Making Ringtones in iTunes!!

[Fiveos22]

I just want to say that iTunes already has a the tools to make MP3 and AAC ringtones. So for those of us who are shoulders deep in debt, a free ringtone sounds like a no brainer option, no?

Allow me to illustrate:
How to make ringtones in iTunes: A tutorial

(steps correspond to attached screen shots)

1. Open iTunes and select the flavor of the month. Open the "Get Info" screen for that song.
2. Under the "Options" tab decide how long you want your ringtone to be by choosing when you want the song to start and when you want it to stop. For this example, I chose 23.5 seconds because the first phrase of "Cohen's Masterpiece" ends there. [FYI, the Bioshock score is available for free here]
3. Go to the iTunes Preferences window. Under the "Importation" tab choose what encoder you want to use (either AAC or MP3 or whatever depending on the audio files that will play on your phone). I chose the AAC encoder because my Sony Ericsson phone supports it and I think it sounds better at lower compressions. Then choose "Custom..." under the Setting pull down menu. From there you can choose the compression of your ring tone. I recommend not using variable bit rate encoding (VBR), and changing the channels to Mono (stereo settings on a phone are probably pretty crappy). Set the bit rate low, how low depends on the amount of space you have free on your phone, 56k sounds good to me.
4. Go back to the main window of iTunes and highlight your ring tone to be and "Convert Selection to AAC".
5. The re-encoded file should show up looking just like your original file, but much smaller and restricted to only the times you specified. Just move that file to your phone and you're good to go.

NOTE: Don't forget to go back to your original audiofile and uncheck the Start and Stop times so that you can listen to the whole file.

ALSO NOTE: That you should reset your Importation settings if you are going to be ripping a CD to your computer, otherwise you may end up with very compressed audiofiles from your next rip.

 

[Fiveos22]

Neato! I got my own thread! I guess I might as well contribute to it.

I was going to zip through and make a list of songs that would make good ring tones, but I realize that is soooooo subjective so I'll just toss this out there:

Most cell phone speakers don't do bass well or at all. Effective (or decent sounding) ring tones should be pulled from parts of songs that are light on bass (or make judicious use of the equalizer settings )