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The Evolution Of Ringtones
Do you ever wonder how the modern song-replica ringtones have evolved from the simple traditional telephone ring' When cell phones first became popular there were few simple monotone rings to choose from, yet now it seems as if there is an infinite selection of different types of ringtones.Monophonic ringtones were the first ringtones available to cell phone users. These ringtones are composed a song played with only one tone at a time. In other words, rings played on monophonic phones are simple and low quality as compared to today’s complex ringtones. A common example of a monophonic ringtone is the tradition ring of a house phone. Although storage space on a cell phone is not as big an issue now as it was years ago, monophonic ringtones are very user friendly because they take up little memory.
As phones evolved, so did ringtones. Polyphonic ringtones are similar to monophonic ringtones in the sense that they both use tones to imitate songs and melodies. Contrary to monophonic ringtones, polyphonic ringtones are able to play up to 40 tones at a time, allowing them to reproduce more complex songs by playing multiple tones and instrument sounds at once. These complex ringtones work by using sequence recording methods with applications such as MIDI. MIDI allows musical instruments, computers, and telephones to synchronize with each other by transmitting digital data messages about which pitch and intensity each note should have. Although it specifies what note and instrument should play a note at a given time, the actual sound of the note or instrument depends on the cell phone sound system. These applications are very beneficial because the data formats are very compact, taking up little space on a cell phone.
Polyphonic ringtones are able to better depict a song than monophonic ringtones, but digital audio recordings are even more accurate. Polyphonic ringtones set the stage for realtones, also known as truetones. They are able to use a digital recording to create a ringtone almost exactly like the imitated song or melody. Types of realtone ringtones can range from songs, to sound bites, to sound effects. Realtones are encoded with advanced formats such as MP3 and WMV, causing them to be the most highly developed of all new ringtones. Because their high quality, they are currently the most popular form of ringtone, and account for about 75% of all mobile purchases.
There are endless possibilities with realtones. Users can download and purchase virtually any song. These excerpts from popular songs have become the most popular ringtones. A music artist may release his or her song as a realtone ringtone because in many cases, the ringtone will outsell a single. It is ironic that teens are hesitant to pay the $.99 to download music legally, yet willing pay from $2-5 for just a small clip of a song for their ringtone. In addition to songs, realtones can be composed of sounds, voice recordings, and nearly any sound or melody that can be recorded.
There are many effects caused by the evolution of ringtones. For one, many older phones are not compatible with the newer formatted types of ringtones, and are therefore limited to monophonic or polyphonic ringtones. Because monophonic ringtones are the oldest form of ringtone, there are more monophonic ringtones available then any other form. Yet, because of the increasing popularity of the higher quality ringtones, polyphonic and realtones, the popularity of monophonic ringtones has recently significantly decreased, causing a drop in sales.
So the next time someone’s phone rings and you hear your favorite song as a ringtone, think of how far ringtones have come to evolve.