You can make MP3 ringtones for your cell phone yourself using some audio-editing software and your favorite songs. The only stipulation is that these ringtones cannot be sold without permission of the copyright holder and can only be used for your own personal use or for the free use of others.
- Download or purchase audio-editing software. There are a lot of good audio-recording and editing software programs that you can use to make really good ringtones. One option is Adobe Audition, which comes loaded with a multitude of tools to make music as well as cut and edit song files. If you are on a tight budget, go with Audacity, which is a free audio-editing program.
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Open your audio-editing program. After the program pops up on the screen, choose File and then Open. Select the music file you would like to make into a ringtone and double click on the file to open it in the software.
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Step 3
Decide which portion of the song you would like to use for the ringtone. Most ringtones are made from the hook or chorus of a song as this is the catchy part that gets stuck in your head. You could use the intro, the outro, or even a part of the verse if you would like. It’s completely up to you.
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Click on the file at the starting point of the clip you would like to use. Hold the left click on the mouse and drag the icon across the screen until the portion of the song you want is completely highlighted.
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Right-click on the highlighted portion and click on the Copy option. After you have copied the song portion, go up to File and click on New.
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Right-click in the new empty file and hit Paste. This will transfer the copied portion of the song onto the blank file. Click File again and then Save As. Save the file as “Song Title-ringtone.mp3.”
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Step 7
Sign up for a free Myxer account. This account will allow you to upload your ringtones for free and send them to your phone for your personal use. The account only requires a valid email address for confirmation.
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Step 8
Upload your ringtone to your account.
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Step 9
Send the ringtone to your phone as a text message. The text message will contain a link where you will download your ringtone, and then you can use it on your cell phone.
On modern computers, home-based recording is becoming increasingly easy. Stock programs like Windows Sound Recorder and Windows Movie Maker allow user-friendly voice capturing. Many users even hook up old turntables to computers to record their favorite classics live and in real time. Such home recordings are easily transferred to CDs using CD burners that come standard with many newer computers. With the propensity and accessibility of personally recorded CDs, cleaning up such recordings is essential, considering many home-based recording enthusiasts do not want to spend a lot of money on expensive sound cards, microphones or heavily insulated cables.
1. Rip the files from your recorded CD using Windows Media Player or a similar program. To do this with Windows Media Player, insert the CD, open the player and click on the “Rip” tab near the top of the screen. The files will be automatically pulled from the CD and placed in your computer’s “Music Folder.”
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Download Audacity from Audacity.sourceforge.net. Audacity is a free download that allows you to apply multiple effects to recorded files, including comprehensive noise removal operations.
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Install Audacity by clicking on the downloaded EXE file and following the on-screen instructions.
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Audacity: File Menu
Open your newly installed Audacity program. To get started fixing your CDs, click “File” then “Open.”
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Audacity: Open File Window
Select the recording that you want to clean up by clicking on the “Music Folder” and opening the ripped file.
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Select a part of the recording that is exclusively or mostly distortion by clicking and dragging over that part. Try to avoid highlighting any of the actual song, just focus on the pure distortion near the beginning or end of the track.
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Audacity: Effect Menu
Click on “Effect” then select “Noise Removal.” This will open a new window.
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Audacity: Noise Removal Window
Click “Get Noise Profile.” This will identify the distortion you’ve selected and store its sound signature in the program’s memory.
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Select the entire track by clicking and dragging over it. Click “Effect” and “Noise Removal.” This time, click “Remove Noise.” The program will then automatically remove distortion and white noise from the entire track, including distortion overlaying the music itself. Be patient, as the process can take over 1 minute for longer songs.
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Press the “Play” button, located near the top left-hand side of the screen, to play the song. If the program removed parts of the actual song along with distortion sounds, click “Edit” and “Undo Noise Removal” to revert the file back to its original state. Try removing the noise again, but this time move the slider to “Less” before clicking “Remove Noise.”
Almost all music degree programs with a performance emphasis require an audition. This is an opportunity to earn scholarships and to get used to singing in front of a panel of professors.
- Prepare your first audition piece. This should include a selection from “24 Italian Songs and Arias from the 17th and 18th Centuries” (publ. Schirmer’s Library of Musical Classics). You can use this edition, but the newer one edited by John Glenn Paton is more helpful because the editor provides historical notes, translations of the texts and additional songs. Both versions come in different keys that range from Low to High and are appropriate for male and female singers. Sing through some of the songs to see if the version you have is in a comfortable key for your voice.
