selftone Press Kit

Fact sheet

Name: selftone (always lowercase)
Tagline: Music for thinking & creating
Maker: Sergey Hartmann, independent developer
Platforms: Mac (macOS 15+), iPhone and iPad (iOS 17+)
Price: Free for 3 days, then $8.99 one-time. No subscription.
Languages: 20
Website: selftone.app
Press contact: support@selftone.app

Short description

selftone is endless background music for deep work on Mac, iPhone and iPad. It composes in real time with music theory and sampled instruments, with no internet connection.

About selftone

selftone is a music app for people whose work happens in their head: developers, designers, writers, researchers and students. Instead of playlists or streams, it composes music live on the device, following the rules of harmony and played by sampled instruments such as piano, cello, marimba, flute and vintage synths.

Five modes cover five kinds of work. Focus is an even pattern with no tune to follow. Flow is a dark, steady pulse. Think leaves room for ideas with open harmony. Relax slows down with soft felt piano. Sprint brings energy without the club. Sessions run for 25, 50 or 90 minutes, or endlessly, and the music moves in chapters so it changes without ever pulling you out.

selftone works fully offline, collects no data, and costs $8.99 once after a 3-day free trial.

Why it exists

“For years my work ritual was the same. Open a playlist, start the task, and ten minutes later a song with lyrics breaks the spell. I wanted music that sits in the background like weather. selftone is the app I wanted on my own Mac.”
— Sergey Hartmann, maker of selftone

What makes it different

Rules, not a model. Procedural composition with scales, chords and structure, running on the device.
Never loops. Music is written as you listen; every session starts from a new seed.
Offline and private. No account, no streaming, no analytics.
Pay once. One purchase for Mac, iPhone and iPad.
Creator-friendly. Free to use in streams, videos and recordings.