About Hymnphony
A hymn book that keeps up with the people singing from it.
Hymnphony exists because hymn singing deserves better tools: tools that respect the tradition, serve the choir, and work in the buildings where the singing actually happens.
Why we built it
The hymn book has not changed. The world around it has.
In countless congregations, one worn hymnal is shared between three people, the sol-fa edition went missing years ago, and the only copy of the score belongs to an organist who is away this Sunday. Choirs rehearse once a week and then have nothing to practice with until the next rehearsal.
Hymnphony was built to answer that. Not to replace the hymn book, and certainly not to replace the choir, but to put the words, the sol-fa, the score and the sound of every hymn into the hands of everyone who needs them, on the device they already carry.
What we believe
Convictions that shape every release.
Tonic sol-fa deserves respect
For millions of singers, sol-fa is not a stepping stone to “real” notation. It is their notation. We typeset it with the same care as any score.
Copyright is not an obstacle to work around
Hymn writers, arrangers and publishers deserve to be credited and compensated. We only publish what we may lawfully publish.
Technology should serve the congregation
If a feature makes worship more complicated, it does not belong in the app.
Connectivity is a privilege, not an assumption
Many of the churches we build for have thick walls, weak signal or expensive data. Offline is a requirement, not a nicety.
Legibility is a form of hospitality
Clear type and generous spacing are how an app welcomes older eyes and the back row.
Worship is private
What you sing, search for or bookmark is nobody’s business but yours.
How it is made
Musicians and engineers, checking each other’s work.
Hymn data is not simply imported. Every book is prepared, proofed and corrected before it reaches a device.
Prepared from the printed edition
Numbering, verse order and structure follow the published hymnal so the app and the pew book agree.
Proofed by musicians
Sol-fa and scores are checked by people who read them fluently, because a wrong note in rehearsal costs everyone time.
Corrected in the open
When a reader reports an error we verify it, fix it and ship the correction in the next update.
Improved continuously
Small, frequent releases rather than dramatic rewrites, so nothing breaks on a Sunday morning.
WHO MAKES IT
Hymnphony is built by cannykaystudios.
Hymnphony is designed and built by cannykaystudios, a small independent software studio in Ghana. It is our answer to a problem we kept meeting in real churches, and we make it the way we would want a hymn book made: slowly, carefully, and with musicians in the room.
Small studio, close to its users
There is no support ticket maze here. When you write to us, the people who make the app are the people who read it, and often the people who reply.
Independent by choice
Hymnphony is not backed by advertising or built to harvest attention. It is a tool you open, use and close, and it is funded honestly.
Craft over speed
We would rather ship one hymn book properly proofed than ten rushed. Accuracy is the product.
Accountable for what we publish
Everything in the app is prepared with permission and attribution in mind. If we cannot publish something lawfully, we do not publish it.
Get in touch with the studio at hymnphony.com@gmail.com.
Work with us
Churches, choirs, publishers and volunteers.
If you lead a choir, sit on a hymnal committee, publish hymn books, or simply proofread well, there is a place for you in this project.
Join the congregation.
Download Hymnphony and bring your hymn book with you.