Ringing noise from an electromechanical telephoneExample of a short digital tune which could be used as a ringtone on a mobile phone
A ringtone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming telephone call. Originally referring to the sound of electromechanical striking of bells or gongs, the term refers to any sound by any device alerting of an incoming call.
On plain old telephone services (POTS), starting in the late 19th century, the signal is created by superimposing ringing voltage on the direct current line voltage. Electronic telephones could produce a warbling, chirping, or other sounds. Variations of the cadence or tone of the ring signal, called distinctive ringing, can be used to indicate characteristics of incoming calls.
Modern telephones, especially smartphones, are manufactured with a preloaded selection of ringtones. Customers can buy or generate custom ringtones for installation on the device. Digital ringtones were a large market in the 2000s, at its peak generating up to $4 billion in worldwide sales in 2004, but the market declined steeply by the end of the decade.
Background and history
Electromechanical ringer in a 20th century landline telephone
A telephone rings when the telephone network indicates an incoming call, so that the recipient is alerted of the call attempt. Landline telephones typically receive an electric alternating current signal, called power ringing or ringing signal, generated by the telephone exchange to which the telephone is connected. The ringing current originally operated an electric bell. For mobile phones, the network sends a message to the recipient's device, which may activate a sound, or a visual or vibrating indication.
On a POTS interface, this signal is created by superimposing ringing voltage atop the −48VDC already on the line. This is done at the Central Office, or a neighborhood multiplexer called an "SLC" for Subscriber Line Carrier. (SLC is a trademark of Alcatel-Lucent, but is often used generically.) Telephones with electromagnetic ringers are still in widespread use. The ringing signal in North America is normally specified at ca. 90 volts AC with a frequency of 20 hertz. In Europe it is around 60–90 VAC with a frequency of 25Hz. Some non-Bell Company system party lines in the US used multiple frequencies for selective ringing. Ringing voltage is produced by various sources. Large central offices used motor-driven generator sets for both ringing and other signals such as dial tone and busy signals. In smaller offices, special sub-cycle[1] magnetic oscillators were used. Typically, solid-state oscillators have replaced them. Originally this voltage was used to trigger an electromagnet to ring a bell installed inside the telephone, or in a nearby mounted ringer box.
Fixed phones of the late 20th century and later detect this ringing current voltage and trigger a warbling tone electronically. Mobile phones have been fully digital since the early 1990s second-generation ("2G") devices, hence are signaled to ring as part of the protocol they use to communicate with the cell base stations.
While the sound produced is still called a "ring",[2] some phones electronically produce a warbling, chirping, or other sound. Variation of the ring signal can be used to indicate characteristics of incoming calls. For example, ringing bursts with a shorter interval between them might be used to signal a call from a given number.
In POTS switching systems, ringing is said to be "tripped" when the impedance of the entire telephone line (local loop) is reduced when the telephone handset is lifted off the hook. This signals that the telephone call has been answered. The telephone exchange immediately removes the ringing signal from the line and connects the call.
The ringing pattern is known as ring cadence, in which the high voltage ring current is switched on and off to create the pattern. In North America, the standard ring cadence is two seconds of ringing followed by four seconds of silence. In Australia and the UK, the standard ring cadence is 400 ms on, 200 ms off, 400 ms on, 2000 ms off. These patterns may vary from region to region, and other patterns are used in different countries around the world. Some central offices offer distinctive ring to identify one of multiple telephone numbers assigned to the same line, a pattern once widely used on party line (telephony).
In many systems, including North America Bellcore standards, Caller ID signals are sent during the silent interval between the first and second bursts of the ringing signals.
The caller is informed about the progress of the call by the audible ringing signal, often called ringback tone. Power ringing and audible ringing are not generally synchronized.
Seven different gong combinations for the "C" type ringer were included in the model 500 and 2500 landline telephone sets. These gongs provided "distinctive tones" for hearing-impaired customers and also made it possible to distinguish the specific telephone that was ringing when several telephones were placed in close proximity.[3] A "Bell Chime" was also offered, which could be set to sound like a doorbell or to ring like a standard telephone.
While rings, ringers, ring signals, or what might be viewed as the call signals which are the predecessors of ringtones, date back to the beginnings of telephony, modern ringtones appeared in the 1960s and have expanded into tunes and many customizable tones or melodies.[4] Arguably the first ringtone (in the modern sense) appeared in the movie Our Man Flint in 1966, where the head of the secret government agency had a red phone that connected directly to the President and rang with a distinctive musical ringtone.[5]
Following a 1975 FCCruling which permitted third-party devices to be connected to phone lines, manufacturers produced accessory telephone ringers which rang with electronic tones or melodies rather than mechanical bells. People also made their own ringers which used the chip from a musical greeting card to play a melody on the arrival of a call.[6] One such ringer, described in a 1989 book, even features a toy dog which barks and wags its tail when a call arrives.[7] Eventually, electronic telephone ringers became the norm. Some of these ringers produced a single tone, but others produced a sequence of two or three tones or a musical melody.[8] Some novelty phones have a ringer to match, such as a duck that quacks or a car that honks its horn.
