The days of
buying ringtones are over if you can learn the basics of Sound Editing.
Older cell phones used only MIDI
music files. Because most people have little access to these
files they had to made by professionals and then sold to consumers.
Now
almost all cell phones accept
MP3 file transfers and these can then be
used as your ring tone and activated like all other ringtones that your
phone came with at time of purchase.
A communication technology student should have the confidence and production
skills to move into the audio realm and become creative there as well.
Here is the course section on
AUDIO topics and resources.
You will need to use a sound (audio) editor
such as:
WavePad
: a free audio editor , a fast download
and easy to use!
Audacity:
a free Open Source software you download free from the Internet (a
great starter)
>while you are at it download the MP3 tool (LAME
mp3 encoder) companion software.
Sound Forge: a 2 track audio editor use a
30 day free trial copy
SONY Product
Acid:
a multitrack audio editor use a 30 day free trial copy
Process:
First ask what
type of ringtone do you want.
Is it for everyday use? Will it be set your favorite friend or
parents? Maybe it will be sent to someone else or its just this
weeks favorite song.
Funny, weird,
or crazy ... make a plan for your production and be a pro.
Next : gather
your assets and begin production - get
together your MP3s and download special sounds from free sound sites
such as the following
audio source
- Sound Forge can export your WAV files
(found on your CDs) to MP3 format
- Audacity cannot open WAV (from CD ) files
- listen the ring tones on your own
cellie and make note of characteristics such as :
> the time they take to play in seconds (around 10 - 15 seconds )
> is there a nice loop effect (does the end of the loop segue into
the start of the loop again?
> is there a fade in fade out at the beginning of the loop
Start Sound Forge
(or WavePad)
and open your
MP3 and then listen for the hook that moves you (and has
a reasonable time period) and locate downbeats at the beginning and end of
the hook and enter
enter markers (M)
> there is not much point in working in stereo as you phone is only
mono (at least for the moment)
> use markers (M) to select the
region of audio that you want to extract from your song ....right
click Trim/Crop
> here we have added a subliminal cut from
Napoleon Dynamite ......."friggin idiot" to add some
humour ...
> do this by selecting the Napoleon segment and dragging it to a
suitable (more quiet, correct part of line etc.)
-
> finally you might want to add some
finishing touches such a volume pan or a special effect such as
reverb
WavePad -
we have WavePad and Audacity on our room 23
image and we will start our audio learning curve on this software. More
adavnced softwares will be very easy to learn after to get experience
with the basics.
This was made in WavePad yet
another ringtone it is comprise of a segment from Chingy's
"You Can Call Me" and a free sound
from www.freesounds.com
-----::[ other tones can be found at www.freesounds.info assorted musical styles and loops
-----::[ another site for free sounds nd this one is very large
but requires you login www.sounddogs
> next connect your cell phone up to your computer
and boot up your software (might have to purchase it
extra from the cell phone store ........ cell phones are a cash cow
for Motorola etc.) then transfer and activate your new ring tone
and wait for calls.
RingTone Project
- use the above tutorial experience to make your own ring tone
> save your final production as an MP3 to your
drive and then upload it to your site
> before your ring tone begins to play you will have a brief voice
recording or yourself or your favourite class voice over personality
describing what you have produced and how
(this will of course be pasted (not mixed) at the beginning of the
ringtone
Posting to the Internet on your website
>
In your website homepage create a flash button and link to the ringtone file name in the link box
Expectations see
what is required to make your project a hit
Evaluation
use this as a guide and a
post production checklist that will lead to an evaluation that you will
be proud of
and experiment!
