Nokia tune facts for kids
The Nokia tune is a famous sound. It's a short part of a guitar song called Gran Vals. This song was written in 1902 by a Spanish musician named Francisco Tárrega. Since the 1990s, this tune has been linked to the Finnish company Nokia. It was the first well-known ringtone on a mobile phone. Nokia chose this small part of the song to be the main ringtone on their phones.
At first, the ringtone was simple, playing one note at a time (monophonic). But as phones got better, it changed to play many notes at once (polyphonic). Later, it even became a real sound recording.
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How the Nokia Tune Started
In 1992, Nokia used a piece of Francisco Tárrega's Gran Vals in a TV ad. This ad was for their Nokia 1011 phone. The part of the song used in the ad later became the Nokia tune. In 1993, a Nokia executive named Anssi Vanjoki showed the whole Gran Vals song to Lauri Kivinen. They picked the exact part that became the famous "Nokia tune." This part comes from measures 13 to 16 of the original song.
The Nokia tune first appeared on the Nokia 2110 phone in 1994. It was just called Type 7 back then. Its name changed on different phones. Sometimes it was Type 13 or Type 5. In 1997, with the Nokia 6110, ringtones got specific names. The tune was then called "Grande valse." By 1998, "Grande valse" was renamed "Nokia tune." It became Nokia's most important ringtone.
New Versions Over Time
The Nokia tune has been updated many times. This happened as technology improved and music styles changed.
Early Updates
The first version that could play many notes (polyphonic MIDI) came out in 2001. It was made by composer Ian Livingstone. This version first appeared on phones sold only in South Korea. The Nokia 3510, released in 2002, was the first phone worldwide to have this new version. In 2004, the Nokia 9500 Communicator introduced a piano version. A guitar version came out in 2008 with the Nokia N78. This reflected the popular music style at the time.
Modern Updates
In late 2011, the Nokia N9 phone got a new version. This one was made by Nokia's own composer, Henry Daw. It used a marimba for its main sound. This version was designed to sound good to everyone. That same year, Nokia held a contest for people to remake the tune. The winning entry was a dubstep version. Many Nokia phones from 2012 to 2013 included this dubstep version. Another updated Nokia tune came out in 2013, also by Henry Daw. In 2018, a new version was introduced on the Nokia 1 and 7 Plus. It was similar to the 2013 version but sounded more modern.
Special Editions
Some Nokia phones had unique versions of the tune. The Nokia 8800 had a slow piano version by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The Nokia 8800 Sirocco Edition had a slow guitar version by Brian Eno.
What Makes the Nokia Tune Special
The Nokia tune became very famous around the world.
In 2009, it was reported that the tune was heard about 1.8 billion times every day. That's about 20,000 times per second! This shows how popular Nokia phones were. The tune was also featured in a British TV show called Trigger Happy TV.
Nokia has even registered the tune as a sound trademark in some countries. This means no other company can use that exact sound. A Dutch comedy duo, Woe & van der Laan, even made a show in 2017 about Francisco Tarréga and how his song became the Nokia tune.
Other Artists Using the Tune
The Nokia tune has inspired other musicians.
The Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin wrote a short piano piece. It was called Valse Irritation d'après Nokia. This piece was based on the Nokia tune.
The Indonesian rock band The Changcuters used a part of the Nokia tune in their song "Parampampam." This song was on their 2011 album Tugas Akhir. It was also featured on the Nokia X2-01 phone sold in Indonesia.
See also
In Spanish: Melodía Nokia para niños