Polyphonic ringtone technology dates back to 1999, when the Yamaha MA-1 sound chip was introduced, including four 2-op FM synthesis channels.[9] Ringtones played on the MA series chips are in the MIDI-based synthetic music mobile application format (SMAF). It was succeeded by the MA-2 in 2000, which includes 16 channels with support for ADPCM samples, and the MA-3 in 2001 which includes 32 FM channels and 8 wavetable channels. One of the first software-based polyphonic synths included on phones was miniBAE, developed by Thomas Dolby's audio technology company Beatnik.[10] It is an optimized version of Beatnik Audio Engine, which was previously used in products such as WebTV. The first phone to include this synth was the Nokia 3510, released in 2002.[11]
Types
"Truetone" redirects here. For other uses, see True Tone.
"Realtone" redirects here. For the company formerly known as Realtone Electronics, see SDI Technologies.
Monophonic: The original ringtones play only one note at a time.
Polyphonic: A polyphonic ringtone can consist of several notes at a time. The first polyphonic ring tones used sequenced recording methods such as MIDI. Such recordings specify what synthetic instrument should play a note at a given time, and the actual instrument sound is dependent upon the playback device. Later, synthesized instruments could be included along with the composition data, which allowed for more varied sounds beyond the built-in sound bank of each phone.
Truetone: A truetone, also known as realtone, Jayliar tone, superphonic ringtone, is an audio recording, typically in a common format such as MP3 or AAC. Truetones, which are often excerpts from songs, became popular as ringtones. The first truetone service was started by au in December 2002.[12] "My Gift to You" by Chemistry was the first song to be distributed as a truetone.[13] This truetone (in Japanese chaku-uta) was released in time for Chemistry's concert tour in Japan.[14]
Sing tone: A sing tone is a ringtone created in karaoke style, combining a user's recorded voice with a backing track.
Encoding formats
Most modern phones support ringtones in MP3 format, and other common audio formats such as AAC, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, and MIDI are often supported as well. Less common formats include:
3GP: A multimedia container format that can be used for video ringtones.
AMR: Audio compression format specialized in speech used by Nokia before mp3 became standard.
Nokia / SCKL / OTT: Nokia Smart Messaging format. Allows users to share ringtones via text message.
PDB: Palm database. This is the format used to load ringtones on PDA phones such as the Kyocera 6035 and the Handspring Treo.
PMD: Format co-created by Qualcomm and Japanese company Faith which can include MIDI, sampled (PCM) audio, static graphics, animation, text, vibration and LED events.
QCP: File format generated by Qualcomm PureVoice software. Especially well-suited for simple vocal recordings.
Mobile XMF: Many of Nokia's 2004-2013 phones support this format.
Generation software
A ringtone maker is an application that converts a user chosen song or other audio file for use as a ringtone of a mobile phone. The ringtone file is installed in the mobile phone either by direct cable connection, Bluetooth, text messaging, or e-mail. On many websites, users may create ringtones from digital music or audio.
The earliest ringtone maker was Harmonium, developed by Vesa-Matti Paananen, a Finnish computer programmer, and released in 1997 for use with Nokia smart messaging.[15][16] Some phone manufacturers included features for users to create music tones, either with a "melody composer" or a sample/loop arranger, such as the MusicDJ software included on many Sony Ericsson phones. These often use encoding formats only available to one particular phone model or brand. Other formats, such as MIDI or MP3, are often supported; they must be downloaded to the phone before they can be used as a normal ringtone.[original research?]
In 2005, "SmashTheTones", now "Mobile17", became the first third-party solution for ringtone creation online without requiring downloadable software or a digital audio editor. Later, iPhones included the ability to create a ringtone from a song purchased with the iTunes library.[17]
Commercial sales and popularity
In September 1996, IDO sold Digital Minimo D319 by Denso. It was the first mobile phone where a user could input an original melody, rather than having to use preloaded melodies. These phones proved to be popular in Japan, with a book[18] being published in 1998 providing details about how to customize phones to play snippets of popular songs, selling more than 3.5 million copies.
The first downloadable mobile ringtone service was created and delivered in Finland in 1998 when Radiolinja (a Finnish mobile operator now known as Elisa) started their service called Harmonium, invented by Vesa-Matti Pananen.[19] Harmonium contained both tools for individuals to create monophonic ring tones and a mechanism to deliver them over-the-air (OTA) via SMS to a mobile handset. In November 1998, Digitalphone Groupe (SoftBank Mobile) started a similar service in Japan.
