What do the tunes mean?

[Catarra Nightshade]

I had a weird little melody sound off while I was playing. All my sims were asleep. It doesn't look like anyone outside the household died. It  was a sad little tune...reminded me of the tune that plays when either someone is disgraced or they lose a chess match, or perhaps a pet dies. I don't have any pets in this household. I have no idea what the tune means! I haven't heard it before. Any ideas on what it could be?

[samoht04]

Did you have a failed/missed opportunity? When you miss/fail those you hear that music? Sometimes someone dies or something or you miss the deadline and it fails.

[simfulicious]

Was the ice cream truck outside your door, because it plays music.  It also has a habit of showing up at like midnight when everyone is asleep.

[HannahEloise]

I had a weird little melody sound off while I was playing. All my sims were asleep. It doesn't look like anyone outside the household died. It  was a sad little tune...reminded me of the tune that plays when either someone is disgraced or they lose a chess match, or perhaps a pet dies. I don't have any pets in this household. I have no idea what the tune means! I haven't heard it before. Any ideas on what it could be?

When my sims go to sleep sometimes, I hear the noise thats like when the ghosts come out from there graves. Yet, nobody has died and I don't live near a grave yard.

Have you got generations? A teen might of set a prank?

[Catarra Nightshade]

Good suggestions. I didn't get a notice about missing an opportunity. Usually there is a pop up saying that you shouldn't have accepted an opportunity if you weren't going to complete it. The ice cream man is always outside, but it wasn't his tune. No ghosts on my lot...yet. And it wasn't the ghostly tune. I didn't see the grim, but I'm wondering if music plays when a stray animal dies? Or what about the wild unicorn? Does it die, and would there be a tune for it?

[HannahEloise]

Good suggestions. I didn't get a notice about missing an opportunity. Usually there is a pop up saying that you shouldn't have accepted an opportunity if you weren't going to complete it. The ice cream man is always outside, but it wasn't his tune. No ghosts on my lot...yet. And it wasn't the ghostly tune. I didn't see the grim, but I'm wondering if music plays when a stray animal dies? Or what about the wild unicorn? Does it die, and would there be a tune for it?

Does the tune always happen? At a certain time?

[Catarra Nightshade]

Does the tune always happen? At a certain time?

That is the first and only time I have ever heard it, and I play a lot, and have since the beginning.

[Saltypaws]

I sometimes get a tune, but it is not from a ghost or missed opportunity.  I still have not been able to figure it out yet.  It doesn't seem to happen any specific time of day or night.  I know what most of the tunes are and there is no pop up either.  I thought maybe it might mean there is a unicorn somewhere, but that was not it either.   

[Catarra Nightshade]

  I thought maybe it might mean there is a unicorn somewhere, but that was not it either.   

Im wondering if the Unicorn died? I'm playing a dynasty, and the same unicorn has been around, as far as I've noticed, for 3 generations. There hasn't been a tune announcing the unicorn, but perhaps there is one when the unicorn passes. There can only be 1 wild unicorn in town at a time, it's passing could/should be noteworthy.

[samoht04]

This may sound like a stupid question but what kind of noise was it? A happy sound, sad or something like that?

[Catarra Nightshade]

This may sound like a stupid question but what kind of noise was it? A happy sound, sad or something like that?

It was a sad little melody, like what plays when the lose a chess match, or a pet dies, only my sims were all asleep and they don't have any pets.

[Joria]

When a unicorn appears there is a tune.  When a unicorn blesses, there is a tune.  I don't know about when a unicorn curses.  When a unicorn transports, there is a tune.  So could have been a unicorn.  Sometimes they start to show up, you get a bit of sparkle and the tune, but then they change their mind and never do show up.

[Catarra Nightshade]

I heard it again! And again, all my sims were asleep, and I couldn't find the cause of the tune. It's a longer tune. Maybe next time, I'll think to record it.

[moonshadow]

This happened to me a few weeks ago. I was playing a family and kept hearing this kind of creepy tune. I started looking around and I seen some gnome graves poping up. One of the sims must have had a lot of gnomes in her inventory.

[Catarra Nightshade]

They do have 3 gnomes, and at least one is an elder gnome. I noticed the age right after hearing the tune the first time. The other two gnomes are sculpture gnomes, and I don't know how old they are. I have never heard music play when gnomes age or die, though.

