There are a number of audio technologies in mobile phones that power the ringtones, and many of these use compressed audio systems of some type. With our long experience working with MIDI and various synthesis systems, we are ready to provide a consultant ringtone service for all formats.

Right now, we believe that the SMAF/MA3 audio solution offers the greatest potential for ringtone music because of its high polyphony, audio clarity and synthesis capabilities. This is our current area of focus and is the format of our Ringtone Library.

The MA3 Soundchip
The MA3 is a sound chip developed by Yamaha for use in the mobile audio industry, particularly for Ringtones in mobile phone handsets. It is installed in many handsets available around the world. The chip itself is a hybrid synthesizer capable of producing 40 notes of simultaneous polyphony. 16~32 of these notes are rendered by 4~2-op FM synthesis and 8 by PCM/Wavetable synthesis. The chip also manages a stereo external source of PCM wave data, called “StreamPCM”. The FM voices are rendered at 48KHz sampling rate and the PCM can be up to 16 bit. MA3 provides a complete high quality ringtone audio solution to the handset manufacturer.

The SMAF file format
SMAF is the name for the file format supported by the MA3 chip. It stands for "Synthetic-music Mobile Application Format", and is a data format specified by YAMAHA that defines multimedia content for use on hand-held portable devices, such as mobile phones and PDAs. The most common application of SMAF is the creation of ring tones for mobile phones. The format itself is similar to Standard Midi File, yet it is about ¾ of the size and includes other control data, important for ringtones:

• Midi Events
• Voice Parameters
• StreamPCM control
• LED & Vibrator Motor control
• Graphics integration

KeyRingtones.com takes full advantage of MA3/SMAF
There are some clear audio advantages offered by the MA3/SMAF combination that, as providers of SMAF files we make every effort to exploit...

• High polyphony - for full complete orchestrations and note doubling effects
• 48KHz FM sampling rate - for crystal clear high frequencies and sound clarity
• Programmable voices - for offering unique and novel soundscapes
• PCM wave-table voices - for realistic sounds where needed
• StreamPCM - for adding larger chunks of recorded audio

Ringtones - the concept of “Alerts”
By applying our expertise to the tools available in the MA3/SMAF combination we have created a set of ringtones that are diverse, unique and that allow handset users every opportunity to really personalize their device. We acknowledge that one of the primary functions of Ringtones is to let the user know that “The Phone’s Ringing!!”, and someone wants to speak to her. Incorporating interesting timbral “Alert Sounds” that stand out against the background, is one of the most rewarding aspects of authoring in the SMAF environment.

Authoring tools and support
General information about MA and SMAF authoring, and the files that support this guidebook can be obtained from Yamaha’s Global SMAF web-site at:

www.smaf-yamaha.com