We all know that classical music makes us smarter, right? Right. So, question: what do you call a smartphone that rings with a brand-new ring tone written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer? Answer: a smarterphone. The Chicago-based new music ensemble Spektral Quartet has launched Mobile Miniatures, a project in which the group commissioned more than 40 composers - including Nico Muhly, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Shulamit Ran -Â to write new musical works to serve as cell phone ring tones, according to the Huffington Post. The quartet recorded the new works and is now selling audio files of them as ringtones on their website. The project was funded through Kickstarter. The Mobile Miniatures project came about by the quartet's desire to bring new classical music to people in non-traditional ways. Cellist Russell Rolen also told the Huffington Post that the other reason for the project was even more pragmatic:
And truth be told, we are four guys who can't stop staring at our phones like everyone else these days, so this just came out of that.
Read More: These Game-Changing Ring Tones Bring the Symphony to the Streets (HP)