Andy Clarke, while working for UK phone provider Orange, helped created the B5 Ringtone License with the UK's Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society in 1998. In 1999, Clarke registered ringtone.net and setup what is believed to be the world's first "legal" ringtone business. Scott Memphis, leader singer of Sunday Morning Sanctuary, wrote a 2010 hit entitled, "Ringtones & Lullabies" inspired by with the B5 Ringtone Licensing of 1998.
The fact that consumers were willing to pay up to $5 for ringtones, made mobile music a profitable part of the music industry.[20] A significant portion of sales went to the cell phone provider.[21] The Manhattan-based marketing and consulting firm Consect estimated ringtones generated $4 billion in worldwide sales in 2004.[16] According to Fortune magazine, ringtones generated more than $2 billion in worldwide sales during 2005.[22] The rise of sound files also contributed to the popularization of ringtones. In 2003 for example, the Japanese ringtone market, which alone was worth US$900 million, experienced US$66.4 million worth of sound file ringtone sales.[21] In 2003, the global ringtone industry was worth somewhere between US$2.5 and US$3.5 billion.[21] In 2009, the research firm SNL Kagan estimated that sales of ringtones in the United States peaked at $714 million in 2007.[23]
Preloaded ringtones have also developed a cult following over the years. A Twitter account named Tech Product Bangers (formerly known as Ringtone Bangers) launched in 2020, which originally only posted preloaded ringtones from mobile phones, but over time has begun to post other music related to technology such as demoes from keyboards and software installation background music, and accordingly changed its name.[24] The account has also published interviews with composers who worked on ringtones.[25]Thomas Dolby, who founded Beatnik and later Retro Ringtones, stated he is "pleased to see an upsurge of interest in classic ringtones",[26] while several composers who worked at Nokia have expressed surprise over the interest in ringtones.[27]
Decline of popularity
SNL Kagan estimated U.S. sales of ringtones in 2008 declined to $541 million, as consumers utilized third-party software and tutorials to create ringtones themselves.[20] Another reason for the decline of ringtones is due to the increase of mobile devices in the late 2000s having internet connectivity, allowing consumers to download full songs from marketplaces such as iTunes and Amazon, rather than buying excerpts for $5 through text.[28] The technological advancements of smartphones is also considered to be a factor in the decline of ringtones, with consumers shifting their focus to software such as games and social media.[29] The decline of ringtones has further continued throughout the 2010s and 2020s, with many people setting the ringtone to silent; Sensor Tower reported in 2021 that ringtone app downloads decreased by 20% from 2016 to 2020.[30]
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals that are transmitted via cables and other communication channels to another telephone which reproduces the sound to the receiving user. The term is derived from Greek: τῆλε and φωνή, together meaning distant voice. A common short form of the term is phone, which came into use early in the telephone's history.
Thomas Morgan Robertson, known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.
A phone connector is a family of cylindrically-shaped electrical connectors primarily for analog audio signals. Invented in the late 19th century for telephone switchboards, the phone connector remains in use for interfacing wired audio equipment, such as headphones, speakers, microphones, mixing consoles, and electronic musical instruments. A male connector, is mated into a female connector, though other terminology is used.
A telephone call or telephone conversation, also known as a phone call or voice call, is a connection over a telephone network between the called party and the calling party. Telephone calls started in the late 19th century. As technology has improved, a majority of telephone calls are made over a cellular network through mobile phones or over the internet with Voice over IP. Telephone calls are typically used for real-time conversation between two or more parties, especially when the parties cannot meet in person.
The Nokia 3510 is a mobile phone for the GSM network, introduced by Nokia on 12 March 2002. The phone was the first Nokia phone to bring GPRS internet services to the mass market. It was also the first Nokia phone to ship with Beatnik's miniBAE engine, allowing for playback of polyphonic ringtones.
The Nokia 1100 is a basic GSM mobile phone produced by Nokia. Over 250 million 1100s have been sold since its launch in late 2003, making it the world's best selling phone handset and the best selling consumer electronics device in the world at the time. The model was announced on 27 August 2003 and was discontinued in September 2009.
Mobile content is any type of web hypertext and information content and electronic media which is viewed or used on mobile phones, like text, sound, ringtones, graphics, flash, discount offers, mobile games, movies, and GPS navigation. As mobile phone use has grown since the mid-1990s, the usage and significance of the mobile devices in everyday technological life has grown accordingly. Owners of mobile phones can now use their devices to make photo snapshots for upload, twits, mobile calendar appointments, and mostly send and receive text messages, listen to music, watch videos, take mobile pictures and make videos, use websites to redeem coupons for purchases, view and edit office documents, get driving instructions on mobile maps and so on. The use of mobile content in various areas has grown accordingly.
