My Top 5 Customized Ringtones

I swear there's nothing worse than hearing a bad ringtone.  And it's not even the polyphonic ones that suck nowadays (remember when monophonic ringtones were around?).  No, the ringtones that really bother me are the ones that are the phone-owner's personal favorite songs.  A few weeks ago I was out with some friends.  This girl's phone started ringing and we were all unwillingly forced to listen to "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna through a terrible cell phone speaker.  

Personally, I've never been a fan of listening to bad music through a bad source.  That's why I make sure that every cell phone I buy allows me to import my own custom MP3s to use as ringtones.  That way I'm able to take my favorite songs by my favorite artists, and use short clips that I know will sound decent when someone calls in.  I try to make them pretty unidentifiable and vague.  No lyrics, nothing obnoxious; just good sounds.  Here are my Top 5 Customized Ringtones.  Feel free to add them to your phone as well.

#5:  Beck - "Girl" (0:01 to 0:012) - If you can ever find bloops and bleeps that are not overpowered by heavy drums or vocals, chances are it'd make a good ringtone.  The electronic intro to Beck's song "Girl" from the album, Guero, is pretty much begging to be a ring tone.  It won't sound good looped, but hopefully you'll pick up after 12 seconds.  Otherwise, you're probably not worth calling to begin with.

#4:  The Flaming Lips - "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1" (0:01 to 0:24) - This is another intro to another great song, and if you're at all familiar with this song you know the part I'm talking apart.  There's a really cool acoustic guitar rhythm with some great effects added to it.  About halfway through this section, some slight drums kick in and there's even some Japanese being spoken.  I had this one as my ringtone for a while and people totally thought I was the bomb at the waiting room in the Doctor's Office.  Just sayin'...

#3:  The Postal Service - "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" (2:43 to 3:07) - During the instrumental bridge to this classic opener from The Postal Service's album, Give Up, there's a very catchy little "ditty" that begins playing.  That's what this is.  This one has been on every phone I've had since 2004 and I don't anticipate taking it off anytime soon.  The trick is to add a short, half-second fade-in at the very beginning.  That way, everything sounds flawless.

#2:  Field Music - "Working to Work" (0:01 to 0:16) - In March of 2007, I purchased a Samsung BlackJack and immediately went about looking for a new ringtone.  I landed on this one, which I've kept ever since.  This happy little acoustic guitar jingle is perfect for a ringtone because it's very clean-sounding and there's a slight pause at the end of the 16 seconds so you won't have to do any strenuous editing.  The only downside is that you don't get to hear the rest of the song...which is awesome.

#1:  The Postal Service - "Brand New Colony" (0:02 to 0:07) - If you know The Postal Service, you know this song.  If you know this song, then you know the little synth line that begins at the beginning of this song by heart.  This short, sub 5-second clip is not ideal for a standard ringtone, but I've used it for text message and voice mail alerts for years now.  I don't know what I'd do without it!  It's short, sweet, and totally awesome.  Plus, if you happen to be within earshot of an attractive Postal Service fan, this one's pretty much the best ice breaker ever.  Too bad that never happens.  *sigh*