"Apple leaked it so I can say it": Flying Lotus reveals he wrote two iPhone ringtones

Flying Lotus has shared that he's responsible for writing two ringtones that have been shipped with every iPhone since the launch of iOS 17.

"Apple leaked it so I can say it," the producer said in a post on Twitter/X yesterday. "I wrote some ringtones that have been in ur iPhone since ios13. 'Daybreak' + 'Chalet'".

The origin of the ringtones was revealed in a recent episode of the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz that digs deep into the sound design utilized in Apple products, featuring FlyLo and two key members of the company's sound design team, Billy Sorrentino and Hugo Verweij.

"Usually we design our sounds in house, but for some special projects, like a new suite of ringtones, we like working together with a diverse group of artists to give our users a variety of options to choose from," says Billy Sorrentino. "We really thought that the atmospheric and cinematic nature of FlyLo's music would be a really good fit".

"At first, I didn't know how to feel," adds FlyLo. "I was like, 'what, they want me to be a ringtone maker? What is that all about?'"

"The one thing that was in my benefit was that I actually had made ringtones for myself before," he continues. "So I felt like I knew what was pleasing to hear as a loop over and over and over and over and over again. Something that alerts you but isn't abrasive, something that's musical but isn't cheesy , so just finding that balance of where it's a bit of ambient but also something that cuts through."

FlyLo says the big difference between composing ringtones and making his own music is the timing. The challenge, he says, is "telling your musical story in such a short amount of time, to where it feels complete and can loop infinitely, making the perfect loop."

The two ringtones designed by the producer, Chalet and Daybreak, have a distinctive sound palette that's reminiscent of lo-fi hip-hop, with a faint layer of vinyl crackle above warbly guitar lines and shimmering keys.

"There is a nostalgic element," says FlyLo. "There is some kind of longing in the sound. I wouldn't say it's a sad thing, but there is some kind of memory, like you're listening to an old cassette.

"It's nice to have these tones that I can associate with people who give me this warm feeling and this nostalgic feeling. You know, if my girl calls me and I hear the Chalet ringtone, it's like, aww.... [laughs] There's something some really nice about it."

"When we design sounds at Apple, we usually make them very clean-sounding, very pristine and natural - anything that sounds like crackles or whatever, we would remove that," adds Sorrentino. "But that's exactly why we chose to work with FlyLo, because we wouldn't come up with this ourselves".

Listen to the full episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz.