Modern users of smartphones and other gadgets often do not think about what melody plays when they receive an incoming call or a new message notification in an online messenger. Many do not even know that this melody can be changed to any that you like. So what is a ringtone?
A ringtone is an audio file that is set by the user as a ringtone for an incoming call, receiving an SMS or other notifications to replace the standard sound. Such melodies began to gain popularity in the 2000s.
The history of appearance and popularity of ringtones
Of course, speaking about the popularity of ringtones in the world, it is worth remembering where and how they appeared. The idea of creating custom audio files originated in Japan with the release of the Digital Minimo D319 back in 1996. Creating custom ringtones from that moment began to gradually gain popularity: there were more and more different sounds that people created specifically for installation instead of a ringtone.
With the advent of IPhone smartphones to the US and European markets, custom ringtones have received a new life – users have the opportunity to quickly set their favorite song from iTunes as a ringtone, as well as the functionality of trimming the desired fragment.
Types of ringtones: from old to modern
There are several types of ringtones: monophonic, polyphonic and realtones (modern format). Since the sound on phones has constantly evolved, ringtones and their quality also could not stand aside.
Features of each type of ringtones:
- Monophonic ringtones: the sound is characterized by a set of notes, but no more than 1 note is played at a time. Such melodies sounded extremely simple and uncomplicated.
- Polyphonic ringtones: an advanced version of monophonic, the sound is also a simple set of notes, but can play a number of notes at once. It is in MIDI or MMF format.
- Realtones: a modern ringtone format that plays a digitally recorded full-fledged musical composition. The following formats are supported: AAC, WMA, M4A (Apple), MP3 (Android).
At the moment, you can find and download any ringtone to your phone using the Zedge-ringtones.com, which has a database of several tens of thousands of ringtones on any topic: alarm clocks, sports, song excerpts, holiday, instrumental, and so on. If you don’t want to use the simple method, you can create your own ringtone using the instructions below.
Instructions for creating your own ringtone
To create your own ringtone, you will need a program that can convert the audio file to the required format, as well as cut it as you need. The process itself, with basic skills, takes no more than a few minutes.
Instructions:
- Search for the source audio file to create a ringtone.
- Downloading it to the device on which cropping will be performed.
- Trimming the part of the music that should play on the call.
- Save the trimmed ringtone in the desired format: M4A or MP3.
- Set ringtone as ringtone in phone settings.
It is worth noting that usually the ringtone you need already exists and there is no need to spend personal time on the above manipulations. To begin with, it is recommended to check on the corresponding service using the search for the presence of such a ringtone in the database, and if it is not there, then proceed to create it yourself.