[samoht04]

Only Base Game Gnomes will age and die. This is strange, the Mystery Music! 

[HannahEloise]

Is the music fast or creepy? I've been hearing the noise when ghosts come out of their graves some nights around 10pm-4am. It only started happening after I installed pets. When it happens I always zoom in on the grave yard and sure enough, there's ghosts out.

Once, I also heard the noise of a pet dying but I had no pets.

[Catarra Nightshade]

It's not the ghost music, I know what that sounds like. And I don't have any pets, and I don't know what it sounds like when a pet dies.

Gnomes have the same life stages, so when you get a gnome, I would assume it'd be a young adult...so maybe it became an adult the first time I heard the music, and an elder the second? If that is what the tune is. Perhaps, like with the ghost tune not starting until after pets, maybe I didn't get the gnome music until after installing pets.

[Catarra Nightshade]

I hadn't heard the tune for quite a while, and then it finally played again tonight, and I hit record...and the movie has no sound. >.<

[loveSims]

Did any big birds die on your lot? A sad tune is playing when a bird die.

[Catarra Nightshade]

As far as I know, there were no animals on my lot. And I've had a couple Sixams die, and it wasn't the same sound.

[loveSims]

When a sim become best friends with a pet there is also a tune. I can't think of someting else lol.

[kattiq]

I know what tune you are talking about because it has happened to me quite a few times in the night! But nothing has ever been on my lot to cause it to go off..I wonder if it's a glitch?

[Joria]

Ahhh, the melodious mystery meanders on.  Hope someone figures it out.  I have my sound turned off when I play, (it annoys my husband to hear it), so I've not heard this sad song.

[Banksia]

Could it be the sound of a spirit infestation in a nearby house?

[Catarra Nightshade]

I finally caught the tune on video...after finally figuring out that I needed to go in to Options and check the box to enable sound capture in videos. Can I post the video here? I've perused the forum rules, and I didn't see anything about video posting one way or another. And I guess the second question would be, if I am allowed to post videos here...how do I go about doing so? 

[Seabody]

You can either attach it or upload it to YouTube and link to it. (Probably the latter)

[Catarra Nightshade]

Thank you, Seabody, for answering my question.

I don't have a Youtube account, and the video is the wrong file type to post as an attachment, so I uploaded it to my Sims 3 Fun blog. The link is in my signature, and the blog post is labled Mystery Tune Video.

I missed the first few notes because the tune always catches me by surprise, and after it starts playing, I have to gather my wits enough to hit record.

Thanks, everyone for helping me figure out this strange tune. Hopefully the video will bring closure to this mystery!

[Seabody]

You're welcome.
I am fairly certain that's the death tune. When a Sim dies, that plays. Though I see the mystery - for a moment, I was thinking "I KNOW this! What is it?"

[Noodles]

Well, I just heard a new tune in my game, at night when everyone was sleeping, and I hurried to zoom out to see my lot - nothing was happening... I never before heard that and it was, like Catarra said, a very sad tune... but not the same one that plays when you give a pet up for adoption (I think that melody is sad, too). I got Pets for christmas so I'm sure it's something that was added lately, I never heard it before. So, I'm curious too.

[HannahEloise]

Maybe it's the tune when you lose a friend?

[Catarra Nightshade]

I am almost convinced it plays when the gnomes age. I have a lot of gnomes, but the tune is so inconsistant, and I can't tell when the gnomes age unless they become an elder. It's not a death song, because I haven't had anything die. And I finally heard the pet death song, and it's not the same.

I find it kinda funny that after finally capturing the song on video, and other people finally hearing it, the mystery still lingers.

[Seabody]

Maybe it's the tune when you lose a friend?

Or when you become Publicly Disgraced?

[HannahEloise]

I am almost convinced it plays when the gnomes age. I have a lot of gnomes, but the tune is so inconsistant, and I can't tell when the gnomes age unless they become an elder. It's not a death song, because I haven't had anything die. And I finally heard the pet death song, and it's not the same.

I find it kinda funny that after finally capturing the song on video, and other people finally hearing it, the mystery still lingers.

I have gnomes on my lot and I've never heard a tune when the age. I didn't know that there was a tune for gnomes?

