How To Make A Ringtone On Garageband: Full Step-By-Step Guide

As the development of technology rises, one might take for granted access to the technological privileges we have today. At the starting stages of the mobile phone, a bunch of difficulties is encountered by its users, and one of them is the accessibility of ringtones.

Not only is it hard to find, but ring tones also cost money back then. The convenience of downloading the song you want, editing and setting your ringtones have never been more easy.

Luckily with the wonders of modern technology, it’s much easier for everyone to have access to ringtones and even make one for themselves and that’s what we’re going to show you today. We are going to guide you on how to set and make your own ringtone in just a few clicks with the help of the app Garageband.

garageband ringtone

How to Make a Ringtone using Garageband

Before we start the tutorial, we should know what is Garageband first. Garageband is an audio maker and editing software that is compatible with macOS, iPadOS, and iOS making it a very flexible tool.

With that information, this is the list of steps you need to follow to start making your own ringtones:

  • Step 1. Download Garageband on your Mac or iPhone.      
  • Step 2. Tap the (+) button on the upper right part of the screen or the “Create Song” button.
  • Step 3. Go to tracks and then find “Audio Recorder” and select “Voice”.
  • Step 4. After this, you’ll be inside the timeline or workplace of the application. Turn off the metronome icon found on the upper part of the screen, beside the red play button. This will turn off the ticking sound on the audio.
  • Step 5. Then, select the ” Loop” symbol on the upper right side of the screen. After the window opens, you can now choose the song you want either from Apple Loops, Files, or Music. If your song is saved on iTunes, you should choose Music, if it’s on your device’s file you should choose Files and if it’s on Apple Loops you should choose Apple Loops.
  • Step 6. Drag your chosen song to the track timeline/workspace.
  • Step 7. Tap the (+) button found on the right side of the screen and set the duration to 30 seconds. For the file to save as your ringtone, the file should be only 30 seconds or less.
  • Step 8. Start trimming the desired section by dragging either side of the track.
  • Note that you should choose the section of the music you want since the app will automatically choose the first 30 seconds of the song if you didn’t.
  • Step 9. After that, you should exit the timeline and go back to your tracklist, hold the icon of your chosen ringtone, which is automatically named “My Song”.
  • Step 10. A selection window will appear with the options.  Select the “Share” and then click on the “Ringtones” option.
  • Step 11. Another window will appear where you can write your desired file name and finally, you can now export your track.

Expert Tip: And with your track saved, you can now easily use it to be your ringtone. With just a few steps and a couple of minutes, setting your ringtone has never been easier.y.

But that’s just the start, with Garageband you can use your Mac device to transfer your ringtone to your iPhone, with or without your selected track being saved to iTunes. For that process here are the steps:

Garageband Ringtone through iTunes music:

Close up of an itunes logo on an iPhone
Close up of an itunes logo on an iPhone.
  • Step 1.  You need to install the Garageband app both on your Mac and iPhone devices. Make sure that your devices are both synced to iTunes. 
  • Step 2. Open your Garageband on your desktop, do the same ringtone process as stated above.
  • Step 3.  Go to the toolbar option, click on “Share” and tap on the “Song on iTunes” option then export it.
  • Step 4. After that, open the Garageband app on your iPhone.
  • Step 5. Select the (+) button or “Create Song”.
  • Step 6. Go to tracks and find the keyboard option.
  • Step 7. After that, you will be transferred to a window and greeted by several piano keys on the screen. Click on the third button on the upper left side of the screen that resembles white rectangles.
  • Step 8. Once you entered the workplace, turn off the metronome button beside the red play button.
  • Step 9. Then, select the loop button located on the upper right side of the screen.
  • Step 10. An options window will open, choose ” Music” beside “Apple Loops” and “Files”.
  • Step 11. Once you’re under the file tab, click on either the song or artist option.
  • Step 12. Find the file name of your desired track, hold it and drag it on the workplace.
  • Step 13. You can now choose the part of the song that you wanted to be your very own ringtone. It should be set to 30 seconds or less.
  • Step 14. Exit the workplace then, press hold on the “My Song” file and click the share option.
  • Step 15. Click the “Ringtone” button. A window will appear where you can set the file name of your track.
  • Step 16. After setting the file name of your track you can now export the file and use your new ringtone.

how to transfer your Garageband file to your iPhone

how to transfer your Garageband file to your iPhone

But having your ring tone through iTunes is not the only way you can transfer the file from your computer to your iPhone. With the modern convenience, through AirDrop, you can now easily transfer your track file to your iPhone without the use of iTunes. Here are the steps on how to transfer your Garageband file to your iPhone:

  • 1. Open the Garageband software on your Mac. After that, you can create your ring tone as stated in the process above but don’t save the file as a “Ringtone”.
  • 2. Go to the options tab and save the track as a ” Project”. Then, save the song as a Garageband file and click “Export”
  • 3. Then, AirDrop the file to your iPhone.
  • 4. After the file is on your iPhone’s Garageband app, you can hold press onto the file name.
  • 5. The option tabs will open, then you can tap on the “Share” option and export it as a ringtone.
  • 6. Put your desired file name and then click export.

With that, you can now easily make and set your very own ringtones. It’s not only easy, but it’s also very convenient.

Expert Tip: You can choose any type of audio file from any iPhone and Mac device and use it as your very own alarm bell. You can also customize and set different ringtones for every person on your contacts.

Let the convenience of modern technology help and guide you towards a lot of easy customization. With a few clicks of a button, a little determination, and a bit of your time, making your very own ring tone has never been easier.

Finally, the tutorial is finished.  If you have more questions, you can comment down below and we will be glad to help and guide you.

We hope that this tutorial helped you make your very own ring tone. We tried to make it to be easy to follow as possible and we would be glad to hear your thoughts on the process down below.

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About Jayden Buckley

Hi, my name is Jayden and I am author/editor for PlayTheTunes. I remember the first time I hopped on the drums, I was hooked. Music has played an enormous part of my life, and I'm honored I get to share my experiences with you!