulation speeds
- Sound morphing
- Rhythmic gating
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Motor is a plugin effect that uses side-chaining to combine signals in new and interesting ways: put in any two signals and they will dance around each other like courting birds drunk on fermented cherries. Use it to gently morph between sounds or rhythmically cut them up, affecting both volume and spatial position. Add life to the plainest signals with vibrato, or destroy them in interesting ways with extreme modulation speeds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Things at 100% against Twelve Tone's 70%. Things also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 26.0). Twelve Tone's advantage is price ($4.99 vs $6.99). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Twelve Tone costs $4.99 and Things $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Things holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Twelve Tone's written reviews are positive against 100% of Things's.
Twelve Tone ships an update every 18 months, Things every 24 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Twelve Tone | Things |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $6.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (16 ratings) | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16 — better | 8 |
| Update frequency | Every 18 months — better | Every 24 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Patrick Q. Kelly | AudioThing Ltd. |
Customer experience
Twelve Tone
Things
In-app purchases
Twelve Tone
No in-app purchases
Things
No in-app purchases