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Prepare your second audition piece. This should be in a contrasting style and language. If your first song was fast, this song should be slow. Since your first piece was in Italian, this should be in English, French, German or Latin. Choose a song from the classical repertoire, which includes art songs, arias, and oratorio. Do not use a musical theatre piece unless you are auditioning specifically for a musical theatre program. Arias, which are songs from operas, are tricky for young singers and will likely backfire in an audition. If you want to use an aria, try something by Mozart. Arias by composers like Wagner or Verdi are too heavy and are not appropriate for this audition. Replace these arias with a light, lyrical art song. Find an anthology in a language you prefer and sing through several songs to find one that fits you. The song should catch your ear immediately and feel easy to learn. The TIS Music Catalog (http://www.tismusic.com/index.cfm) is a good place to find sheet music and many of the books come with practice CDs. Practice these songs with a private teacher or ask your high school or church choir director for help. Make sure you know what the words mean. Pay attention to the musical phrasing. Where does each phrase begin and end? Where is the peak of the phrase? In general, you should breathe at the punctuation marks if you can’t make it to the next rest. Listen to the accompaniment and observe how your part fits. Sometimes the accompaniment will double your part and you should be very accurate with the rhythm. Other times you will be on your own, which gives you more freedom, but also more responsibility. Memorize the song and know it well.
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Prepare your sheet music for the accompanist. Start by verifying that your printed music is in the key you wish to sing it in. If you bought a paperback anthology, you will need to make a photocopy of your individual song. Books do not lay flat on the piano, and your accompanist will have a hard time keeping the book open to the right page. Make sure the layout is the same as it is in the book for easy page-turning. This means making double-sided copies when necessary. Hole-punch the copies and put them in a binder. Do not punch through the clefs and key signatures–stay in the margins. If your song is three pages or less, you can skip the holes, tape the pages side by side and lay them straight across the piano.
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Step 4
Dress nicely. Men should wear suits or dress pants with a button-down shirt. Women should wear dresses or suits. Skirts should be knee-length or longer and tops should not be sleeveless. Look at your dress under bright lights. If you can see through it, wear a slip or wear something else. Make sure your hair is out of your face and wear extra makeup. You may be auditioning in a recital hall with stage lights or a classroom with fluorescent lights. Wear comfortable shoes that don’t squeak and don’t wear any noisy jewelry.
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Step 5
Have your resume ready. You will likely be given a form that will ask for your voice type. Voice types for women are Soprano and Mezzo-Soprano. Voice types for men are Tenor, Baritone and Bass. If you aren’t sure which one you are, ask your teacher or leave it blank. You may not know yet and that’s fine. Your new professors are there to help you figure it out. You will need to know your current teacher’s name, location, phone number and the dates you studied with him or her. They will also ask about other musical training you have had, which includes piano lessons and even dance. List the dates and locations of your recent performances. Include your choir, musical theater, summer music program and church performances. List any solos you have had and awards you have won. If you have all this information ready on a resume, the details will be easier to transfer when you get to your audition site.
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Step 6
Have confidence. Smile when you walk into the room and introduce yourself to the panel. Note that singers are often paranoid about germs and they may not want to shake your hand. Walk over to the accompanist, give her the music and set the tempo by singing the first few lines quietly at the speed you prefer. If you know how, you can also conduct the tempo.
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Stand in the crook of the piano and face your audience. Announce your piece and look at the accompanist to let him know you are ready. Sing clearly and expressively. If you make a mistake, keep going. School accompanists are very talented people–they will follow you no matter what you do. Thank your accompanist and your panel on the way out.
Audio recording software can transform your computer into a virtual recording studio. With the right hardware, your computer can record multiple tracks of audio and add sound effects and additional processing filters to the recorded tracks. You can also use the software to edit audio clips and convert them to different file formats. Many software publishers offer free trials of their software. Some offer the full featured product to use free without restrictions for non-commercial applications.
- Visit the website for Audacity at Sourceforge.net. Audacity is an open source audio editing platform created under the GNU General Public License terms. These terms allow for unlimited commercial or non-commercial use on as many computers as you wish. Download the program by clicking the “Download Audacity” link on the home page.
