Chromesthesia · philmarksmusic.com

Sound That Settles

Apps for Cats · Dogs · and Ringing Ears

Three apps, one idea: the right sound changes a room. Calming soundscapes for the cat hiding under the bed and the dog pacing at the window — and a set of sound experiments for anyone whose ears won't go quiet. Made by a working jazz drummer who has spent fifty years listening to what sound does.

For iPhone and iPad on the App Store; Den and Tinnitus Experiments are also on Google Play for Android. Tinnitus Experiments is a sound tool for personal exploration, not a medical device — if your tinnitus is new, sudden, or one-sided, please see a doctor.

Why sound, and why a musician

Animals hear the world more sharply than we do, and a house full of sudden noises can keep them on edge. A steady, gentle soundscape gives their ears something calm to rest on. Purr Den and Den are built around that idea — sound chosen and shaped for the animal, not for us.

Ringing ears are a familiar companion for anyone who has spent a career next to a drum kit. Tinnitus Experiments came out of that: a way to pin down the pitch you're hearing and work with it through sound, on your own terms, at your own pace.

Who made these

I'm Phil Marks — a drummer and vibraphonist, Berklee-trained, playing professionally since 1975. Jazz clubs, road work, and a long time spent watching what music does to a room — and to the people and animals in it.

You can hear more of that work on my YouTube channel — music and sound healing for 185,000 subscribers.

Every one of these apps is something I wanted for my own household first. If you have a question about any of them, email me and I'll answer personally.

The Books

A lifetime in music, on the page — available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Cover of Cosmic Surfer
Biography
Cosmic Surfer: The Musical Journey of Phil "Shiva" Jones
London, 1969. In a basement below a fish-and-chip shop in Ladbroke Grove, five musicians called Quintessence set out to do something rock had never done. At the heart of the sound: Phil "Shiva" Jones — raised on Delta blues, named in a London ashram, fronting what was reportedly one of Jim Morrison's favorite bands. This is that story.
Get the book — all stores & formats →
Cover of The Sound of Everything
Fiction
The Sound of Everything
In Selene Cove, the day begins with a meditation bell before sunrise. When a developer builds an app to prove that minds in meditation truly connect, a wary neuroscientist and a young researcher are pulled into an experiment that blurs the line between what science can measure and what only the heart can know.
Get the book — print & eBook →
Cover of Study of Harmonies in Modern Music
Music Theory
Study of Harmonies in Modern Music
From Playing Chords to Understanding Them — A Working Musician's Guide to Harmony
Eastern and Western theory, with analysis of industry legends — including Quintessence. Harmony built from fifty years on the bandstand rather than the lecture hall.
Get the book →
Cover of Advanced Polyrhythms
Drumming
Advanced Polyrhythms Made Simple
The mystery taken out of complex rhythm: clear, linear patterns that let the counter-rhythms reveal themselves naturally at the drum set.
Read on Amazon →

All books by Philip F. Marks on Amazon

Coming Soon from the Studio

Cosmic Birth Chart Studio

Jyotish and Western charts for iPhone and iPad — with a live sky finder, chart comparison, a year's calendar of eclipses and sankrantis, print-ready posters, and your chart played as music. Coming soon to the App Store — $2.99 once (₹149 in India), everything included, no subscription.

Forthcoming on the App Store
Take a first look →