Imagine if your phone was a piano. You can create an original musical score or somehow record the notes of a particular song in your phone’s memory and transform it into a message or call alert tone. Think of the possibilities. Think of the freedom you have to create and play any melody in the world.
That’s the kind of flexibility you get from key press ringtones, also known, if you’re a Nokia user, as Composer ringtone. Basically, the phone converts each note into certain numbers and symbols, which you press on your keyboard. It is completely free.
Most Nokia users don’t maximize this feature on their phone, possibly because they don’t know how to do it or are intimidated by the seemingly complicated process of writing a song. However, the process is simple: the phone does all the processing for you, so all you have to do is type in the codes.
First, download the code sheet from a number of Internet websites that offer thousands of Nokia ringtones. The selection is also very wide. From Bach to the Blackeyed Peas, nursery rhymes like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to rock classics like Metallica’s Enter Sandman, there’s sure to be a ringtone for every personality and mood.
So you’ve scoured the vast selection and found a song you love. The second step is to code the keypress ringtone on your Nokia phone. Don’t panic: it’s actually a very simple process.
You will use Nokia’s Composer feature. Access the Menu, then scroll down to Tones. Within that, you will find the Composer function. Tap and then select the Create a new ringtone option.
Your phone will display the last ringtone you created. If you haven’t done so before, you’ll see a blank screen. Now, enter the desired notes, copying them from the code you just downloaded from the Internet. It will be a series of numbers. For example, Afroman’s Because I Got High has the code 588 5 5 5 59 58 599 588 5 5 4#9 399 08 5888 5 5 6 6 0 6 6 6 6 699 4#88 4# 4# 39 299 08 68 788 Each number represents a note, that is, 5 corresponds to the note G.
The spaces represent the rests between the notes, and you enter this by pressing 0. The default length of each note is 1/4 but you can always make it shorter (eg 1/16 or ½). If a number is in brackets, like (5), it means keep the note until a period appears. Another way to adjust the duration of the note are the numbers 8 (which decreases the duration of a note) and 9 (which lengthens the duration). So the symbol 588 would mean that the note G should be much shorter.
To change the octave of a note, you can use the plus (+) or minus (-) signs. Write this after the note, like e1. You can also add the sharp or (#) button to play half-step notes.
After typing the Nokia keypress code, tap OK and then Play. You can also adjust the tempo, send the code you just entered to someone else, or clear the screen and remove everything on the screen.
