On my previous phone, I picked the sound phones made when there was a bell inside.
My current phone won’t do that, so I picked a doorbell, bing-bong.
I have to use a :smack: for the concept of paying twice as much for a five-second ringtone as I’d pay to download the whole song. :smack:
I randomly alternate between a few, I can use a short .mp3 as a ringtone
currently, my ringtone is the “Vworp-Vworp” noise of a materializing/dematerializing TARDIS
past ringtones have been;
the startup chime of a Twentieth Anniversary Mac
the startup chime of a PowerMac G4 tower
the startup chime of an original Mac 128
a sound clip of Bender saying “Bite my shiny metal ass”
a sound clip of the Hypnotoad ALL-GLORY-TO-THE-HYPNOTOAD
a soundclip of a TOS Cylon Centurion droning “By Your Command”
Mine is the intro to an incomplete song I recorded on my home recording setup. Has a reggae vibe. I thought it would be a useful reminder that I have to finish writing the song, but it has just become “the ringtone”. If I ever hear it out of the context of the phone, it startles me.
In a Café Society thread a while back I posted this:
I have resisted the urge to turn the first bars of “White Boys” (from “Hair”) into a ring tone.
Imagine being in a somber business meeting when some dude’s cell phone suddenly starts belting out
White boys are so pretty, skin as smooth as milk;
White boys are so pretty, hair like Chinese silk!
in a very Supremes kind of Motown way.
I use Verdi’s Requiem. Oddly enough, I think it used to be used in a toothpaste or toothbrush commercial ten years ago or so.
My daughter squealing her lungs out in an underpass. Not in pain of course (else why would I record it?) but through the sheer joy of finding how loud her echo sounded. For a minute, it seemed like there was a whale trying to find it’s wait through. I took half a minute of it for a ring tone, gave my old phone to my sister and had her disturb her boyfriend the first time someone rang her 
That would make my YEAR!
Yeah, sorry, I knew that. But when I looked at my phone the ring tone is labeled The Hey Hey song.
A ringing sound that startles my friends because it sounds just like a “real” phone. It apparently sounds weird to hear that sound on a bus or somewhere where a real phone wouldn’t be.
I’m surprised everyone here has songs - I remember that I used to hear songs all the time when I was on the bus, but thought the trend had gone back to normal rings. Guess it’s just not noticeable anymore, or people are better about turning off their phones in the movies. Maybe the iPhone’s bringing the personalized ringtone back in?
Generic ring tone: “My Freeze Ray” from Dr. Horrible.
Generic work calls: “Imperial March”
A couple specific people at work: “Crazy bitch” by Buckcherry
One not work-related person specifically: “Bitter” by Jill Sobule
For when it’s shark week for me: The Jaws theme.
There are a couple of others in there too, but I’m too lazy to go look them up on the phone right now (hey, it’s across the room)
“Voices” by Russ Ballard
Mine regular ring tone is, obviously, the most awesomest ring tone ever: the Futurama theme. It starts with “SSHHHHHHHHHH BONG BONGA BONG BONG …” (It sounds better than I type it.)
I also have the beginning of “Gray Matter” by Oingo Boingo; I just assign that on an ad-hoc basis if I’m in one of my nervous moods; it starts off quietly & then gets louder.
I finally have my dream ring tone.
Actually it is five tones.
The five tones form Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The whistling theme from Kill Bill is my favorite. Close second is “The 4 Peters”
I can’t remember if it’s still “Drilled a Wire Through my Cheek” by Blue October or “Appologize” by OneRepubic.
The Radetsky March
My phone is set to LOUD, when it goes off it frightens the shit out of anyone standing close by
Most phones will use an MP3 if you cut in down to less then 300K. I have
Rockstar (Nickelback)
Hells Bells (AC DC)
Have a cigar (Foo fighters)
Mary Janes last dance (Tom Petty)
My default is Mahna Mahna, the Muppet Show version. Confuses the hell outta people.
CTU phone ring from 24
Mine is the chorus of “Who Can It Be Now?” by Men At Work. I have the infamous verse from “Stairway To Heaven” that when played backwards sounds like “Here’s to my sweet Satan.” I’ve been thinking of going with that one.