Sony Ericsson Z800i is a 3G mobile phone developed by Sony Ericsson and released in 2005. The Z800i is a phone that is identical to the Vodafone branded Sony Ericsson V800.
The Nokia tune is a phrase from a composition for solo guitar, Gran Vals, composed in 1902 by the Spanish classical guitarist and composer Francisco Tárrega. It has been associated with Finnish corporation Nokia since the 1990s, becoming the first identifiable musical ringtone on a mobile phone; Nokia selected an excerpt to be used as its default ringtone.
iMelody is a non-polyphonic ringtone exchange object format, used for mobile phones [Extension: .imy], defined by Ericsson and Sony Ericsson together with other manufacturers and is based on Ericsson's proprietary eMelody format. This ringtone format also supports codes that can control the vibration motor, backlight, LED lights and volume of the device. The iMelody format was made because the eMelody had some musical limitations.
Polyphony is a property of musical instruments that means that they can play multiple independent melody lines simultaneously. Instruments featuring polyphony are said to be polyphonic. Instruments that are not capable of polyphony are monophonic or paraphonic.
The Nokia 7600 is a camera phone developed by Nokia, running on Series 40. The 7600 was announced on 25 September 2003 and was Nokia's second 3G handset after the Nokia 6650. It is notable for its unique radical design.
The Samsung SCH-u470, or Juke and Verizon Wireless Juke, is a mobile phone offered exclusively by Verizon Wireless. It was announced on 2 October 2007, and released that same year on Q4 in three colors: red, teal, and navy (blue). The phone is a music player when closed, and can be swiveled for use of the mobile phone. It also has a VGA-resolution camera with a special "night shot" mode for taking photos in low-light conditions.
Nokia 5300 XpressMusic is a slider mobile phone by Nokia, part of the XpressMusic range. It was introduced on 26 September 2006 and released at the end of that year. It runs on Nokia Series 40 3rd Edition FP2.
The Motorola Q9c was a smartphone first released in 2007. Initially released as an upgrade to Motorola's Q Series, the Q9C contained a Windows Mobile 6 operating system, push email and instant messaging capabilities, a 1.3 megapixel camera, stereo sound, as well as Bluetooth and GPS navigation.
Ringing is a telecommunication signal that causes a bell or other device to alert a telephone subscriber to an incoming telephone call. Historically, this entailed sending a high-voltage alternating current over the telephone line to a customer station which contained an electromagnetic bell. It is therefore also commonly referred to as power ringing, to distinguish it from another signal, audible ringing, or ringing tone, which is sent to the originating caller to indicate that the destination telephone is in fact ringing.
The Nokia 8810 is a discontinued slider-style mobile phone announced and manufactured by Nokia in 1998. It is notable for being among the first mainstream mobile devices to have an internal antenna, although the very first is regarded as the TCP-6000, released as the Hagenuk GlobalHandy.
The Nokia 7210 is a handset by Nokia, built on the Series 40 1st Edition software platform and enabled with J2ME (Java). The device features text and picture messaging, WAP browser, Stereo FM radio, Polyphonic ringtones, two preinstalled games and a 1.5", 128x128 pixel, 4,096 color display. It was the first Nokia phone for the mass market with a colour display and with polyphonic ringtones.
The Nokia 6310 is a business-oriented mobile phone announced on 15 March 2001 and released at the end of the year as the successor of the Nokia 6210.
Beatnik, Inc., founded as Headspace, Inc., was a company that specialized in interactive audio technology. It was founded by musician Thomas Dolby in 1993 along with co-founder Mary Coller. It is best known for its Beatnik technology, which was used to provide sound in small file sizes on websites and later in billions of phones during the 2000s to play polyphonic ringtones, with its key clients being Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and various other manufacturers. During its earlier years it also produced music for video games such as Cyberia and Obsidian.
↑ "ring". Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper. 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2016– via Dictionary.com. Meaning "a call on the telephone" is from 1900; to give (someone) a ring "call on the telephone" was in use by 1910. Meaning "a ringing tone" is from 1620s; specifically "the ringing sound made by a telephone" by 1951.
↑ AT&T, Bell System Practices, Section 501-250-303 Issue 4, C-Type Ringers—Maintenance., Sept. 1978.
↑ Gopinath, Sumanth (2013). The Ringtone Dialectic: Economy and Cultural Form. MIT Press. p.14. ISBN978-0262019156.
↑ Dolby, Thomas (2016). The Speed of Sound: Breaking the Barriers Between Music and Technology: A Memoir. Flatiron Books. pp.173, 174. ISBN978-1250071842.
"Ringtone FAQ - UCAN". ucan.org. Archived from the original on 2007-04-10. - Consumer guide to ring tones, from Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN)
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