Flying Lotus has shared that in addition to his cinematic studio albums and scores for films and anime, his production discography also includes a pair of ringtones for Apple.
The revelation comes in a recent episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast series delving into the world's most recognizable sounds.
The episode — the second part of a deep dive into Apple's sound design, published August 14 — finds FlyLo sharing how the company reached out to have him compose sounds to be featured on iPhones and other iOS devices.
"At first, I didn't know how to feel," Flying Lotus shared. "I was like, 'What, they want me to be a ringtone maker now? What is that all about?'"
As Flying Lotus shared on Twitter, he's the composer of two ringtones titled "Chalet" and "Daybreak," both of which have been on Apple devices since the 2019 launch of iOS 13. You can hear them both below.
"The one thing that was in my benefit was that I actually had made ringtones for myself before. So I kind of feel like I knew what was pleasing to hear as a loop, over and over again," the producer shared of his mobile tone method. "Something that alerts you, but isn't abrasive. Something that's musical, but isn't cheesy. Just finding that balance where it's a bit ambient, but also something that cuts through."
Twenty Thousand Hertz host Dallas Taylor remarks how "Chalet" evokes a "sense of peace and nostalgia," and FlyLo agrees, sharing, "I think there's 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. If my girl calls me, and I hear the 'Chalet' ringtone, it's like, 'Awww,'" he continued with a laugh. "There's something really nice about it."
Praising the "atmospheric and cinematic nature" of Flying Lotus's music, Apple sound designer Hugo Verweij shared, "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 remove that. But that's exactly why we chose to work with FlyLo: we wouldn't come up with this ourselves."
Flying Lotus's most recent album remains 2019's Flamagra. Last week, he returned with new single "Garmonbozia."