iMelody is a non-
polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...
ringtone
A ringtone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming telephone call. Originally referring to the sound of electromechanical striking of bells or gongs, the term refers to any sound by any device alerting of an incoming call.
On p ...
exchange object format,
[ (PDF file, page 19)] used for
mobile phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
s
xtension: .imy defined by
Ericsson
(), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
and
Sony Ericsson
Sony Mobile Communications Inc., originally Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, was a Multinational corporation, multinational consumer electronics and telecommunications company, best known for its Mobile phones, mobile phone products. The ...
together with other manufacturers and is based on Ericsson's proprietary eMelody format. This ringtone format also supports codes that can control the vibration motor, backlight, LED lights and volume of the device. The iMelody format was made because the eMelody had some musical limitations.
Transferring melody to mobile phones
In order to transfer these ringtones to a mobile phone, one can simply send an
SMS message with the iMelody/eMelody text as the text of the message, or make a plain text file containing the iMelody/eMelody text, using the extension of either .imy for iMelody or .emy for eMelody, and transfer the file to the mobile phone by
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...
,
IrDA
IrDA is a wireless standard designed for exchanging data using infrared (IR). Infrared ports for this purpose have been implemented in portable electronic devices such as mobile telephones, laptops, cameras, printers, and medical devices. The mai ...
(infrared), or by a data cable. The file could also be attached to an
MMS message or an e-mail message.
iMelody
MIME: "text/x-iMelody" or "audio/iMelody"
Extension: ".imy"
Here is an example of an advanced ringtone in the iMelody format, this is a silent ringtone that only makes the phone's vibrating motor vibrate constantly:
BEGIN:IMELODY
VERSION:1.2
FORMAT:CLASS1.0
BEAT:25
MELODY:vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeon (r2vibeonvibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2vibeonr2ledonr2vibeonr2vibeon
END:IMELODY
Another example of an advanced ringtone, which makes the vibrating motor vibrate constantly, the backlight of the phone's display blink and plays a simple tone:
BEGIN:IMELODY
VERSION:1.2
FORMAT:CLASS1.0
BEAT:900
STYLE:S1
MELODY:(vibeonbackoff*6c5ledon*6d5ledoff*6e5ledon*6f5ledoff*6g5ledon*6a5ledoff*6b5ledon*6a5ledoff*6g5*6f5*6e5*6d5*6c5backon*6d5*6e5*6f5*6g5*6a5*6b5*6a5*6g5*6f5*6e5*6d5@0)
END:IMELODY
eMelody
MIME: "text/x-eMelody" or "audio/e-melody"
Extension: ".emy"
Here is an example of a ringtone in eMelody format:
BEGIN:EMELODY
VERSION:1.0
NAME:Test melody 1
COMPOSER:John Smith
MELODY:+f+a+fa(b)bdcC+GA+d+#c+dfg+daea+d+#c+e+f+e+fa(b)bdC+EA+d+#c+dfgba+d+#C
END:EMELODY
External links
Specification (non-official page)iMelody formatiMelody Maker
References
{{Reflist
Computer file formats
Mobile telecommunications standards
Musical notation