Create Ringtones And Other Alert Sounds Easily And Quickly With GarageBand [OS X Tips]

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Custom Ringtone in GarageBand

Ringtones, right? How can you be the coolest kid on the bus without your own custom ringtone? You can’t, that’s how.

With GarageBand ’11, it’s very simple to make one, and we’re here to show you how.

All you need is the latest copy of GarageBand, iTunes 7.5 or later, a Mac that runs OS X, and some music. Oh, and an iPhone, of course. You can use music that you create with Magic GarageBand, record yourself all fancy-like, or import an MP3 track to GarageBand to make your ringtone. Here’s how.

Once you’ve decided what music you want for your custom ringtone, click on the Cycle button in the Transport control area (it looks like an oval made out of arrows). Then, click on the little icon to the left of the LCD-style panel. It will have a musical note, a clock, a tuner, or a metronome icon there. Set it to Time, the little clock icon. This will make the display show minutes and seconds, rather than bars and beats.

Click in the area just above the music you’re using. Adjust the cycle (loop) area to cover the part of the song you want as your ringtone. You can change the length of the song by dragging either end left or right. Grab it from the middle to move it around. If you can’t find the bright yellow loop/cycle section, go to the very beginning of your music: it defaults to the first measure.

Adjust the cycle area to a maximum 40 seconds for ringtones, or 30 seconds for other iOS alert sounds, like for Text Tones, New Mail, and the like. Save the project and name it whatever you want to call your ringtone. I suggest Phillip, but you can choose this one.

Head up to the Share menu and choose Send to iTunes. Sync your new ringtone to your iPhone in the typical way.

Now you can rock your thrash metal band’s latest single when your Aunt Tillie calls from home to tell you that you forgot the lunch she packed for you.

Share your custom ringtones with us below. If you dare.

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