andrewglicklich

Having your phone ring loudly in public can be embarrassing and annoying. Instead of immediately blaring at full volume, ringtones should crescendo/grow louder with time. When sitting in a class, movie, or any other large public place, if your phone incrementally got louder, you’d have an opportunity to silence the call before it becomes a real disturbance.

To make a crescendoing ringtone for your iPhone on a Mac, simply drag the song/sound you are using from iTunes onto your desktop, then into Garage Band. Click the small downward pointing arrow on the right-hand pannel. Using the “track volume” automations, drag a ramp-like volume level starting at mute growing to full volume (like the photo included in the gallery). The steepness of the line indicates how fast the volume will increase. Make sure the audio clip is under 30 seconds (you can trim the clip by clicking the whole song, placing the red play-line where you want the song to start or end and then, Edit–>”Split”). Finally, from the menu bar, click “Share” and “Send Ringtone to iTunes.” Sync up your iPhone and you’re good to go.

Now the next time you’re sitting in class and you forget to switch your phone to vibrate, you will have a bit of a warning before the full volume of the ringtone interrupts your professor’s super interesting discussion.