[Noodles]

Do all gnomes age now? Currently I have only three gnomes: the bling one, the cave man looking and one horse gnome. (Sorry I don't know their english names as my game is translated) I don't have Generations, I thought only that expansion's gnomes aged and died.

When I heard the tune, I think I had the bling and cave man gnome... could the tune be linked to when a horse gnome appears? But why such a sad tune...? 

[HannahEloise]

Do all gnomes age now? Currently I have only three gnomes: the bling one, the cave man looking and one horse gnome. (Sorry I don't know their english names as my game is translated) I don't have Generations, I thought only that expansion's gnomes aged and died.

When I heard the tune, I think I had the bling and cave man gnome... could the tune be linked to when a horse gnome appears? But why such a sad tune...? 

Only the mr mysterious gnomes age. It came with generations. I'm sure it's nothing to do with gnomes. Has your sim lost a friend or are they a celebrity?

[xFezIsAFreakx]

It isn't the 'Lost a friend' tune or any public disgrace one - both of those have happened many times to my sims but I have never heard that tune.. For some reason, I really don't think it's the gnomes aging either. It sounds like something to mark quite a big event, because it's such a long tune, doesn't it? Strange, because you'd think if it was a big event you'd get some sort of notification at the side of your screen.. Hmmm...

[Catarra Nightshade]

It isn't the 'Lost a friend' tune or any public disgrace one - both of those have happened many times to my sims but I have never heard that tune.. For some reason, I really don't think it's the gnomes aging either. It sounds like something to mark quite a big event, because it's such a long tune, doesn't it? Strange, because you'd think if it was a big event you'd get some sort of notification at the side of your screen.. Hmmm...

Exactly! But nothing is happening when ever I hear that tune.  It doesn't trigger any reactions from my sims. It doesn't cause a memory. If there is a logical explaination for it, it seems only EA knows!

[kattiq]

Hmm, the weird thing is it ONLY happens at night. So it'd have to be an event that would be at night (like ghost stuff).
My only other explanation is it's just a weird glitch, or EA is trying to mess with our heads. 

[samoht04]

Queue the I've heard it before saying. Then queue the I don't know where or what for. 

[Noodles]

I just recorded the tune in my game (because I'm curious - and have way too much time apparently  It's my winter holiday so I guess I deserve it), and exported the video on my thesims3.com -page, but it doesn't have any sound...! I don't have a Youtube-account and I'm too lazy to register now.

But yeah, it is a long one. The video is 15 seconds. So it should be something significant... Maybe they just forgot to add a notification.

[Catarra Nightshade]

Noodles,

I had the same problem with the video not having sound. You have to go under the Options menu, and under the Video tab, there is an option to enable sound recording. Check the box, and Voila!

[MomOfMany]

Just a suggestion to rule out the whole gnome thing is to maybe put your gnomes in your family inventory for a while and see if you still hear the sound? I don't think I have heard that tune before. It must be something significant it seems though!

[HannahEloise]

I've heard that tune before, but not at night and not all the time. I have pets on my lot alot but no gnomes. Have you got any small animals like birds or snakes etc? When they die it makes a sad tune. Or maybe a fish?

Also, I've been hearing the 'graveyard tune' alot at night in my game for no reason, could be just a glitch. 

[Catarra Nightshade]

Just a suggestion to rule out the whole gnome thing is to maybe put your gnomes in your family inventory for a while and see if you still hear the sound? I don't think I have heard that tune before. It must be something significant it seems though!

Since the tune is so inconsistant, it'd be difficult to tell the difference. At first I only heard it in the dead of night, but it has played at other times.

I've heard that tune before, but not at night and not all the time. I have pets on my lot alot but no gnomes. Have you got any small animals like birds or snakes etc? When they die it makes a sad tune. Or maybe a fish?

I've had a Spotted Sixam die, and it wasn't the same tune. When one of the critters escapes your inventory, how long do they stick around? I've recaptured a turtle and a rodent, but I lost a snake once and never found it again. (In real life, that would cause me to move out of my house!) I thought maybe the snake dieing might cause the tune, but I've heard the tune so many times that I gave up on the idea. Do they respawn on your lot after they escape?

