Drawing on works by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, the sounds create a deeper, more immersive listening experience in everyday life.

A Sound Philosophy Inspired by Nature

Galaxy has established “Inspired by Nature” as the core concept of its sound design, applying it across all interaction sounds — from ringtones to touch sounds. Extending this philosophy, Samsung brings nature-inspired classical music to Galaxy, creating a more refined listening experience in everyday interactions.

New ringtones on the Galaxy S26 series include Bach’s “Prélude” from Cello Suite No. 1, whose symmetry, repetition and harmony evoke natural patterns such as plant growth and ocean waves.

Also included is Handel’s “Alla Hornpipe” from Water Music Suite No. 2, famously performed on the River Thames for King George and known for its flowing rhythm and structured progression.

Both pieces were previously used as ringtones during the Anycall era of the 1990s and 2000s, returning as familiar, nostalgic melodies.

Global Collaboration Behind the Sound

Global experts collaborated throughout the recording process to enhance sound quality. The ringtones were recorded at Abbey Road Studios — the world’s first recording studio and the birthplace of many iconic Beatles tracks. Jonathan Allan handled recording and mixing in London, while Tae Ho Lee of MiXNBLE led mastering in Seoul, highlighting East–West collaboration.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a world-renowned U.K. symphony orchestra, performed both pieces. The Bach piece features co-principal cellist Jonathan Ayling.

A Unified Vision for Galaxy Sound

The new ringtones on the Galaxy S26 series go beyond simple alerts, reflecting Galaxy’s sound identity shaped by nature-inspired design and refined technology.

“Classical music transcends time and space, resonating deeply with people,” said Myoung Woo Nam, Principal Sound Designer, Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics.  “We hope more users can experience classical music naturally in daily life through Galaxy.”

Samsung plans to continue applying a consistent sound philosophy across its products while expanding Galaxy’s unified sound identity.

Building on the “Inspired by Nature” concept introduced with One UI 7, the latest ringtone draws from Antonio Vivaldi’s iconic “The Four Seasons” and aims to enrich the everyday sound experience for Galaxy users.

Sound Design Inspired by Nature

Samsung has embraced “Inspired by Nature” as a core theme in its sound design philosophy, applying the concept to not only ringtones but also a full range of interaction sounds. To deepen users’ emotional connection to the natural world, new ringtones are based on classical works inspired by nature while touch interaction audio incorporates actual recordings of natural elements — such as the sound of stones dropping onto the ground.

This design approach continues in One UI 8. The newly added ringtone is based on Vivaldi’s well-known masterpiece, evoking the passage of time and offering the warmth and resonance unique to classical music. The release also marks the second installment in Samsung’s classical ringtone series, following the 2024 ringtone based on “The Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns.

Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” Reimagined by Top Artists

A lineup of world-class artists came together to create the new signature ringtone — including Grammy Award-winning sound director Byeong Joon Hwang, Seoul National University professor and violinist Dami Kim and the classical ensemble Collegium Musicum Seoul.

To evoke the distinct texture of Baroque music, the team layered in a harpsichord and carefully balanced it with string instruments. Recording took place in a live concert hall, with microphone placement tailored to each musician’s position to preserve nuanced acoustics. The piece was produced in Dolby Atmos, delivering an immersive, spatial sound experience.

To faithfully express the emotions of each season in Vivaldi’s composition, the artists meticulously aligned their interpretation and style through multiple recording sessions. The result is a collaborative work that captures the spirit of all four seasons and brings a rich, uplifting sound to everyday life.

▲ Spring from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

▲ Summer from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

▲ Autumn from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

▲ Winter from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

Galaxy’s Identity Resonates Through Sound

This new ringtone is more than a classical tune — it represents Galaxy’s evolving sound identity, blending inspiration from nature with refined technical craftsmanship.

“Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’ delicately expresses the emotion and transitions of each season,” said Yunjae Lee, Sound Designer, Mobile eXperience (MX) Business at Samsung Electronics. “This piece reflects our desire to bring users a rich and immersive sound experience in their daily lives.”

Looking ahead, Samsung remains committed to a cohesive sound philosophy by expanding Galaxy’s signature audio identity across devices and user interactions.

