How to make custom ringtones for any phone using I Tunes (MP3 format version)

Many people have the misconception that making a ringtone start and end at specific points of a song is a difficult process, while others deem it impossible because they believe sound editing software will be involved. The purpose of this article is to end that misconception and to teach you, fellow e-how member, whether you are computer literate or not, how to make your phone ring not only as the song of your choice, but as your favorite part of that song. And the best thing of all is that it is very simple. (Note: If you want a ringtone in AAC format, I have an AAC format version of this article)

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer with Mac OS X 10.4 or greater or Windows XP/Vista
• I tunes software
• Phone that supports MP3 format
• Your own way to transfer files from your computer to your phone, (i.e. Bluetooth, USB cable, MicroSD to SD card adapter, etc) OR
• Your phone must be able to access the internet, whether it is through WI-FI or your carrier's data network. Note that you must have a data plan to access the internet through your carrier's network o
• Note that you'll only need one of the last two items above. Both of them are not necessary, only one of them

1. 1. First, you must make sure you have I Tunes. If you are not familiar with it, do not worry. It is free to download and I will walk you through how to use it to make your ringtones. You can download it at www.apple.com/itunes/download. If you already have I Tunes, skip to step four.

2. 2. Open the installation file you downloaded, and follow the I Tunes installation process; it is self-explanatory and the installation wizard will walk you through it.

3. 3. When you first start I Tunes, it will prompt that it will search for the media available in your computer. If for some reason the songs you intended to use as ringtones are not automatically added, you can simply open the folder where they are located and drag and drop them to the I Tunes window (to drag and drop, left click and hold on the file you want, then drag the file by moving the cursor towards the I Tunes window where you will drop the file and when you see a little plus sign appear next to your cursor, then you can let go of the left click, which will make I Tunes add the file to its library)

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   4. Once you are looking at the I Tunes window with your desired music already added to the I Tunes library, go to the top drop down menu on the I Tunes window, click Edit, then click Preferences.

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   5. Make sure you are on the "General" tab and click "Import Settings."

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   6. On the option where it says "Import using:" select "MP3 Encoder," then click "OK" in the Import Settings window and in the I Tunes preferences window until you are back to the I Tunes main window.

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   7. Click on "Music" in the top left corner of the I Tunes main window. This will ensure you are looking at the I Tunes library. Now, on the top right corner there is a search box. Type in the name of the song you are looking for. It should automatically appear on the song list below the search box.

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   8. Select the song, click play and listen to it. Take note of the exact minute and second where your favorite part starts. Whatever part you pick is exactly where your ringtone will start. The timer will appear in the top center of the main window. You will see two timers, one in positive numbers and one in negative numbers. Take note only of the one in positive numbers, which will be on the left side.

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   9. Now pause or stop the song, and right click on it. Select "Get Info" on the right click menu.

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    10. Now that you are on the "Get Info" window, click on the "Options" tab. There, further down, you will see two boxes labeled "Start time:" and "Stop time:" Input the time you took note of in step eight, where your favorite part of the song starts, into the box labeled "Start time:" To save space on your phone's memory, I recommend you also set a Stop time about 15-30 seconds after whatever start time you picked. The reason is almost every phone will play no more than 30 seconds of a ring tone. In other words, if you have a song that is 3 minutes long, and you set start time at 1:30, but set no stop time, you will have a ringtone that lasts 1 minute and thirty seconds, but your phone will only play the first thirty seconds. That leaves you with a whole minute of ringtone that is taking space in your phone's memory, and that will never be played.

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    11. After both start time and stop time are set, click OK. Now play the song again. You will notice the song now begins at the start time you picked. If you are satisfied with the result, you can move on to the next step. If you are not satisfied and the song didn't start exactly where you wanted it to, then repeat from steps 9-11, but this time, try adding fractions of a second to the start time. In other words, if you originally put 1:08 at the start time, but the song started a bit after the exact spot towards which you aimed, then try 1:07.500. If you were to try 1:07 it might be too far back, but 1:07.500 is one minute, seven seconds, and half of a second towards 1:08. That means you get to specify even more, and trust me, half a second does make a difference. If you want to be even more exact you can try 1:07.750, which represents three quarters of a second or 1:07.250, which represents one quarter of a second. It is simply a matter of adjusting it through trial and error. Repeat the process until it sounds exactly how you want it.

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    12. Once the song sounds exactly how you want your ringtone to sound, right click on the song, and select "Create MP3 version." You will see a copy of the song you selected appear right below it. Only difference is, the copy only has a duration of thirty seconds or whatever time you set.

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    13. At this point, you are done creating your ringtone. Now you need to transfer it to your phone. Set the I Tunes window so that both the I Tunes window and your desktop are visible. Select the ringtone (which is the copy of the original song with a duration of 15-30 seconds) and drag and drop it onto the desktop. Now the ringtone you created is right on your desktop for easy access.

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    14. If you already have a way to transfer the ringtone to your phone, then you are done with this tutorial and you can stop here. If you do not have a way (yet), then you will need to have a data plan with internet access or a WI-FI enabled phone in order to complete this step.

15. 15. Go to http://rumkin.com/tools/sprint/. There you will see the uploader page. In the "filename" box underneath "Upload Wallpapers, Ringers, Etc" Click "Browse" and select the ringtone you created which you should be able to see right on your desktop. Then, type in what you want the file to be named in your phone in the box "description." Then, in the box "send to," type in your phone number if you have Sprint, and type nothing if you any other carrier. Click "upload file."

16. 16. If you inputted your phone number (in other words, if your carrier is Sprint) then you will get a text message with a link. Follow the link with your phone's web browser and it will automatically download the file into your phone. Now just set the file as your ringtone and you are done. If you don't have Sprint and left the "send to" box empty in the last step, then you will see a screen giving you a "jump code." Take note of this jump code. Go to http://rumkin.com/tools/sprint/jump.php in your phone's web browser, and input the jump code. Now click "download." Set your downloaded file as your ringtone.
    Congratulations, you are done!

Tips & Warnings

• All the steps in this tutorial were done in a windows computer. If you are a OS X user, the steps will be almost identical. Nothing done here will be impossible in an OS X computer
• Make sure to put the original song's "start time" and "end time" back to normal, otherwise everytime you play the song it will start at the start time you set.
• I cannot emphasize enough, make sure you have a data plan with your wireless provider if you are using my method to upload the ringtone(s) to your phone. If you don't make sure, I am not liable for extra surprise charges in your bill.