[HannahEloise]

When one escapes, they stick around for abit. When you get the message that they've escaped the animal is normaly were your sim was standing. I've had a snake escape and I've found it dead on the floor from
my cat eating it. Has your household got any cats? My cat always eating my birds.

[Catarra Nightshade]

I searched the house, moving rugs and stuff looking for that snake, never did find it. That was toward the beginning...maybe 2nd generation of my dynasty. But it was after that when I first heard the tune. The only pets I've had were a couple Sixams, also toward the beginning, and a cat just recently...during generation almost 5, and we only had the cat a couple days. The tune for the Sixams dieing was not the same as the mystery tune. Neither was the tune for the cat's meeting with Grim.

[HannahEloise]

I searched the house, moving rugs and stuff looking for that snake, never did find it. That was toward the beginning...maybe 2nd generation of my dynasty. But it was after that when I first heard the tune. The only pets I've had were a couple Sixams, also toward the beginning, and a cat just recently...during generation almost 5, and we only had the cat a couple days. The tune for the Sixams dieing was not the same as the mystery tune. Neither was the tune for the cat's meeting with Grim.

I'm sure I've heard the tune somewhere. When I hear it I'll have to record it.

[MarianT]

I think it's connected with the unicorn. My Sim was at a fishing spot, and the unicorn was there -- possibly blessing the plants or something. Anyway, this pretty tune came on. It's one I didn't hear before Pets, and one I've only heard at night, so I think it's the same one you're referring to.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I was watching a Let's Play by Curtis Paradis and that very tune came on! He was playing in Bridgeport and it was during the day so I don't think it was a unicorn, also another tune, about the same length but sort of happy sounding came on a few minutes later! Strange!! Curtis had no clue what either of them meant and no pop ups appeared..

[samoht04]

I heard a funny jingle when my Dog gained the Adventurous Trait today. I'll re-listen to that video you posted earlier to see if it's the same. I don't think it was though.

[Seabody]

To be perfectly honest, the tune sounds to me like a "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" tune, or a "Move on" tune. Had your Sim recently Moved Over the Hill? (That's the interaction at the hospital, or something like it, to rid an Adult Sim of a MidLife Crisis, from Generations.)

[Catarra Nightshade]

To be perfectly honest, the tune sounds to me like a "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" tune, or a "Move on" tune. Had your Sim recently Moved Over the Hill? (That's the interaction at the hospital, or something like it, to rid an Adult Sim of a MidLife Crisis, from Generations.)

No birthdays, no mid-life crisis, always at home when nothing special is going on. Unless the gnomes have their own special tune. (I know, I keep coming back to the gnomes.)

[Seabody]

Or when you become Publicly Disgraced?

I'm almost certain it's Publicly Disgraced. I listened to Curtis Paradis' Let's Play, and Publicly Disgraced was the only thing with a Similar Tune, if not identical.
Edit: No, scratch that, I listened again and compared it to your video, Catarra - totally different, at least, the one I heard.

[Galena]

I think that is the tune that plays when a couple breaks up.

Edit: I found a youtude video of the breakup tune.  Does your video have the entire tune, or did you start recording partway through it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_cGMb79hec

[Catarra Nightshade]

I think that is the tune that plays when a couple breaks up.

Edit: I found a youtude video of the breakup tune.  Does your video have the entire tune, or did you start recording partway through it?

I missed the first couple notes since the tune always catches me by surprise.

Edit: That is the same tune! But I haven't had any sims break up, and there aren't any close neighbors to be catching their break up. I may have to experiment with break ups now to see if that may be the cause.

[Catarra Nightshade]

There are a lot of videos on youtube with this tune as the break up song. 

Who'da thunk it?

[Galena]

So we know what the tune is, but what could of caused it?  I pretty sure inactive sims don't break up, and you would know if you told your sims broke up.  Maybe it was a weird glitch, like the glitch that ramdomly adds the value of your cars to your funds.

[sdhoey]

There was a stray dog on my dynasty lot that died and the music played. No one was friends with it. Grimmy came and left his headstone, so I put it in the cemetery.

[Saltypaws]

Sounds familiar, so does that mean, if you are playing one household and someone in another household breaks up, you still hear the tune?  I am not sure that is possible, but you never know about these sims.  Can an inactive household have breakups?  I know when I take my sims to the park, there are other couples flirting with one another, but not sure about the breakups.

