(He later apologized to Gilbert.)īut Apple has never publicly explained who created the marimba - one of 25 original ringtone options included on the iPhone - or why it was selected as the device's default sound. Conductor Alan Gilbert stopped the musicians and directed other patrons to locate the man, who had just gotten his phone that day and apparently didn't understand how to set the phone to vibrate. Back in 2012, an audience member even disrupted a performance of the New York Philharmonic orchestra. The marimba ringtone is sound that we hear just about everywhere where there's a crowd these days, from coffee shops and city sidewalks to concert halls. Can't quite place it? Give this video a quick listen and the tune'll be stuck in your head for hours: still use it as their standard notification for calls. And while there aren't any reliable statistics on the subject, the frequency with which we all hear it is an indication that many - or even most - of the estimated 100 million iPhone users in the U.S. What is the origin of the iPhone's default marimba ringtone? That distinctive, catchy sound has been closely identified with the influential smartphone since its introduction back in 2007. When it comes to consumer electronics, perhaps the biggest mystery is about something that's incredibly familiar to us all. Cooper, the mysterious skyjacker who vanished after parachuting out of an airliner with $200,000 in ransom money strapped to his body. There are scores of unsolved conundrums that have confounded some and fascinated others over the years, from the reason Stonehenge was built to the fate of D.B. Where did it come from? Apple/Miha Perosa/Getty

This one snippet of music is ubiquitous, heard all over the globe.

Iphone ringing tone