TECH VIEW
Anoop Verma
Many of us have started using musical ringtones to alert us about incoming calls. But the truth is that buying ringtones is often an expensive proposition. In many cases we end up paying more for the ringtone, which is merely a snippet of a song, than what we would pay for a CD of the entire album. Globally the ringtone business is worth many billions of dollars. Here are some online tools that will allow you to turn any song or voice recording into a ringtone:
Audiko (http://audiko.net/): The home page is pretty self-descriptive. There is an upload button through which you can upload the song that you want to turn into ringtone. After that you will be able to select the portion that you wish to use, before finally downloading the ringtone back to your phone. The site also offers a range of ringtones that you can download for free.
Mobile 17 (http://mobile17.com/): Here also you can use music in almost any format to generate your own ringtones in a matter of few seconds. On the home page, there is the “Make a Ringtone” button. Click on it and you are led to a page where you can upload the music in MP3, *.M4A, *.WAV, *.WMA, *.OGG formats, and edit them to create a ringtone.
ToneMine (http://www.tonemine.com/): If you are feeling rather artistic, you can point your browser at this site. Here you can actually mix few musical genres to generate a custom ringtone. In the centre of the home page there is the “Mix Now” button. Click on it and you are set for mixing up to 8 musical genres.
Myxer (http://www.myxer.com/): The advantage of this site is that it not only allows you to create your own ringtone, it also offers a chance for you to sell your creation. However, competition in the ringtone space is tough, so selling might not be easy. The method of creation is the same; you upload the song before splicing it into a ringtone. You can also mix songs of different genres.
Make Own Ringtone (http://makeownringtone.com/): As with every other ringtone making site, out here also you upload your file and select the portion that you would like to turn into a ringtone. However, this site stands out by offering a variety of uploadable formats: AAC, MMF, MP3, MP4, OGG, QCP.
Android apps: Like Apple’s iTunes store, the Android marketplace too boasts of a number of good ringtone making apps. There is Ringtone Maker, by Big Bang INC, which can be downloaded for free, and will enable you to create ringtones, alarms and notifications from MP3, WAV, AAC/MP4, 3GPP/AMR files you load onto your phone through the SD card. The Ringdroid app, by Ringdroid Team, is also highly popular. It is free and it will let you create in a matter of seconds your own ringtone, alarm, or notification sound from an existing audio file. You can also use the app to record a new one directly on the device.
iPhone and iPad options: if you are using an Apple device, then you can use a range of apps for creating a custom ringtone of your choice. There is Ringtone Maker Pro, available at iTunes store for approximately Rs. 50. It allows you to create ringtones from your music. You can assign different ringtones to different contacts. If you are looking for a free ringtone maker, then Create Ringtones app, also available at the iTunes store, is a good option. This app has created over 2 million ringtones. Surely, that is quite a number.