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Go to the Adobe Audition website. Download a trial version by clicking the “Download Free Trial” link on the Adobe Audition page at Adobe.com. You will be required to register an account with Adobe’s website before being able to access the download link. The trial version will expire after 30 days.
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Download a demo of Pro Tools 8 at Free-Loops.com. Click on the “Download Pro Tools 8″ links for either the PC or Mac. Pro Tools must be used in conjunction with an M-Audio external audio interface device. The demo will not allow you to access certain features and limit the ability to save projects.
Furnishing a recording studio is a very expensive venture. Regardless of your budget, you can furnish a recording studio with relative ease. With the right equipment, your actual studio environment will not matter. Focus on the right microphones, the right software and the right headphones, and you are going to be just fine. As your studio gains a following, you will be able to upgrade your equipment, and before you know it, you’ll have a top of the line studio. Read on to learn how to make a low budget recording studio.
- Make sure your computer is up to date. An example of what works well is: 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 320GB HD, 52x/20x CD/DVD burner. As long as you have sufficient RAM and storage space to run the programs you’ll need, you’ll be fine. Upgrades to RAM won’t hurt of course.
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Get your music creation software. Look for a music creation software like FL Studio. This will ensure that you can make quality music. FL Studio has products ranging in price from $49 to $299, and has lifetime free updates. There’s a fully functional trial version, (except you cannot save your projects) if you want to give it a try.
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Get your music editing software. Adobe Audition is an excellent program with plenty of features, and it can be used as a professional studio in place of mixing boards and equipment. Priced at around $350, this makes it a good investment, but maybe unattainable for some. If this is the case, look for Audacity, a free sound editor. Its features are tremendously reduced, and therefore, this should be used only if necessary. You’ll find something to fit your budget and needs, if you look well enough.
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Obtain your microphone. You’ll need a high quality, noise canceling microphone to help the acoustics and background noise in the room you record in. M-Audio provides several economical options for this. See the Reference section for links. The Producer mic for $100 is a great value.
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Obtain your headphones. You’ll need good quality headphones to go with your microphone and computer speakers (in the next step). Good headphones can be purchased for $9.99 to $299.00 depending on your budget. You can even go wireless if you want.
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Step 6
Obtain your computer speakers. High quality speakers are important for any studio. Bose offers an excellent set of computer speakers for around $89. Of course, there are cheaper options available if need be.
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This step is optional if you can afford it, or if you need to connect instruments to your computer to record your music. You’ll need a high quality interface. You can check out M-Audio for these too, and expect to spend $100 to $250 depending on what your budget allows.
To get a good crisp professional sounding audio recording, you must remove the background noise. This noise can come from electric lights, heating and air conditioning units or any other ambient sound. Most audio software will feature a facility for removing this noise without interfering with the quality of the actual recording.
Removing noise
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Highlight a silent portion of the audio. This image shows a part of the recording that should be silent, which should be shown with a straight horizontal line. Use your cursor to highlight a portion of silence.
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Get a profile. Select Effects > Noise Reduction > Noise Reduction. Click the button labeled: Get Profile from Selection. This tells the audio software which noise should be removed from the entire recording. Your resulting screen should look like this image.
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Click the Close button. Be careful not to click the OK button at this point because you have only gotten the profile and you need to run that profile on the entire recording.
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Highlight the entire audio recording. You will now remove all of the ambient noise. Select Effects > Noise Reduction > Noise Reduction, and then click OK. All of the silent areas within the recording should show a straight line. This means you have removed all of the ambient noise.
Music loops are sections of a song that repeat for a certain length of time. Many music producers create loops of instrumental pieces or take loops from a section of a recorded song and use it to make a new piece of music. This is called sampling. With the right tools and a lot of patience you can take any song or any section of a song and create a loop with it.
- Open the music editing software and load into it the song you want to use for a loop. There are a number of programs you can use, including Audacity and Adobe Audition. Audacity is a free program; Adobe Audition is not.
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Left click on the spot where you want your loop to begin. Hold and drag the cursor over the section to where you want the loop to end.
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Right click on the highlighted part of the file and click “Copy.” After you have copied the highlighted section, close the original file without saving it.
