A pocket reference for Turkish music

You've heard
Turkish music. Now hear
how it works.

Microtones translated. Master recordings curated. Usul cycles paired. The reference makam music has been waiting for.

In App Review Coming soon to iPhone
Android also coming soon
The Makam app icon

The notes you can't play on a piano are where Turkish music lives.

Western music divides the octave into twelve equal notes. Turkish makam doesn't. It lives in the spaces between the keys — quarter-tones, commas, neutral intervals. Notes that Western notation can't write and Western instruments can't play in tune.

That's why most apps skip microtones or bury them in cent values nobody wants to read. The Makam translates them.

Segâh
sits near E, but flatter ~−25¢
Eviç
sits near F♯, but flatter ~−25¢
Hisar
sits near A♭, but lower ~−50¢

A pocket archive for working musicians.

Four layers. One tap each. Built for the practice room, the stage, and the studio.

i — masters

The definitive recording for every makam.

Stop hunting YouTube for the right Rast. Each makam links to the performance that defines the mode — curated by ear, one tap away.

ii — taksim

Hear the mode actually move.

A curated improvisation for every makam. The characteristic phrases, the ornamentation, the turns and resolutions that no scale diagram can teach.

iii — microtones

Translated for the Western ear.

Every note labeled in Turkish notation and against the Western note you already know. Authentic ney samples at exact microtonal pitch. The bridge that's been missing.

iv — usul

Rhythm, where it belongs.

A makam without its usul is half a tradition. Browse the rhythmic cycles — Aksak, Düyek, Sofyan, Curcuna — with authentic darbuka audio.

a sound, not a scale

Open the app, pick a makam, hear it played by a master.

Every makam in The Makam comes paired with curated reference recordings and taksim improvisations — so you can hear the tradition before you read about it. Your favorite taksim, two taps away.

Whether you've spent a lifetime with this music, or you're just arriving.

Musicians

A fast, accurate reference for the practice room or stage. Look up a makam, hear how a master plays it, check an interval.

Producers

Microtonal pitch data, authentic ney samples, curated reference performances. For scoring, sound design, modal textures, DAW work.

Learners

Pronunciation, mood, seyir, plain-language explanations. Start with your ear, not a textbook. Hear the tradition's greatest performers.

Listeners

A way into one of the world's deepest musical traditions, with sound first and theory second. No prior knowledge needed.

start listening

Hear how Turkish music works.

Coming soon to iPhone. No account, no subscription, no tracking — when it lands.

In App Review Coming soon to iPhone
Android also coming soon