Making Ringtones

Does anyone know of any "make your own ringtones" programs? I hate the idea of paying $1.99 for a single ringtone.

What model phone do you have? Most modern phones you can create ringtones with whatever software you choose and then upload to your phone from your computer. You need to go to the website of the company that makes your phone and download the tech support file which explains what formats and file sizes are supported by your particular model.

Yes, the model of your phone is important. Ringtones vary from Midi (older types) to wave format (not that popular) to MP3 and other audio (.acc or .amr) types.

So depending on what you have in mind, we may be able to suggest a program.

The easiest (and cheapest) form of ringtone is MIDI. You can find just about every single piece of music in MIDI format - for free and LEGAL. You get some simple MIDI creation software for free as well, but to use these you should have some basic knowledge on music – to make it easier for yourself.

When we look at other audio formats things get a bit more complicated and expensive...

Well, it's from Verizon and it's a VX5200, according to my user manual.

I think you mean it's an LG VX5200 for Verizon? I'm unfamiliar with the phone, but according to the specs it doesn't have a MP3 player, and it comes with CMX MIDI...

So it would be a safe bet to say that you'll be able to make your own MIDI ringtones for the phone. You can also look at the "properties" or "details" of some of the existing ringtones on the phone and tell us what the extension (.wav/.mp3/.mid/etc.) of the files are.

It can be a tedious task to create your own MIDI files/ringtones. I would suggest that you do a google search for MIDI files. Say you want "Pump It" from the Black Eyed Peas as a ringtone, search for "Pump It MIDI" on Google. You should get some results, and best of all, MIDI are free for all to use... (In most cases. Some writers of MIDI may ask for a fee, but avoid them, because you will always find a free MIDI.)

If you want to make your own ringtones/MIDI's then you can try these:
MIDI developers software tools
Free MIDI Editors
Anvil Studio Trial
The best software out there is arguably Cakewalk (home studio) but it's not free.
Warning: If you have no background of music, then creating a MIDI may be difficult!

Ok, so once you've got a MIDI file, you need to get it on your phone. You can either transfer it via a USB cable from your PC to your phone or you can host the file somewhere on the Internet, and retrieve it with your phone via GPRS/WAP.

Well, that's my take on it. Maybe someone else may have a better suggestion...


[edit on 1-8-2006 by Gemwolf]

Speaking abou WAP, do you know if free WAP proxies like mycellconnect.com are legal? It isn't pirating is it?

I'm not really familiar with it. I checked it out, and I find no reason why it would be illegal. It's a new step in a new direction so I don't think there are any legal guidelines on the issue. I'm sure the big cellphone companies will find a way to put an end to it, but until then I see no reason why you can't use them...

Disclaimer: This is my opinion and I will not be held responsible should any law enforcement agency stick you in a jail cell.

If I could just get a website that I can upload my ringtones to and then download by gettin on the Internet from my phone. Do you know of any websites like that?

Oh, this is just too complex. I'm just going to go buy a cellphone-PC USB cord in the morning. Do you know if I need any special programs to transfer files via a USB cord?

There are several hosting websites out there like MegaUpload, TurboUpload and RapidShare. I don't know if they are going to work on your cellphone, seeing that they are highly dependant on Cookies, ads, reservation tickets, IP addresses, etc. But it's worth the try. Maybe you can let us know if one of the above mentioned sites work. Another option is your own upload area here at ATS. (See your Member Center)... Your best bet would be to find someone with a site of their own and ask them to host it for you.

If you used MIDI files from another site, you can enter the address, on your WAP browser, where you initially got them from and it should be saved directly to your phone.

Your last resort could be to host the files from your own PC - but I do not suggest this option at all, so I'm not going to cover it...

Most cellphones come out with the necessary software on a separate CD. I take it if you're asking about it; you didn't get any with yours? Most USB devices are Plug-and-Play friendly and should need additional software or drivers. If you find that you do need drivers or software after you bought a cable, you can just download them from the Internet. The cellphone manufacturers provide these kinds of software for free.

Just make 100% sure that you buy the correct cable because they differ immensely from model to model.

Do these just hook into the phone's charger outlet?

P.S. Thanks for all the help!

Ok, That's it... You've used up all your questions for today. Come back tomorrow.

LoL.

Just kidding.

Yes and no. Although, with most phones the power outlet (actually input?) and PC IN/OUT are positioned at exactly the same place, it may appear as if you're plugging a PC cable into the power IN, but truth is, you're not. It's separate I/O ports.

I'm editing my songs into little thirty second pieces but there's another problem. The smallest size I could get for one song is 1.89 MB. My phone has about 3.24 MB of memory in it. Can I convert the audio or compress it somehow to make the size smaller?

What format is your songs?

They're MP3 format but I do have an audio converter. I can convert them something like .wav.

No, MP3's are your best compressed files, i.e. the smallest. What audio converter do you use? If you adjust or play with the quality of the file you should be able to nudge the size down some more. Say for instance the KB per second is 32 then try to get it down to 8 kBps.

All right then, I'll see if everything goes right.

Thanks very much!

what about the .mff format