Make Your Own Free Ringtone
Hey! You wanna make your own Ringtone like this LooneyTunes one? For Mac users (like me) it's easy - one word - GarageBand. Once you have your sound in iTunes as an MP3 you can drag it to your desktop and then send it to your phone via Bluetooth.
But there are a lot of ways to get free ringtones. WIRED had an article on it some time back -
What you need
CD or MP3 of the song
Any method of transferring the ring tone from computer to phone (USB, Bluetooth, e-mail, instant message, etc.)
Suggested Ring Tones * The Fall -- "Telephone Thing"
This Coldcut-produced pop gem is closer to "funky" than anything else The Fall has ever done, and it has the perfect opening line for my RAZR's ring tone: "I hear you, telephone thing, listening in." Warning: The Fall has proven to be a severely addictive listening experience, and there are something like 40 full-length albums to purchase.
* Gwen Stefani -- "Hollaback Girl"
I'm not too excited about this song, but it could make a decent ring tone because it's primarily about whether one should return phone calls. Warning: Using this tone means you have to answer the call or leave it to voicemail and not call back. "Because you ain't no ...."
* Blondie -- "Call Me"
If you don't particularly care when someone is calling you, perhaps this would be the right choice (use the chorus: "Call me on the line / Call me, call me any anytime.") Warning: If this is your motto, it's time to set some boundaries.
* The Police -- "Message in a Bottle"
Use the refrain where Sting repeats the words "sending out an SOS" if your friends and family are always calling you with crises. Aside: That thing about Sting and tantric sex seems to be an urban legend. It's said he meant to say "frantic," but Richard Branson misheard him over dinner, and the rest is history.
Audio-editing software that allows export to MP3.
If you don't already have this, Audacity is a good open-source program you can download for free, and is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. You'll also need the LAME library for Windows, Mac or Linux. (LAME is a free downloadable MP3 codec that enables Audacity to encode to MP3.)
Instructions
If you're creating your ring tone from a CD, rip the song you want as a WAV (Windows) or an AIFF file (Mac). Using iTunes, specify this type of ripping in File/Preferences/Advanced/Importing. It's a good idea to specify a new ripping location, too, so the ripped song doesn't end up lost in the rest of your collection. In iTunes, set the "rip to" folder in File/Preferences/Advanced/General.
If you're creating your ring tone from an MP3, just copy that MP3 into a new folder so that your ring-tone editing won't affect the version of the song in your digital music collection.
Once you have the song as a digital music file (whether WAV, AIFF or MP3), run your audio-editing software. I highly recommend Audacity for this task. It's free, it's open-source, it runs on all major platforms, it rocks. If you don't plan to use it, skip the rest of this tutorial and consult your software documentation.
How to Use Audacity
Before Audacity can export audio to the MP3 format your cell phone wants in a ring tone, you'll need to download the LAME library. LAME is open-source MP3 audio-compression software that rates among the best anywhere for recording fidelity. It also claims a legal exemption from MP3 patent royalties, meaning it's free, for now at least. Find the link for your operating system listed above on this page, and download LAME to a new folder on your computer (it will need to stay there for Audacity to access it for MP3 encoding). Run Audacity, go to the Audacity/Preferences menu, and click the Find Library button near the bottom of the screen. Navigate to the LAME Library on your hard drive, and select it. I recommend setting your bit rate to 128 Kbps. You can choose a lower bit rate to save space on your phone, but you'll get lower-quality sound.
In Audacity's File menu, select Open and find the song you ripped for your ring tone.
You'll see your song laid out from left to right. Click the cursor around until you find the section you want for your ring tone. You're looking for a phrase of 10 to 15 seconds or so. Take a few passes at highlighting your future ring tone. Press the space bar to preview the selections. When you find the right one, you can export it as is - or you can personalize the ring tone with audio effects.
Audacity comes with several effects; to try them out, leave the ring tone selected in the Audacity window, and then select anything in the Effect menu.
I recommend trying the Echo and Phaser. Each has various settings to tweak. Adding these effects is a matter of taste, but I figure it adds a bit of spice to the ring tone and makes it more of an individual statement.
Creating a derivative work of a copyright song is technically illegal. I'm no lawyer, and this does not constitute legal advice, but I am fairly certain that one could successfully defend these highly unlikely charges on the grounds that creating - and not distributing - a ring tone from a legally purchased song is covered by the affirmative defense of fair use.
After you're happy with whatever effects you've decided to use (the Edit/Undo function often comes in handy here), leave the ring tone selected in Audacity and choose File/Export Selection as MP3.
It's time to transfer the MP3 ring tone onto your phone. The easiest way to do this is with Bluetooth, assuming you have already paired your computer and cell phone. If your phone came with a USB connection, use that; otherwise, try e-mailing or texting it as an attachment. Put the ring-tone file into the Audio folder if your phone has one, and then select the new ring tone in your Tools or Options menu.
Anyway...I really like the sound of this old-fashioned telephone as a ringtone but it's a bit short so you'll need to loop it.
And this Morse Code one is pretty cool. Again, you'll need to loop it. I've no idea what it says (maybe you know Morse and can tell us?).
If you make any interesting Ringtones, do you think you could share them here?
This mob Myxertones have an interesting site that (in their words) allows you to quickly and easily make mobile phone ringtones and wallpapers. If you're an independent artists or other original content owner, you can use our MyxerTags™ technology to share and sell mobile content from your own website, or you can have it featured on the MyxerTones website. And with MyxerCodes™, anyone can get your content directly from their mobile phone using simple text messages! Great concept. I managed to upload my old-fashioned telephone ringtone and I even managed to get it sent to my cellphone (here in Paris). Seems like a great idea - because you have the ability to sell your homemade music or sfx.
Have a listen to a rude Chopper Ringtone I made with Myxertone.
Here's another one I made using creative commons music -| Madrugada(rmx) |  |
ringtones
Malcolm Lambe
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