Anyone ever compose midi songs for a polyphonic midi-enabled cellphone? Its for Sony Ericksons, I believe.. I`ve also heard the terms `v200-400` mentioned a bit (I know almost NOTHING about cells). I`m curious to know what instruments sound good, and which ones sound bad. I dont have one, but im making some songs for someone who does, and who lives pretty far. Ive seen him once and have heard a bit, and noticed toms sound like crap, they come out horribly. The strings esembles were OK. Anyone know what comes out well, especially in percussion?

I have composed commercial ringtones.

Really the only way to learn what sounds good on certain phones is to get the phone and test it on the device.

Each manufacturer has it's own set of instrument groups where say a Violin and Slow string both sound the same, of couse in this case I'd choose the patch with the shortest envelope (ie the Violin), but then it may sound like a violin on another phone, and slow string may be the sound you want.

There's only experimentation and experience i am sorry to say. I've been doing this for around 18 months and STILL don't know what every phone can do, and there's not any real way of knowing, so the best way is to work with the developer on it and get plenty of feedback, a loan of the target device, find a friend who has one or invest in one!

Nokia provides a special tool which emulates the phone's sounds, but only for registered developers.