How to make a custom ring-tone "punch out?"

Okay, "I've got an iPhone, just like everybody else does," but I don't want to have to grab for my pocket to see if it's my phone that's ringing. I don't want my phone to sound like anybody else's does.

 

"Hey, I've got Logic Pro X! I can do this!" ...

 

Cranking out a custom ring-tone is of course quite easy, even when you're not feeling particularly creative and just layer a few Apple Loops. But I've noticed that my creations seem to lack a certain important piece of sizzle: that very distinctive top-line that you can always hear in a stock ring-tone even when the phone's in your pocket and you don't hear the rest of it. (And, I also observe that you often don't hear "the rest of it." Which leads me to wonder if that's done on-purpose.)

 

I don't want to have to "listen more closely than anyone else has to," in order to know that my phone is ringing.

 

So, what might I need to do to my ring-tone to make sure that it is always clearly discernible, even when muffled or in noisy conditions?

 

(I freely admit that so-far I basically stacked a few percussion Loops in a default Project and basically just sent that to the phone, without any particular effort toward mixing, compression, and so on. In other words, I really haven't "tried" to do better yet, and I'd like to "try" to do better now.)

Could you perhaps share an example of the ringtone you've produced? I suppose it's a matter of choosing the right instruments, play them in the right octave, and mix them with the right EQ in regard to the phone speaker's capability.

i've made ringtones from lots of mp3s (from grimes to stravinsky), and, in logic, made sounds (new text, for example). not sure what you're doing, but if it's mixed loud enough, and sounds clear on your macbook pro, you should be fine...

Remove low end frequencies, they'll eat up the headroom of the small speaker. I recommend to stay in the frequency range 500 - 10000 Hz, that's way enough. This way you can mix and master louder, because there is no "unnecessary" energy in the lower and higher spectrum. Maybe pronounce the higher mid frequencies a little, where human ears are more sensible.

PS: And don't overdo it with huge arrangements and various instruments. The less the better in this case.

Sorry to take so long to get back on this. I'll try some EQ magic as you suggested to cut out the lows – but I'm wondering if there are any frequency ranges that I should augment in some way. Any particular thing that I should be checking – a particular number or meter-reading that I should be looking for – to be sure that it is "loud" enough?