Over the Horizon 2018: Best Ringtone in the Netherlands

Jantien Westerveld, Wibi Soerjadi, Buddy Vedder and Menno van den Berg with the winning students from Nijkerk (Credit: Margot de Heide / Roy Beusker photography)

Every year, Samsung invites a new contributor from a diverse portfolio of famous composers, musicians and orchestras to re-arrange “Over the Horizon”. This is the first time that elementary school students have remodeled the signature ringtone of the Samsung Galaxy smartphone range. With Queen Máxima of the Netherlands as one of the project’s ambassadors, the ‘Digital Composing in Class’ competition received a wealth of media attention in its native country, with more than 110 articles published. The competition is an initiative supported by the Méér Muziek in de Klas (“More Music in the Classroom”) Foundation and Samsung Electronics Benelux.

Michiel Dijkman, Menno van den Berg, Jantien Westerveld, Wibi Soerjadi and Victor Coral join students from Oldenzaal, the Netherlands, as they experiment with digital composition tools (Credit: Margot de Heide / Roy Beusker photography)

Innovating Music Education with Digital Technology

The contest provided 36 workshops on digital composition to over 1000 students from all 12 provinces of the Netherlands, where students worked in groups to create their take on “Over the Horizon”. The children composed their own ringtones based on several melodies recorded by the Metropole Orkest. Using a special music composing program on smart tablets, students put together ringtones using their own ideas and imagination, adding rhythm instrument accents and their own lyrics – both sung and spoken – to one of the melodies. Providing the students with useful worksheets and instruction cards, the students were encouraged to harness their own creativity in this exercise combining both digital and analogue composition methods.

“The digital revolution is shifting the world we currently live in. This also changes the skills that the 21st Century demands of our children.” said Menno van den Berg, President of Samsung Benelux. “For years, Samsung has been pushing for innovative education in Dutch classrooms. Together with the Méér Muziek in de Klas Foundation, we have enjoyed innovating music education over the past few months. It was inspiring to see children working with so much enthusiasm. The final festival in the Royal Concert Hall was the icing on the cake.”

Each year, with each new generation of Galaxy devices, “Over the Horizon” is rearranged to mirror the aesthetic transformation of the devices themselves. For 2018, Samsung reached out to Icelandic composer Pétur Jónsson to reimagine the melody.

Delicately layering instruments, Jónsson’s minimalist arrangement takes you away on an atmospheric journey of discovery. The piece begins with the soft tones of a single piano playing the refrain. As additional instruments are gradually introduced, the sound rises to a crescendo before melting away. As the video cuts away from the opening scene of Jónsson at the piano, it prompts you to imagine travelling over the remote Icelandic countryside. Capturing the beauty of Nordic nature, the camera pans over misty mountains and jagged cliffs, steaming geysers and snow-blanketed hills.

Listening to this year’s piece by Jónsson, you will find that the notes arouse the most pure, fundamental elements of the human sentiment that often remain hidden in our daily lives. In this way, the latest version of Samsung’s brand sound has the power to relax the mind and heal the soul, thus resonating with all who hear it, regardless of their age.

Get a first listen of Jónsson’s version of “Over the Horizon” in the video below.

That’s because Samsung has outfitted its latest flagship device with an exclusive set of ring- and notification tones that feature catchy, modern beats. The S Pen-inspired ‘pen and beat’ playlist includes three ringtones and two alerts composed by a gifted young ‘pen beater’, a world-class beatboxer and an acclaimed musician and producer.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note8 features S Pen-inspired ring- and notification tones created with the help of (from left) a world-class beatboxer, ‘pen beater’ and producer.

A Kinetic Collaboration

Musical inspiration comes easily to Jinyoung Choi, whose popular ‘pen beating’ videos spotlight a fresh and inventive way to use pens as outlets for creativity.

Fourteen-year-old pen beater Jinyoung Choi (left) and professional beatboxer 2 Tak have risen to fame in their native Korea for their unique, kinetic sounds.

Jinyoung transforms the relatively simple action of tapping pens on a table into a nuanced form of musical expression, deftly utilizing each part of the writing instruments – the cap, body and tip – to produce a variety of sounds. The 14-year-old’s energetic pen beating videos have racked up millions of views online, and earned him a global following.

*Sounds recorded during this session were used to compose the Note8’s ‘pen and beat’ ring and notification tones

To complement Jinyoung’s kinetic sound, Samsung enlisted the help of professional beatboxer and rapper 2 Tak, and placed the dynamic duo in a studio with famed musician and producer Tucker, aka Tadashi Takatsuka.

