Polyphonic Ringtones
Polyphonic ringtones or MIDI ringtones were introdused in 2002. Back then not many phones supported the use of polyphonic ringtones. Nowadays most new phones can play polyphonic ringtones.
Polyphonic ringtones are just like a regular ringtones (mono ringtones),
but they sound more like music. With polyphonic ringtones you can
play several notes at the same time, allowing for harmonized tunes.
Good quality polyphonic ringtones can sound just like a small orchestra
with several different instruments and sound effects.
It is the Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) that enables the creation of polyphonic musical compositions with differnet sounds. Polyphonic means that multiple tones can be played at the same time using instrument sounds such as guitar, drums, electronic piano, etc.
The first Nokia phone to use polyphonic tones was the Nokia
3510. In the second quarter of 2002, Nokia also announced its
3585, 3590 and 7210 mobile phone models which all support SP-MIDI
for ringtones, game sound and messaging. Most new Motorola, Samsung,
Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Panasonic and Nokia phones supports polyphonic
ringtones.
Polyphonic ringtones can be used as ringtones, message alert tones and as sound effects in mobile phone games.
Polyphonic ringtone formats
There are different types of polyphonic ringtones.
Polyphonic ringtone level 4
The polyphonic level 4 capable phones can play playback 4 simultaneous
notes. The Nokia 3510, 3510i, 5100, 6100, 6610, 6800, 7210 and 7250
supports playback for polyphony 4 level ringtones. The instrument
bank of the above mentioned Nokia phones include 29 melodic and 14
percussive instruments. The Nokia 6220 supports polyphony level 16.
Polyphonic ringtone level 24
The Nokia 3650, 6600, 7650, 3300 and 6650 have support for polyphony
level 24 MIDI content. The instrument bank of the above mentioned
Nokia phones include 128 melodic and 47 percussive instruments. To
get even better polyphonic ringtone sounds some mobile phones have
a built in synthesizers. Phones with synthesizers: Panasonic
GD87 and Samsung SGH-T100.
How to download a polyphonic ringtone?
A polyphonic ringtone is downloaded to the mobile phone over MMS or
WAP unlike a traditional monophonic ringtone which is downloaded to
the phone as a SMS message. Polyphonic tones cannot be sent to other
mobile phones. In Europe and the UK you are usually charged for your
polyphonic tones download via your mobile phone bill. In US a polyphonic
ringtone is usually paid with a credit card and some ringtone web
sites also accept payment by Pay Pal. The payments options depends
on the service, operator and plan you use. Nextel, Sprint, Cingular
Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T are the biggest operators in the US. The
biggest operators in Europe and UK are O2 / BT Cellnet, T-Mobile /
One2One, Orange, Virgin and Vodafone.
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Ringtones info and faq. Learn about the different ringtone format. Make your own free ringtones and convert ringtones to different formats. |
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