Sounds of the World
Hear a new instrument daily
Free · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Meet a new traditional instrument each day - hear its real sound, learn its story, then guess the mystery sound, mix a soundscape, or play it yourself. Free.
Hear the world, one instrument a day.
Every morning, Sounds of the World introduces one traditional instrument from somewhere on the planet - and lets you actually HEAR it. The Armenian duduk that sounds like a voice singing in its sleep. The West African kora, twenty-one strings plucked like a harp. The Chinese sheng, a bamboo mouth organ that breathes like a chorus. Real recordings shared by musicians under Creative Commons, never synthesized.
THE SOUND IS THE HERO
- Tap play and hear a real recording of each day's instrument
- A short, curiosity-first story: where it comes from, how it's played, the music it belongs to
- At-a-glance facts, a tactile waveform, and playback that works even on silent
PLAY, GUESS, AND EXPLORE
- Guess the Sound: a daily listening game. Hear a growing clip and name the instrument before your guesses run out, then share your spoiler-free score.
- Sound Mixer: blend instruments into a living soundscape for focus, sleep, or calm, with a sleep timer.
- Play it yourself: tap pads that play the real instrument, pitch-shifted across a scale.
- World Sound Atlas: every instrument you've met, pinned to a globe. Search, favourite, and follow themed listening journeys.
YOUR SOUND PASSPORT
- Build a streak each day you listen
- Collect instrument families and countries, and celebrate milestones
- Share any instrument as a beautiful card, or as a video reel that actually plays the sound
WIDGETS AND MORE
- Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets with today's instrument, one tap to hear it
- A gentle morning reminder with tomorrow's curiosity hook
- Warm, quiet design in light and dark
- Free. No account, no ads, no tracking, ever
All recordings are from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licences, with author and licence shown beside every clip.
The world is full of instruments you've never heard. Here's one a day.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
The developer, Yiwen Luo, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Yiwen Luo
- Size
- 14.7 MB
- Category
- Music
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.1 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 18.1 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 18.1 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 15.1 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 2.1 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Yiwen Luo