It’s easy…

1. Make a short MP3 file by ’snipping’ out the section that you want to use as your ringtone. I use an old copy of TotalRecorder
2. Convert the short MP3 to to AAC. You can do this in iTunes if you set your Preferences | General | Import Settings to AAC Encoder, add the short MP3 to your iTunes library, and then right-click on the MP3 and select Convert to AAC
3. Use Get Info to find the .m4a file that iTunes creates (it puts them in silly places) and change the extension from .m4a to .m4r
4. Copy the .m4r file into /Library/Ringtones on your iPhone using ssh/scp.
5. If it’s not loud enough, you can use mpTrim to pump up the volume of the MP3 a bit and then re-encode, etc…

I found these basic instructions very helpful in figuring this out.

Using iTunes to convert to AAC is a bit of a pain — does anyone know of a good standalone MP3->AAC converter?

Update: notes here on how to do custom SMS tones and such…

I’ve only just now learned that one of my favorite Motorhead songs, “Emergency,” with the chorus of “nine nine nine Emergency” must be a reference to the UK’s emergency telephone number. There’s another song of the same name by British pop-punk group 999…

I think I just figured out what happened to Pearl Jam. After their career fell flat in the US, they realized that since the Italians love cheesy pop rock, their best strategy was simply to learn Italian and attempt to become the next Zucchero. Unfortunately for us the void they had occupied was quickly filled by whatshisname, Dan Robinson? Right, Dave Matthews. And what a void it is. I can’t wait for him to learn Italian too. Please.

…but it’s darn useful. “iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city.” And it is. And it works! Instantly! Amazing! There are a couple of other tools out there that I’ve come across recently, like TourFilter and SonicLiving, but iConcertCal is integrates directly with iTunes and presents matching shows in simple calendar format… it rocks!

I never did like James Brown. I just really do not want to hear “Get on up” on more ^*@#% time! I never liked The Who or The Doors either. Don’t you people ever get bored of hearing the *same damn song, over and over*? Basta!

I have a thing about covers — that is, cover versions of songs. I guess I like to hear someone else’s interpretation of another’s work. Here’s a few of my favorites – I’ll update this from time to time.

I needed a little Donnas fix this morning, and got thru ATRnRM when I landed on something I must have downloaded and never listened to: The Donnas playing _Keep On Loving You_ by REO Speedwagon, from the Drive Me Crazy soundtrack. Awesome!

Update: I found a video of The Donnas playing Shot Down In Flames on the Atlantic Records message boards – there’s some other good stuff there too.

Another cool cover: The Smashing Pumpkins playing the Cars’ You’re All I’ve Got Tonight — a classic in its own right — on Bullet with Butterfly Wings.

One of my favorite bands is X. One of my favorite songs of theirs is The Have Nots, where they reel off a whole string of names of bars, real and parhaps imaginary. The one that’s always stuck out to me is the Zircon Lounge, not sure why, but I like the name. One day a few years ago I called 411 and asked for the listing here in San Francisco, and strangely enough there was a listing. I’d certainly never heard of a place here in town by that name. I rang the number and they answered “Place Pigalle”, which is a bar down on Hayes. That night I went down there and asked the ‘tender about the Zircon Lounge, and she said that the owner had almost used that name, but decided at the last minute to go with Place Pigalle instead. The only other evidence of this I can find is their email address, which I found posted here. Funny little story. The question is: is Place Pigalle somehow the Zircon Lounge that Exene was talking about?

_Sheena Is A Punk Rocker_ (Ramones) is one of my all-time favorite songs. I just found a cover by Hüsker Dü, on Live At the Ritz – very nice, although in this case I prefer the original. Any other covers of this song out there?