Answered the question myself, spend more time reading the documentation in-depth.
Uri alert = RingtoneManager.getDefaultUri(RingtoneManager.TYPE_ALARM);
if (alert == null){
// alert is null, using backup
alert = RingtoneManager.getDefaultUri(RingtoneManager.TYPE_NOTIFICATION);
if (alert == null){
// alert backup is null, using 2nd backup
alert = RingtoneManager.getDefaultUri(RingtoneManager.TYPE_RINGTONE);
}
}
ringtone = RingtoneManager.getRingtone(getApplicationContext(), alert);
after setting the ringtone I had to set the stream type for the ringtone:
ringtone.setStreamType(AudioManager.STREAM_ALARM);