Face it, ringtones on phones are pretty boring. Who wants to hear the same tone over and over? Add some jazz to your phone (or rock, hip-hop or some instrumental music) and separate yourself from the rest. Follow this guide to learn how to create a custom ringtone for your phone.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Using an Online Service
Step 1. Visit an online service to create ringtones
There are thousands of websites that will allow you to upload a music file and then select a portion of that file that you want as a ringtone. And best of all, they are free. Several popular sites are:
- Make Own Ringtone
- Myxer
- Mobile17
- Ringer
- Song cutter
Step 2. Upload the song for which you want to create a ringtone
You can choose any file on your computer and some services will allow you to select files from the cloud. Most services accept the most common formats, including:
- MP3
- AAC
- M4A
- Wav
- WMA
Step 3. Select the segment you want for the tone
Once the file is uploaded, you will be able to select which section of the song you want as a ringtone. Most phones support tones lasting 30 seconds.
Step 4. Choose your bitrate
Most tone creators use a lower bitrate than the standard audio file, as a phone speaker is generally of lower quality than headphones or stereo speakers. This will make the file smaller in size and still maintain a decent quality.
The standard rate is 96 kbps, but you can increase it if you want. 320 kbps is CD quality
Step 5. Choose the format
IPhone ringtones need to be in M4R format, while most other phones support MP3 files.
Step 6. Decide how you want to receive the file
Most services offer you the option of downloading the file to your computer, receiving the file by mail, or sending it directly to the phone.
Step 7. Save the file to the phone
If you selected to have the file sent directly to the phone, then you can select the tone directly from the tones menu. If you downloaded it to your computer, you will need to copy it to the correct directory on your phone:
- For iPhone, put the M4R file in the ringtone library in iTunes. Synchronize your phone's library and the ringtone will be added to your ringtone list.
- For Android, connect the phone to your computer. Open your phone's drive and navigate to the "Media" folder. Open the "Audio" folder or create one if it doesn't exist. Finally, open the "Tones" folder or create one. Put the tone there.
Method 2 of 4: Using an App
Step 1. Download the application of your choice
Both iOS and Android have a great selection of ringtone maker apps (either paid or free). Read user reviews to determine which one is the best for you. Two of the best that exist and are free are:
- Create Ringtones !: for iOS
- Ringtone Maker: for Android
Step 2. Download the song in the application
The method varies from app to app, but you can generally upload any song that is stored on your phone. These applications usually support the most common formats.
Step 3. Select the tone segment
Once the song loads, you can select the start and end point of the tone. You have the option to add effects. Make sure to select a good start and end point, so that the tone sounds its best.
Step 4. Save the new tone to the phone
Android applications will automatically save the ringtone in the correct folder. Just click the "Save" or "Set" button and the ringtone will be saved to your phone.
Pass iOS, you need to connect the phone to your computer and open iTunes. The ringtone file will appear in the "File Sharing" section of the "Applications" tab. Save the file to your computer and then drag it to the Ringtones library in iTunes. Synchronize your phone and you can use the tone
Method 3 of 4: Using iTunes
Step 1. Open iTunes
The example will focus on how to use part of a song to create a tone, but you can use any audio file. Import the file into iTunes by right-clicking on the file and selecting "Open with … iTunes."
Step 2. Select the file you want to use for your ringtone
You can select any song in your library. Play the song and be prepared to note when you want the tone to start and end. IPhones support 30-second long ringtones.
Make a note of the minute and second you want the song to start and end
Step 3. Change the “Start” and “End” times
Right-click on the file and select "Get Info." Select the "Options" tab. There you can edit the values in the "Start" and "End" fields. Select the portion you want (writing a colon between the minutes and seconds) and click "OK."
Step 4. Separate this nine fragment from the original file
To do this, right-click on the song again and select "Create AAC Version." Now you should have two copies of the song, but with different lengths. The smallest will be your tone.
After creating the AAC version, click on the original song, select “Get Info” and return to the options screen. Restores the default “Start” and “End” options so that you can play the entire length of the song
Step 5. Right click on the ringtone file and select "Show in Finder" (or Windows Explorer)
A new window will appear containing the original ringtone and file.
Step 6. Change the tone to the correct format
If you are using an iPhone, the ringtone must be in M4R format. Right-click and select "Rename" (Windows) or press "Shift" and click the file (Mac). Just change the “a” (for audio) at the end to an “r”.
- On a Mac, when the dialog window appears asking if you are sure, click "Use.m4r."
- On a PC, when the dialog window appears asking if you want to confirm the action, click "Yes".
Step 7. Delete the AAC version of the file from iTunes
Go back to iTunes and delete the shorter file of the song. Do not erase the original. When the confirmation dialog appears, select "Keep File."
On a PC, deleting the original file is acceptable. This will not remove the.m4r file from the computer
Step 8. Put the M4R file back in iTunes
Go back to Finder or the "Windows Explorer" window and drag the M4R file into the iTunes Ringtones library. This is necessary for iPhones.
Once the files are in the library, you can sync your phone to add the ringtone to the list of available ringtones
Method 4 of 4: Using Audacity
Step 1. Download Audacity
Audacity is an open source audio editing program that you can download for free directly from the developers website. Use the program to isolate the segment of the song that you want to turn into a key. It is a very powerful program and there is the possibility that you will find many more uses for it than creating tones.
Step 2. Download LAME
This software allows Audacity to export files in MP3 format. LAME is available for free from the website from the developer.
Step 3. Choose a song that you want to use as a ringtone
To be able to edit it in Audacity, it needs to be in MP3 format. If it is not in MP3 format, you can convert it using a variety of online music converters. Just upload the file and select MP3 as the output format.
Step 4. Open the file in Audacity
When the MP3 file loads, you will see a waveform of the audio. You can press the "Play" button to listen to the song, and the marker will show where you go in the song.
Step 5. Highlight part of the option you want to make into a tone
Use the mouse to select the segment you want to convert. You can press the "Play" button to make sure it starts where you want and doesn't end abruptly.
Prevent the segment from exceeding 30 seconds, or certain phones will not support it
Step 6. Export the segment
Once you are happy with your selection, click "File" and then "Export Selection." Select MP3 as the format and give it a name. You need to upload the LAME file that you downloaded earlier.
Step 7. Copy the tone to your phone
For Android, connect the phone to your computer via USB and put the ringtone in the / media / audio / ringtones / folder. For iPhone, adding the file is a multi-step process:
- First, add the ringtone to your iTunes library. Right-click on the tone and select "Create ACC Version." This will create a new file with the extension M4A.
- Right-click on the new file and select "Show in Finder" or "Show in Windows Explorer." This will open the folder that contains the file. Rename the file so that it has the extension M4R instead of M4A.
- Drag the new file back to iTunes, it will now appear in the Ringtones library. The file will be copied to the iPhone the next time you sync it with iTunes.
Advice
- Make sure the tone lasts 30 seconds or less.
- This is legal as long as you don't distribute the music to other people.