The Propheteer

For Nokia 3595 Phones

Okay - I got a new phone (and, consequently, stopped working on some of the ringtones for my older phone). The new phone uses a different ringtone format and so, I needed new ringtones. The Nokia 3595 has polyphonic ringtones based on the MIDI format - but it’s not QUITE what you’d expect. Fortunately, it is a standard, and it is well documented, so creating your own ringtones is possible.

The trick is this - find a midi file you like (if you search there are some really good quality midis of popular songs and theme music) and download it. Open it up in a midi editor (Jazz++ is a good one - multiplatform and open source! [i.e. free]) and cut it down to a length appropriate to a ringtone. You want this to be pretty short, partially because you’re not likely to ever be able to HEAR much of it, and partially because phones have a limited amount of memory. You’ll probably want to end it at the completion of a phrase - if you’re not musically inclined, just think of it as a “natural stopping point”. Please - for my sanity - don’t cut it off in the middle somewhere. If I’m near you in public, I will take that phone and shove it somewhere very uncomfortable.

Once you’ve done this, you need to figure out which tracks you ABSOLUTELY need. Cut out any of the ones that are unnecessary for the section of song you want to hear, and then figure out (in order) how important the rest of the tracks are. Save the midi file and open it again in an sp-midi converter (I can’t remember which one I used, but I know it was for winodws [ack!]). Set the order of preference for the tracks, and save the file again. You have a ringtone!

The last trick is to get it onto the phone. If you have an internet connection through your cellphone provider, it’s easy. Just put the tones on a website and point your browser at it. Whee! If you don’t have that, things get a bit tricky. The “easy” way is to copy them from your computer with a data cable. I have no experience with this, but it’s expensive and it looks like a pain (especially as the 3595 needs a modified cable). Aside from that, you’re probably going to have to buy the lousy ringtones they sell on the ‘net for $2.50 a pop. Have fun. I’d suggest sucking it up and getting the ‘net access - even for just a little while.

In any case, here’s my (admittedly small) collection:
Coldplay - Clocks
Queen - The Prophet’s Song
John Philip Sousa - The Liberty Bell March
For Nokia 3390 Phones

These are ringtone entries for the Nokia 3390. I spent a lot of time writing several ringtones that my friends and I would appreciate and identify with, sent them out, and then my phone broke. Unfortunately, the ringtones can’t be transferred from any phone other than the one they were written on, and then only so long as they’re still in “Composer”. I lost everything. So I’ve written them again, and wrote them down here as well. This was for two reasons - one, so that they will never be lost to me again, and two, so that other people who would like these same songs can enter them into their phone (even if they aren’t anywhere near someplace that can SMS them over). So here they are. Granted, darn few people have 3390 phones anymore, but I’m leaving them up just in case they’re useful.

This is what is shown on the screen, not the series of key presses, as different phones may have different…well…anything. If your phone uses a different system you should still be able to figure out how to enter these in (assuming you have some small measure of musical knowledge). A hyphen means a rest, and a dot means a dotted note (which means that the note is half again as long as the written value. Therefore a whole note would be six beats long instead of four.) Dotted notes can be achieved on the Nokia 3390 by pressing and holding the note until the dot appears. Then the value of the note can be modified in any other way. It’s a royal pain, but what do you expect? The number preceding the note name is the value of the note (1=whole, 2=half, 4=quarter, etc.) and the number after the note name is the octave number. The Nokia ringtones can span three octaves, but that third octave is better left untouched.
Queen

‘39

This is one of my wife’s favorite songs. Why did I pick this one to write out as a ringtone? because it was the first song on her list of favorites that worked as a ringtone. You know what I mean - some songs just do not work as a series of single, harsh tones. One could argue that no song does, but the ones on this page come closer than many.
8b1 8d2 4e2 4d2 4d2 8b1 8b1 16a1 8.g1 8g1 8e1 4g1
8b1 8d2 4d2 4b1 4c2 4b1 2.a1
8e2 8#f2 16g2 8g2 8#f2 8#f2 4e2 16d2 8.d2 8c2 8c2 8b1 8b1 4a1
16b1 8.a1 8g1 8- 16a1 8.g1 8#f1 8- 16b1 8.a1 8g1
Coldplay

Clocks

Love this song. Best use of piano in a rock/pop song in a long time.
8#d2 8#a1 8g1 8#d2 8#a1 8g1
8#d2 8#a1
8#c2 8#a1 8f1 8#c2 8#a1 8f1
8#c2 8#a1
8#c2 8#a1 8f1 8#c2 8#a1 8f1
8#c2 8#a1
8c2 8#g1 8f1 8c2 8#g1 8f1
8c2 8#g1
The Eagles

Journey of the Sorcerer

This song was used as the theme music for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - both the original radio play and the later, lesser TV show. The full song is about 8 minutes long, and in my opinion is worth your time. This is my best attempt at a ringtone arrangement.
2g1 32 8f1 8g1 8- 2.c2 4-
8#a1 8- 2a1
8g1 8f1 8#d1 8d1 8c1 8- 2c1 16-
8#a1 8- 2a1
8g1 8f1 8#d1 8d1 8c1 8- 2c1 16-
8#d1 8- 2f1
8#d1 8d1 2c1