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Open a new file in the music editing software and paste in the selection you have copied.
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Listen to the loop and make sure it runs smoothly from start to finish. If there is excess noise or music parts you don’t want in the loop, highlight that portion and press “Delete.” Once you have the loop the way you want it, it in your “My Music” folder.
Talk radio popularity is at an all-time high and podcasts of niche-based programs are popping up every day on the Internet. Still, terrestrial radio stations have the longevity and instant audience that podcasts can’t touch. To secure a place behind the microphone takes time, talent, a willingness to take little to mediocre pay and a demo that catches a program director’s ear.
- Write a script. Yes, a demo can be scripted. However, don’t just read right off of the script like a robot. It’s there so you have a general idea of what you’re going to talk about. Use it primarily as a guideline. Personality is what sells and the program directors will be listening for that.
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Open your DAW or audio editor if you’re doing voice only. Check the levels to make sure the microphone isn’t too loud or soft. The environment should be quiet and a condenser microphone should be used with a foam shield to lesson plosive sounds that words that begin with P or B tend to make. They have better response and overall sound for on air-performance than dynamic microphones, which are used primarily for live settings and instrument miking.
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Record the audio. Don’t worry if you make a mistake. Just keep going. Record about 15 minutes, then review the recording. You can use small musical clips or sound effects for segues but make them brief.
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Cut and paste the best sections into a new file in the audio editor. Edit out the mistakes that you made and other incidentals like loud breaths and background noise. Save the file and burn it onto a CD. Label the CD neatly with a marker and slip it into a CD sleeve, which should also be labeled.
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Step 5
Write an introductory letter and include your resume, preferably on personalized letterhead with a business card. Not only does this leave a good first impression, it will present yourself as a professional taking the audition seriously.
Originally created by Syntrillium and marketed as Cool Edit Pro, Audition is now developed by Adobe Systems. The program allows users to perform a wide range of audio creation and editing tasks, such as recording music, creating soundtracks for presentations or movies, mixing audio tracks and cleaning up sound files to improve quality or reduce background noise. Recording into Audition is a quick process; after you know where to look, getting started takes just a few clicks.
- Open Adobe Audition.
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Click the “Waveform” icon, located at the top-left corner of the Audition screen. If you use a newer version of the program, click the “Edit” button, located near the center of the toolbar that sits directly below the top menu bar.
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Click the “Record” button, located within the playback controls panel and represented by a red circle.
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Select your desired sample rate, channel setting and resolution. Click “OK” to confirm your choices and begin recording.
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Click the “Stop” button, located within the playback controls panel and represented by a square, after you finish recording your audio. The content you just created can now be saved, edited or imported into another recording session.
Whether you’re an aspiring singer wanting to sound just right on a track or an aspiring sound engineer looking for a start, editing the vocals on an MP3 file can be a challenge. Fortunately, Adobe has introduced software that lets sound artists work their magic just as its Photoshop software has made Michaelangelos of us all. The Adobe Audition software allows you to create music, edit soundtracks, make radio spots and edit movie audio and is one of the preeminent all-in-one audio software. One of the biggest attractions of Adobe Audition is its ease of use, which makes the task of editing vocals on an MP3 a pleasure.
- Launch the Adobe Audition software.
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Open the recorded vocal MP3 file you want to edit.
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Click “File” menu in the upper left-hand corner of the Adobe Audition window, and then select the “Edit” option.
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Place the cursor on the background noise section, and then drag the cursor from the beginning to the end of the background noise section.
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Click the “Effects” menu option, then click “Restoration,” then click “Noise reduction” and then click “Noise reduction level.” Adjust the level according to the mic quality.
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Click the “Effects” menu option, scroll down to “Special” and then select “Mastering.” The mastering tools allow you to edit the vocals by adding effects to them. Choose the effects you want to add to achieve the end result you want.
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Click the “Effects” menu option, scroll down to “Amplitude” and then select “Dynamics Processing.” These tools not only allow you to add additional effects the MP3’s vocals but also to adjust the vocal volume.
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Compress the vocal track once you have added all the effects you want. Click the “Effects” menu option, scroll down to “Amplitude” and then select “Compression.” Choose the preset that offers the best sound for the MP3 file.
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Step 9
Save the changes to the file, and then quit the Adobe Audition program.