Create ringtones for Nokia mobiles with Audacity

A quick and easy way of creating ringtones for Nokia mobiles can now be done with Audacity, and interesting audio editing software that allows users to record or import audio files and edit them with a wide range of effects. After you´re done with the editing, you can with Nokia PC Suite to copy the ringtones to your Nokia mobile.

Featuring a clean user-friendly interface, Audacity features all exclusive tools for the creation of ringtones. The first step is to import the song you want to convert into a ringtone by clicking ‘File>>‘Import’>>‘Audio’.

Alternatively, you can record a sound straight from your microphone by hitting the REC button (a red circle button placed the menu bar). We can record any sound playing on our PC or by using our mic.

Whether we imported or recorded audio, now we must edit the file and wrap it up. To trim a segment, select it with your mouse and trim it by pressing the delete key. Now, select the audio segment you wish to save and add all the effects you wish until you get your desired results.

Loading ringtones to Nokia mobiles with Nokia PC Suite

While selecting the track and clicking on effect –found on the menu bar- we can find the most varied audio effects (change rhythm, equalization, reverb, etc). In this, we will apply the “Wahwah” effect, a very special effect when it comes to the creation of ringtones. As in all Audacity effect, this one will open a window displaying several options, but before we click “Accept” we can listen to the applied effect by clicking on “Preview”. If we are doubtful about the results, we can go on modifying the effect attributes until you give it your finishing touches.

The same procedure can be done with several audio segments at once, since Audacity enables you to work with multi-track so you can export them all together in a single MP3 file.

Click “File > Export > Accept” to choose de output/destination folder where we want to save the project –or ringtone. Now, we have to copy the ringtone to your mobile with Nokia PC Suite.

Once you ran Nokia PC Suite and connected your mobile to the PC, click the “File manager” icon. It will display a browser window with your disk drives as well as your Nokia mobile. Finally, drag the ringtone to your mobile so you can start enjoying your newly created ringtone in your mobile.

Editing audio files with Audacity is as easy as it gets

The great deal of software related to multimedia files gives you more possibilities to perform the most varied activities. Most of us know how to play audio files or even rip music CDs, but certainly not everyone know how edit either voice recordings or audio tracks.

This task can be extremely rewarding if we find the right application that enables us to easily manipulate audio tracks. All of these can be found in Audacity, an application that contains hundreds of useful features for audio editing and recording. Audacity supports several digital audio formats with support for 24 bit and 32 bit sample formats as well as 16 bit. Next, we will provide a small tour covering basic features and options.

Once we launch Audacity, we can see the toolbar on the upper side of the screen, the toolbar shows the control options, measurement, mixing and editing. The center of the screen is empty since this is where we are going to edit the projects. To start using Audacity, Click on “file > open” and choose a file to start editing it. After the program has successfully loaded the file, it will display the sound pattern which will be used to editing.

With Audacity you can cut, copy, paste, crop, mix files together, adjust sampling rate and bit depth, and so much more. Use great sound effects like echo, EQ, chorus, flange, reverse, and more. Covering Audacity basic functions, there is a small player for playing, rewinding and fast-forwarding tracks. We can also start a new project and use the record function. Right next to it, there are six options together, control tools to work with the mouse over the tracks. Among them we find: selection, surround (to vary the volume), image, zoom and multitool (to use several of these simultaneously).

To the left of the screen there is a bar to measure audio input and output. If we continue analyzing, we will find other basic functions such as cutting, copying and pasting. In this way, we can cut off, move and copy pieces of tracks. To the left there is a series of functions to undo or redo operations, as well as new buttons to use zoom. Above these two functions we see the volume control.

To mix two files, just import both of them into Audacity. They will appear in separate tracks, and will be mixed together when you press the Play button. You can use the Time Shift tool to move them around so that they start at different times, or use the other editing commands to alter either of the tracks.

With Audacity, you can also remove the vocals from a recording to make a Karaoke track. This is possible only for certain stereo tracks. When the vocals are exactly the same on both stereo channels, you can remove them by “subtracting” one channel from the other. This works for many studio recordings, where the vocal track is mixed exactly in the center. To do this in Audacity: First, import your stereo file into Audacity. Open the track menu (click the arrow next to the track title), and choose “Split Stereo Track.”. Now, select the lower track (the right channel) by clicking it in the area around the mute/solo buttons. Next, Choose “Invert” from the Effects menu and finally using the track menus, change each track to “Mono.”

You can combine two files into one longer file. Import both files into Audacity. To do so, select the second one by clicking on its label (the area around the mute/solo buttons). Now, Choose “Find Zero Crossings” from the Edit menu and choose “Cut” from the Edit menu. Next, place the cursor by clicking in the first track, after the end of the audio and finally choose “Paste” from the Edit menu.

Those were some of the features and functions included in Audacity. Now, it´s up to you to discover other advanced features that will allow you to experience a new level of in-depth audio editing.

Five programs to make the most of your music

There’s no doubt about it – music is a passion that moves millions of people all over the world. And now, thanks to the Internet, it’s possible to get access to an endless amount of music that would otherwise have been impossible to get hold of. For this reason, it’s essential to have a number of different programs that allow you to efficiently manage all of your music, edit it, play it, burn it to CDs, change its format, and even create it.

