How to Make Ringtones for a Blackberry

Cell phones have come a long way since the days of the first big brick phones and and bag phones. Cell phones have become not only a means to make and receive telephone calls, but they have become a major part in enhancing our lives and the way we communicate with others.

Cell phones have become as unique and personalized as the people who use them. From different colors, keyboards, and applications, our phones have become an extension of ourselves and our personalities. One of the most popular customizations people make to their phones is ring tones.

From a standard ring to popular music to famous movie quotes, adding a custom ring tone is the one feature of your phone everybody within listening range will hear. While many cellular providers have websites specifically for buying ring tones, their offerings can be limited and usually cost several dollars apiece or require you to agree to a monthly subscription.

But if you're one of the millions of people who have a BlackBerry, you can save tons of money and have complete control over your ring tone content.

You can create custom ring tones for a Blackberry using several different sources:

  1. The BlackBerry Media Manager
  2. iTunes
  3. Audacity

BlackBerry Media Manager

How to Create Ringtones for a BlackberryUsing a USB cable (one should have been provided with the purchase of the phone), connect the phone to your computer. Locate and click the icon labeled “Storm.” This will launch the BlackBerry Desktop Manager.

From the Desktop Manager home page click on “Media Manager.” Locate the song that you would like to use as your ring tone and double click the file.

In the upper left-hand corner of your screen, locate the “edit” option in the tool bar and click. From the drop down menu select “Edit with Quick Sound Editor.

Your song will be represented by a horizontal green line across the screen. Establish where you want your audio clip to begin and end by selecting the starting and ending points. Keep your selected segment to 30 seconds or less.

When you have finished editing your clip, save it by clicking “Save As” towards the bottom of the Media Manager window.

At the bottom of the screen, select “Create Ringtone.”

The clip will be created as  a ring tone and stored onto the media card inside your phone automatically. Once your BlackBerry is disconnected from your computer, access the media card from the phone’s menu.

Locate the song and select it as a ring tone.

iTunes

Converting songs from your iTunes playlist is simple, but only songs purchased from the iTunes store will be able to be converted.

BlackBerry utilizes Media Sync, a program designed to convert iTunes files into mp3 files. This can be downloaded from BlackBerry’s website. Be sure the memory card is installed in the phone (it’s located underneath the battery.

Connect the phone to your computer via the USB cable. Run BlackBerry Media Sync.

To show a list of all your songs, select “Show iTunes Playlists.” Selecting the “sync” button will copy your iTunes library (or selected play lists) to your BlackBerry.

Once the files have been successfully uploaded to your phone, you can choose which song you’d like to turn into a ring tone. Scroll to the megaphone icon from the home screen and select it, then go to the bottom and select “Advanced.”

After that choose your ringtone preferences, in this case let’s say “Normal.” Select “Normal” and scroll to “Phone.”

At this point the phone will guide you in changing your ring tone.

Audacity

To use Audacity, you will need to download the program. You can download it from Audacity.com. When you get to the home screen choose the operating system that matches your computer. A few lines down you’ll want to click on “Audacity Installer” just below the subheading “Optional Downloads.”

Click “Save As,” then choose where you’d like to save the file, “Desktop” is the most common preference.

You will also need to download LAME mp3 encoder, which is under “Optional Downloads.”

On the next page, select “LAME download page.” The next page will have a series of boxes. In the upper left box choose “LAME for Audacity on Windows.” If you have a Macintosh choose “For Audacity on Mac OS-X” from the box just below.

Again, save the file to your desktop or another location of your choice. Once both of these programs have been successfully downloaded, install LAME first and then run Audacity.

After you have the program running, go to Start and select “All Programs. ” It should pop up as Audacity 1.3 Beta.

Go to the toolbar at the top of the screen and select “File” and then “Open.” Select the song that you want to turn into a ring tone. Open the file and it will run it into the editor, which shows the song in a wave form format.

Select the portion of the song you want to serve as your ring tone. Copy the selected portion to the new window so ou don’t accidentally make alterations to the original song. Go back to “Edit” in the toolbar and select “Copy.”

Then go to “File” and click on “New.” Delete all the audio before and after your ringtone sample. Save your work.

Go Back to “File” and choose “Export.” If you want to add artist and song information you can, and then click “OK.” Choose where you’d like to save the file. It will save it to your computer as an mp3 flle.

Once you have completed this step, you can hook your BlackBerry up to your computer and follow the steps for the BlackBerry Media Manager.

Customizing your Blackberry experience is one of the many reasons the devices are so popular. Now that you can create a ring tone, play around with the different options. Set up ring tones for specific people or groups. You won't have to take your phone out of your pocket or purse to see who's calling with custom ring tones.

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