A ringtone is a short MP3 or MIDI file that plays when your cell phone rings.
Believe it or not, a ringtone actually is almost always an MP3 file (or sometimes a song in MIDI format). While there is no stand-alone "ringtone format," there is some difference between a ringtone on your phone and an MP3 on your iPod. Ringtones are usually only 20 to 40 seconds long, non-stereo and are highly compressed so as not to take up too much of your phone's limited storage space. There are numerous ways to convert, or more accurately, edit, an MP3 into a state acceptable for mobile phone use, and nearly all of them are free.
Instructions
1. Try an online converter, such as MP3mer or IWFR.com's web-browser tool. (See resources for all links.) Without having to download or purchase anything, you can convert any MP3 on your hard drive into a ringtone. IWFR's tool is extremely simple and is good if you want to create a very tiny output file as quickly as possible. MP3mer, on the other hand, has a staggering array of options, allowing you to control absolutely every aspect of the outputted file. For either site, simply upload a song, adjust the settings and download the ringtone to your phone or computer.
2. Use dedicated ringtone software, such as Convert MP3 to Ringtone. This is a downloadable shareware program, with both free and commercial versions, capable of doing everything online converters can do, plus a bit more. Its greatest difference from the online tools is the inclusion of an MP3-to-MIDI feature, which is useful if you have an older phone that doesn't support MP3 ringtones. The program can take non-MP3 formats as input as well, which can come in handy if your music is in WAV format or on an audio CD.
3. Convert the MP3 with traditional audio-editing software, such as the open-source program Audacity. You can trim the file down to the right length, adjust the volume and quality level and even add fade effects to the ends of the ringtone so that the sudden music of your phone doesn't blast you out of your chair when it rings at full volume. The exact way to do this will vary from program to program, but will usually be fairly intuitive. The one downside to this approach is that the program won't upload the ringtone to your phone for you; you'll have to do this yourself by using a wireless or corded connection between your cell and your computer.
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