If you feel like changing your ringtone as often as you change your clothes, that's not difficult. You may think it would be time-consuming and troublesome, but it's really very easy to turn your favorite songs into free ringtones. All you need is a phone that supports mp3 or MIDI files and computer software that can convert audio CDs into digital music.

If you have the old phone type that plays simple, monotonous ringtones, you'll have to buy the downloadable tone from a commercial source. But cell phone technology has changed rapidly in recent years, with phones evolving into multi-task devices that take photos, receive and send e-mail messages, and play mp3 music that you can upload as your ringtone.

You can have two choices for mp3 ringtones - you can buy them or you can create them yourself. First make sure your cell phone can play polyphonic tones, MIDI tones or mp3 songs. And if you're unfamiliar with these files or what your phone's capabilities are, you can search for information on your make and model on the Internet.

The source of the music you choose can be your own CD collection or songs you've downloaded from the web. If a song isn't mp3 format, there are software programs that can convert it - one example is the dBpowerAMP Music Converter. There are also software applications that can extract music directly from compact discs. Windows Media Player, MUsicmatch, Real Player and iTunes are some of the more popular software programs that download songs from online sites and organize them into a personal library.

Some programs like Audiograbber, Winamp and Cdex are designed for only one particular task, extracting songs from CDs and compressing them into mp3 format. But even if your phone can't play mp3 files, you can still use MIDI music as your ringtone. Programs like Anvil Studio and Mobile Music Polyphonic are two programs that create MIDI files.

To create your own custom ringtone, insert a music CD into your computer and then launch the program you've chosen to extract the songs from your CD. The program will ask you to choose from different recording options - mp3 is the preferred format as it has better compatibility with phones and audio players. Then simply copy the song from the computer to your phone by using the phone's memory card. If your phone doesn't have a memory card, other devices such as Bluetooth are helpful.