A phone company was tired of its old ringtones. So, Hans Zimmer composed an ‘orchestra’ of sounds.

20 April 2021, 15:07 | Updated: 20 April 2021, 16:07

Hans Zimmer composes an ‘orchestra’ of sounds to replace phone company’s tired ringtones. Picture: Paramount Pictures/Twitter

By Maddy Shaw Roberts

A smartphone company wanted some symphonic-sounding ringtones. So, they called film maestro Hans Zimmer.

Ringing phones have been part of our lives for over a century. The sound of a phone going off has evolved from a bright and simple ‘brrring!’ to… well, whatever you want it to be – from a sonic sunrise or whistling bird, to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

And now, it appears a new era of ringtones is upon us.

Oppo, a Chinese smartphone company, was bored of the same old system sounds on their devices. So, they called on movie maestro Hans Zimmer to compose a series of heroic-sounding ringtones for their newest device, the Find X3 Pro.

The Gladiator composer has written an “orchestra of system sounds” for the flagship product, from ringtones to alarms and notification noises, in his typically sweeping, cinematic style.

Take a listen below and wait for the goosebumps to emerge.

Hans Zimmer Oppo Find X3 Pro - Official Ringtone ( Live Demo & Download ) Alarm Message Notification

In an Oppo promotional video, Zimmer says: “To me everything is a story. Ultimately it always ends up being about how do we get closer?”

“I hear colours,” the composer continues. “I want the ringtone to open a door that says there’s the possibility to feel something.

“Our whole world changed because of the pandemic, and in a very fundamental way: the idea of physical contact has disappeared.”

Hans Zimmer's Ringtone Story | Colourful Future

For Zimmer, these new tones were just a new way to help people find connections with each other.

“I felt somehow it was my duty as a musician to figure out how to replace a little bit of that spirit that comes from one heart over to the other heart,” he adds. “The only way you can make music is by connecting notes, and those notes connect to musicians, and musicians connect to an audience, and suddenly you have a form of communication that you’ve never had before.

“That’s exactly what these phones are doing these days. They connect us.”