The applications that we’re going to look at here will let you do all of these things, along with some more things that you probably hadn’t even thought of. They are: Winamp, Mp3 Wma Converter, Nero Burning Rom, Audacity and Virtual DJ.

Winamp

To start with, you’re going to need a multimedia player that will let you listen to all the music that you have on your computer. Winamp is guaranteed to be able to play practically any audio or video file, and can do so whilst using few system resources. It offers support for most file formats and has a user-friendly and very easy-to-use interface.

Among its tools, Winamp has an equalizer, a “Library” into which files can be imported, a web browser, and more applications, all of which help to make this a really great program.

In a nutshell, the most important things about this player are how easy it is to use, its versatility, the fact that it allows the user to adapt it to their personal tastes, and the advantage it has over other players in that it can play a huge range of different formats.

Mp3 Wma Converter

Although Winamp has support for many file formats, the vast number of these that are currently in existence mean that it’s still essential to have a program like Mp3 Wma Converter. This application lets you change the format of your audio files, allowing you to enjoy listening to them on whatever player and device you like.

You can convert your audio files between the four most popular formats around: MP3, WMA, WAV and Ogg, as well as between many, more obscure ones. This application also stands out for its ease of use. With just a couple of clicks you can start the automatic conversion process. Among the various features offered by the application is the CD Ripper application, for ripping any audio CD.

Summing up then, thanks to its versatility, speed and ease of use, this is a very good choice for a file conversion program.

Nero Burning Rom

Another problem that you will surely have come across if you have a large amount of music stored on your computer, is that sooner or later the machine’s performance can start to suffer. For this reason, you need Nero Burning Rom, which allows you to create all sorts of CDs and DVDs to save your music away from the PC. It also comes with various extra utilities such as Nero Covers and Nero Tools.

An important feature of this program is its ability to record CDs even with defective sectors, allowing you to enjoy listening to your old CDs that have become a little bit worse for wear over the years. Another of its many features is the ability to record audio CDs directly from MP3 files. You can also create VCDs and SVCDs, album sleeves, compile statistics, and more.

Yet another characteristic is the ability to create slideshows that combine music with photos. The app can also convert several formats of audio files.

So here we have another example of a highly versatile program, providing you with various options for copying CDs and storing your favourite music.

Audacity

Audacity lets you edit your audio files, using simple Cut, Copy and Paste features. It also allows you to mix tracks and apply effects to recordings. Plus, with Audacity Free you can record sounds, play them back, and import and export WAV, AIFF and MP3 files.

Audacity also provides tools for more advanced users, such as an amplitude envelope editor, an adjustable spectrum mode, and a frequency-analysis window for audio analysis applications. With regards sound quality, it lets you alter it in different ways, including using the Bass Boost, wah wah, and noise remover effects. It also supports VST plug-in effects.

The fact that Audacity can be used by beginner and expert users alike makes it a very tempting option for all music fans, whether they simply want to learn how to edit audio or are looking for a more advanced set of tools.

Virtual DJ

Last but not least is Virtual DJ, which lets you live out your dream of being a real DJ and pull off mixes that are nearly up to scratch with those on your favourite records. It combines a simple interface with a wide range of advanced options, meaning that you’ll no longer need to gaze longingly at expensive professional consoles.

Simply load a song into the program and you can immediately start experimenting, changing the BPM, creating loops, scratching, applying effects, adjusting the sound, and much more.
Thanks to its simplicity, this is a great application for learning to make music at home.

Here we’ve presented a list of programs for doing a variety of things with your favourite music tracks. Now all that’s left to do is download them so that your PC is ready to take advantage of all they have to offer.

The organization has a special role as a main tool for those who want to work with multimedia contents. Audio edition software’s have been improved and simplified so that anyone can use them. Audacity is a good example of it.

Audacity

Internet gives us the possibility of accessing lots of software, between them stand out the ones that works with audio file. This way, there are no longer common software’s that only play songs, but those that enable the songs edition. These are very useful for example when trimming part of a song in order to set it as a ringtone in a mobile phone, or to cut and paste tracks for a presentation.

Classic software useful to edit audio is Audacity, a simple application that features all the basic functions of a sound editor like cutting, pasting, copying, undoing, etc. In addition to this, it offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies all its functions, since their components are functional organized so that users feel comfortable and able to manipulate the files easily.

At the top of Audacity we found the commands of the player with all the standard buttons that allow forward an audio track, rewind and stilling it. We can also locate the input and output volume, the reproduction speed, etc. In the middle of the window is where we will be able to edit the audio track we choose, and at the bottom we found the frequency and the position of the audio.

In addition to these audio edition operations, Audacity also offers some extra functions so that we can enhance the tracks we are working with. For example, the software has a series of sound effects that we can add to any edition work. We can also import parts of the audio easily, choosing the output format to use them later in different devices.

The main disadvantage that Audacity has is that in order to edit using all its functions, it is necessary to have an advanced knowledge. For those who do not have it, it would be very useful that it offers a special tutorial or manual where the most difficult functions were explained, so that any user can take advantage of it. Another point to discuss is related to audio edition functions that are not enable, though is possible to solve this problem by downloading the respective plug-inn.

Despite its disadvantages, we must say that this software is very complete. Audacity combines the standard functions of an editor that can be manage by any user easily, with other advance options that in case you can take advantage of them, can be very useful when editing audio files.