[Catarra Nightshade]

Whenever I get back to my dynasty...and whenever I hear the tune again, I am going to search all the surrounding area and see if I can find the source of the tune.

[Joria]

I know what the tune is.  Last night as I was with my horse and unicorn, the unicorn blessed my horse.  This turned him into a unicorn!  He was an elder, (just had his birthday), and I don't think unicorns are supposed to become elders.  Anyway, once he aged and was blessed, the song played and along came Grim and took away my beautiful new unicorn/horse.  So I believe the song is for when a unicorn dies.  Unicorns are not supposed to die, therefor the very sad sound of the song.

When Grim came for him, no big fanfare. No big whahahahaha.  He just stroked my uni-horse, hugged him, mounted him and flew away with a mixture of black smoke and sparkles.  It was as if Grim was asking him if it was ok for him to be Grimmie's new ride, because before Grim mounted him my uni-horse nodded yes.  I cried for hours.

[MarianT]

What a sweet story! I teared up as I was reading it.

However, I was in a park watching a unicorn when I heard the tune. (It was the park with the ruins in Union Cove -- very pretty!). I do think it's connected to a unicorn blessing something because the unicorn pawed at the ground and bowed its head, which is when the music started.

If I ever get control of a unicorn, maybe I'll test this theory.

[Joria]

No, Marian, I don't think so.  I had a unicorn after befriending him and blessing anyone or anything never brought that particular tune.

My dead horse is now a ghost.  My Sim met him in the garden where he died and fed him produce, brushed him, hugged him, etc. and got those warm fuzzy teddy bear icons of friendship for both of them.  He said he was very tired so she got him a stall which he entered, made it rock and rise, and then he went poof.  Haven't seen him again yet.  I'm going to try to get him to eat ambrosia and see if he will and if he will resurrect like Sims do.

As for the unicorn, he was very sad and lonely so after a few days of being with him and loving on him I released him back to the wild.  This was the saddest thing because he said farewell and that he was going back to the home all unicorns know of and he would never see me again.  More tears for me but at least I didn't have to see him be sad and lonely and it was the best for him.  He didn't die.  They seem to lose some of their magic when they become more horse like and are attached and living with humans.  No sad song for this one.  Just a tinkly, sparkly kind of sound and he was gone.

[Noodles]

I got the tune again, after a looong while. I went into map view and searched around, and yes indeed, I saw a cloud on the map. Underneath, a unicorn had just appeared. Or I assume the melody marked it's first appearance, as he was in the mids of some swamp and had a sparkly cloud over him. He walked out of the long grass and started eating - he definately was not dying. As long as the cloud was there, the theme was playing (about 15 seconds). This was the first unicorn I ever even saw in game, so I don't know more about them. But I was excited to finally see one, his name is Soldier.

[Pam]

My dead horse is now a ghost.  My Sim met him in the garden where he died and fed him produce, brushed him, hugged him, etc. and got those warm fuzzy teddy bear icons of friendship for both of them.  He said he was very tired so she got him a stall which he entered, made it rock and rise, and then he went poof.  Haven't seen him again yet.  I'm going to try to get him to eat ambrosia and see if he will and if he will resurrect like Sims do.

As for the unicorn, he was very sad and lonely so after a few days of being with him and loving on him I released him back to the wild.  This was the saddest thing because he said farewell and that he was going back to the home all unicorns know of and he would never see me again.  More tears for me but at least I didn't have to see him be sad and lonely and it was the best for him.  He didn't die.  They seem to lose some of their magic when they become more horse like and are attached and living with humans.  No sad song for this one.  Just a tinkly, sparkly kind of sound and he was gone.

Oh, Joria!  That is the saddest story!  Your game did all that?  That's gut-wrenching!  I would be bawling my eyes out.

[Saltypaws]

Well, I had a sim break up with another sim and the music that played was THE tune!  So whoever said it was that one, they were right.  I don't know why I did not recognize it before.  So not sure if this is the same tune as everyone else is talking about, but it is the same tune I hear every once in a while, so must be when a sim breaks up with another sim.

[samoht04]

I probably never here it because I don't have my sims break up often. 

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I probably never here it because I don't have my sims break up often. 

Same, Samoht. We are master sim relationship controllers.