# iPhone's "Xylophone" ringtone: what's it from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphones-xylophone-ringtone-whats-it-from/793394 "2017-08-12T01:00:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Orr\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ee59a6/32.png) [@Orr\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orr_G)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphones-xylophone-ringtone-whats-it-from/793394/1 "2017-08-12T01:00:17Z")
In case of confusion, here is the sound I mean: [Xylophone ringtone Iphone download for mp3 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz4l-biQwIA) I’ve done some googling, and I’ve learned several things. 1) It’s probably a marimba, and not a xylophone, that’s being heard, despite the ringtone’s name. 2) I’m not the only one who’s plagued by the sense that it’s from something familiar, but just can’t place it. 3) It’s not “Already Dead” from the American Beauty soundtrack, but around 50% of people who try to answer the question give that as the answer. 4) Neither is it the Chill Penguin Theme from Mega Man X despite the confidence of the few who give that answer. 5) It’s not the theme music from Six Feet Under, either. For a while I was thinking it was incidental music from the show Dream On, but I haven’t found anything from that show except the opening and closing themes, which definitely aren’t it. So what’s it from? Where have I heard it before? ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphones-xylophone-ringtone-whats-it-from/793394/2 "2017-08-12T01:29:39Z")
It’s actually probably not any acoustic instrument you’re hearing, but a digital simulation - and surely they aren’t paying for the rights to use an existing song - it’s just a generic ditty, maybe similar to various tunes but not an exact copy of anything. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphones-xylophone-ringtone-whats-it-from/793394/3 "2017-08-12T06:53:31Z")
Smoke on the Water. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphones-xylophone-ringtone-whats-it-from/793394/4 "2017-08-12T06:59:38Z")
Okay, not quite the same, but it’s what I immediately thought of. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphones-xylophone-ringtone-whats-it-from/793394/5 "2017-08-12T12:53:03Z")
Oddly, yesterday I was listening to The Police’s “Synchronicity,” on YouTube, and one of the comments mentioned “so that’s where Apple stole their ringtone from!” I had no idea what they were talking about, until in a moment of real-life synchronicity, this thread popped up. This must be the ring tone they were talking about, though I find the resemblance rather tangential. ---
**Author:** ![Orr\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ee59a6/32.png) [@Orr\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orr_G)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphones-xylophone-ringtone-whats-it-from/793394/6 "2017-08-13T02:28:54Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > It’s actually probably not any acoustic instrument you’re hearing, but a digital simulation - and surely they aren’t paying for the rights to use an existing song - it’s just a generic ditty, maybe similar to various tunes but not an exact copy of anything. Sadly, I’m thinking this may be the closest thing to a correct answer to my quest. I did quickly skim an article about Apple’s choices for their “marimba” tone, and I got the impression that Apple was aiming for it to evoke a sense of familiarity and of notability. If that’s the case here, then, bravo Apple. I did find a couple of short clips of Dream On, and I don’t think the incidental music in that show was anything like this vexing tune. I still feel like it’s from _something_, though. I’d love it if someone could produce a close enough tune (closer than the one from American Beauty, at least) that I’ve heard before and could believe elided into the “xylophone” tune in my memory. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphones-xylophone-ringtone-whats-it-from/793394/7 "2017-08-13T03:38:36Z")
When everyone first started getting them and I didn’t realize they were iPhones but just thought they were some new popular ringtone, kept thinking it was the old Crash Bandicoot music. Other than when I go and pull it up on youtube, that still what it sounds like when I hear an iPhone ringtone. For those not familiar with the game, [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i8qAZOu5-g) looped the entire time you were playing.