Like all silly ideas that turn out to be great, David Nyman‘s most recent arrived as a request. His girlfriend wanted him to make her a crappy ringtone.
“An old school crappy ringtone, not like the ones that come on iPhones or anything,” the New York City-based musician told the Daily Dot. “A really bad one, like the kinds that come from a .midi file.”
Specifically, Nyman’s girlfriend wanted a .midi rendition of a song by Destiny’s Child, the mid-1990s R&B group led by Beyonce Knowles.
So in late October, Nyman sat down at his keyboard, queued up the setting for “the shittiest .midi instrument I can find,” and banged out 15 seconds of the group’s massively popular 1999 hit “Say My Name,” all in the name of maintaining his girlfriend’s adoration.
Naturally, Nyman took to the task. He said it was “really easy and kind of funny,” so he started making more: Bieber’s smash hit “Baby,” A-Ha’s seminal “Take on Me,” and the original rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Knocking On Heaven’s Door.”
Before long, he’d made enough to start a Tumblr. Crappy Ringtones was created, now housing 15 different melodies, ranging from Michael Jackson to Taylor Swift.
So which one’s his favorite? Nyman’s heart lies with the hits.
“Any of the newer ones are funnier because they’re songs that you wouldn’t have heard as .midi files yet,” he said. “Say My Name” could have existed at some point, or anything form the 1980s is possible. But anything from the last 10 years probably didn’t exist.”
Thanks to Nyman, they now do—and they’re as crappy as ever.
Photo via Destiny’s Child/Facebook