*Sounds recorded during this session were used to compose the Note8’s ‘pen and beat’ ring and notification tones

In Tucker, Samsung found the perfect supervisor for its ‘pen and beat’ collaboration. Not only does he have extensive experience composing distinctive sounds for some of the world’s top brands, he’s also produced more than 30 albums, and hosted a TV show in his native Japan that showcased inventive ways to create music.

Famed producer and musician Tucker has produced more than 30 albums, and hosted a TV show in his native Japan that showcased inventive ways to create music.

A Signature Soundtrack

Each of the collaborating artists brings to the table a diverse set of skills that, when harmonized, create sounds that are reflective of multifaceted millennials.

Before they went about composing the new tracks, the artists were asked to consider the types of sounds they’d like to introduce as ringtones. The synthesis of their respective talents – 2 Tak’s melodic beatboxing, Tucker’s instrumentals and Jinyoung’s dynamic pen beating – produced three unique, head-bumping ringtones, titled “Bubble Beat”, “Happy Jungle” and “Kitchen Mix”. Each song is as fresh and energetic as it is distinct.

The trio’s Galaxy Note8 notification sounds are called “Beatbox” and “Pen Beats”, and feature punchy and pleasant solos from the two performing artists. Grab your earphones and give the new tones a listen.

The Galaxy Note8’s ‘pen and beat’ playlist is not only thoroughly inventive and easy on the ears, it’s also a fun and engaging expression of the flagship’s ability to foster users’ creativity.

The word ‘rhythm’ is derived from the Greek term ‘rhein’, meaning ‘to flow’. It’s created by the flow of all existing relationships of our present world interconnecting and reacting with one another. A device and its user act in the same way. The new Galaxy S8 seeks to create a unique rhythm created by constant free-flowing interactions of visual, tactile, and auditory senses coming together as a single experience.

Over the Horizon 2017

Just as visual design embodies an era, sound design also carries the essence of its time. The signature six-note sound of Samsung Electronics’ mobile devices, Over the Horizon, also aims to manifest the yearnings and changes of our current age. This simple melody possesses an infinite range of variations depending on the changes in sound and beat. Every year, Over the Horizon has been reborn to capture the keywords of the year through collaborations with artists. We introduce the creative workings of Jacob Collier, who was the partnering artist for the sounds of Over the Horizon 2017.

Millennial Artist, Jacob Collier

Jacob Collier is the representative artist of the Millennial Generation. Able to play over thirty different instruments, he expresses his unique inner world through musical illustrations that incorporates various genres.

Jacob’s characteristic style of playing many instruments simultaneously while immersing free-form rhythm to the regular beat of a metronome is synonymous to the brand-new interface of the Galaxy series of 2017 that provides a wide range of user experiences through connection and fusion.

Rhythm and Energy Flowing from 16 Live Instruments

From the base melody and its annual variations of the previous Over the Horizon, Jacob added in his own style to create a new tune. Jacob personally brought and played sixteen instruments and recorded it live, completing Over the Horizon 2017. This track combines the sensitivity of modern jazz and the trendy rhythms of dance, together exuding a free and fresh energy.

“Six notes was by far the smallest amount of material I have worked with, but was also the most fun.” – Jacob Collier

As Jacob said, the same six notes flow through a stream of different variations in instruments and multi-layered vocals that offer listeners a one-of-a-kind experience.

All New Ringtones for Galaxy S8

Auditory memory lasts five to six times longer than visual memory. That is why sound is a crucial component among the unified experiences that Galaxy S8 seeks to provide. Even the visual experiences of Galaxy S8 have been reinterpreted with a musical approach to give a comprehensive and unified user experience, from its renewed UI design, icons, wallpapers, to the overall look and mood exuding from its materials.

Samsung X DJ Soulscape

Ringtones for Galaxy S8

Sound design connecting you to the Galaxy S8 throughout your day, experience Galaxy S8’s new ringtones merging with the visual mood.

Modern musician R. Murray Schafer notes that “When we go to sleep, our perception of sound is the last door to be closed and it is also the first to open when we awaken.” Just as we awake with the brightening sound of a smartphone alarm and drift away to sleep with the gentle caress of our favorite tunes, our sense and perception of sound is more closely integrated in the intricate fabric of our sensible lives than any other sensory stimulation.

Our senses have grown weary over time with the excess of noise from our cities. We, at Samsung Electronics hope that users will be delighted by our mobile sounds, welcoming its tunes as bearers of good news.