Ever been publicly embarrassed while your mobile phone rang incessantly and you fished for it for what seemed like ages, only to pull it out to realize that it wasn't yours?

From the plain Jane monotones, to the more upbeat polyphonic ring tones, the latest trend amongst users for mobile phone ring tones has been the more compatible formats: MP3, WAV, AVI, WMA, et al. But by far the MP3 which is short for MPEG1 Audio Layer 3, is the most popular for its easy compatibility. The MP3 is a digital audio encoding compression format that actually reduces the amount of file space required on drives, thereby making it easier to transfer files over the internet and through other transferring devices.

Creation of unique MP3 ring tones for the mobile phone requires the mobile phone to be compatible with the MP3 format, and equipped with ports for a USB cable to transfer the file or enabled with Infra – red, Bluetooth, or WAP to facilitate a wireless transfer.

Songs need to be edited first on the computer using sound editing softwares. Multiple websites offer free sound editing softwares that could be downloaded on to the user's computer for editing the song to the desired length. With these softwares it becomes easy to choose exactly the portion of the song desired as a ring tone, and throw in some extra effects as well.

Some softwares, at times require the download of other support applications which are also easily available on the same web site. On having downloaded all the requisites, and the software opened, the MP3 file that needs to be converted into a ring tone, needs to be opened within the software. It may be required to import the file within the software and change certain setups before one actually begins editing the song. It is also advisable to make a copy of the song and work on it rather than working on the original one. To start editing, one needs to browse through the softwares' tools to find the desired effects that could be added to the song clip. A particular part of the song that is desired as the ring tone needs to be highlighted for the effects to get rendered on to it. Working on the clip and experimenting with the myriad effects gives the creative opportunity to compose distinct ring tones. Having finished with the editing satisfactorily, the audio clip could then be exported as an MP3 format file to the desired location on the computer, before it is transferred to the mobile phone through a USB chord or a wireless device. With numerous websites hosting online articles and blog posts that provide a step by step guide to using the different sound editing softwares, editing and converting different format sound files to MP3 ring tone clips has become extremely simple. However, every software has its own features and file format issues which need to be familiarized with.

For the initiated, certain websites allow one to create ring tones using voice recording software. Name ring tones contain the name of the caller and can then be assigned to the appropriate contact in the address book, thereby actually announcing the name of the caller in the desired manner.

Ring tone DJ's are the next most talked about thing on the music circuit with numerous websites encouraging users to turn their interests into a profession and teaching them how to do it. Users can indulge in composing ring tones for free by mixing the desired different MP3 tracks to create a totally different track by itself. This undoubtedly proves to be a more popular method because of the extra creative freedom to mix the tracks, and not having to download any softwares and support applications.