how do I change alert sounds for calendar events in Mavericks?

~/Library/Calendars/UUID.calendar/LocalDefaultAlarms/EventAllDayAlarms.icsalarm

Change: ATTACH;VALUE=URI:Basso

To: ATTACH;VALUE=URI:[another sound from your Sounds folder]

Caveats: Best to open this file with Xcode; There is no guarantee that it will work, and a possibility that something will be broken; My setup doesn't have a sound attached to the other file in that folder (EventTimedAlarms.icsalarm), so this tweak may not work for all Calendar alarms; If you change the sound to a sound that has more than one word, I can't say how the space between those words should be treated if you add it to this file. I can't guarantee that this change, if it works at all, will stick through subsequent system updates. Good luck.

Really? This is how you have to do it in the 21st century? Really? Congratulations, Windows -- I mean, Mac.

robertcc wrote:

Really? This is how you have to do it in the 21st century? Really? Congratulations, Windows -- I mean, Mac.

Let's think about this.

OK...

Your way:

I say "your way" because I'm guessing you would like this action (Change Alert Sound, we'll call it) to be doable from a preference setting, say, in Calendar > Preferences > Alerts. How hard could that be? All we'd need to do is:

- Go to Calendar

- Press command-, or navigate to the Calendar menu in the menu bar, clicking once on the menu, then navigating down the menu to Preferences where we click again, and wait for the Preferences window to open

- In the Preferences window, we click on the Alerts tab to open it, then find the Change Alert Sound item, then its menu, click on that, navigate through the list of sounds to the sound we would prefer to Basso, select it, choose Save, and close the Preferences window. Done!

The other way:

- Select and copy the file name in my reply above

- Bring Finder to the front

- Press shift-command-G, then command-V, then return

- When the Finder window opens to the selected file, press command-O, select Basso in the line described above, delete it, type in the new alert sound name, press command-S then command-W, and done!

So:

Which way is actually harder? Easier? And more than that, which way can actually (hopefully) change the alert sound in Calendar?

Wow!!!

I was just trying to figure out how to change the default sound for the new iCal notifications. It would be nice, at the very least, if it would follow the alert sound that I use in the System Preferences.

Your sarcastic response to Robertcc is way offbase. Although we all appreciate you trying to help and I could make that change quite easily, the fact that you have to go into terminal mode to make a change to something like that which obviously should be changeable in preferences is a bit archaic. You yourself had remarked about all of the caveats, ie. "There is no guarantee it will work".

To top it off, the "Notifications Center Preferences" even mention "sounds" in the subtitle for the iCal but yet all you can do is turn it on/off. Seems like something is missing there.

Pedantic, maybe. Sarcastic no. And I don't see where anyone mentions a need to do anything in Terminal here, sorry.

Apple should monitor people like you. The average user never makes adjustments using XCode, they rely on the preference settings and adjustments the OS provides them.

Shame you turned an innocent comment into an opportunity to put someone down and glorify yourself for your knowledge of iCal code, and to what end?

Solutions and respoonses like yours are surely not the type that made Apple's reputation what it is today.

Think twice before you respond next time.

: Shocked!

Fortunately, I helped the person who was asking the question here in the first place. That was my aim, and the aim of the person who came to these boards asking for help. The rest of it makes no difference to me. Have a nice day.

There's a more reliable way that doesn't require Xcode:

In short: Simply replace "Basso.aiff" with a different sound -- which you've renamed "Basso.aiff." This will fool the system into playing the sound you want to hear.

If you already know how to do this, you don't need to read any further. That's it!

Otherwise...

Instructions:

- Go to System/Library/Sounds In that folder, you'll see "Basso.aiff."

- Now, unless you've previously done so, you'll need to grant yourself permission to modify the Sounds folder. This is very easy to do, but I feel obligated to write a detailed description -- with disclaimers -- for those who are unfamiliar with this.

(As you probably know, the System folders are locked for a reason. We will modify ONLY the Sounds folder, so this is safe.)

a. With the Sounds folder (not its contents) selected, choose File > Get Info.

b. In the Get Info window, click the lock, then enter your admin password.

c. Click the "+" to add yourself to the list of those with permission to modify this folder, then (to the right of your name) click the up/down-arrow icon to change your permissions to "Read & Write."

d. Finally, under the gear icon, select "Apply to enclosed items."

Summary: All you've done is tell your Mac to allow you to modify that one folder -- the Sounds folder.

- Now, open the Sounds folder, select "Basso.aiff" and duplicate it. That's now your SAFETY copy, and you can leave it in place. (It also serves as a reminder that you modified it.)

Hint: I also assign a label to the safety copy to catch my eye when revisiting the folder.

- Delete the original "Basso.aiff." (Remember -- you have a safety copy, so it's OK.)

- Determine which sound you'd like to use as your alert. (You can use the spacebar and arrow keys to audition the existing ones -- or you can supply another aiff sound from elsewhere.)

- If you've chosen one of the existing sounds, duplicate it, then rename the new COPY "Basso.aiff."

Hint: I also assign a label to the "fake" "Basso.aiff" -- again, just as a reminder, the next time I visit the folder, that I've modified it.

That's it! Enjoy your new alert sound!

I tried this route and there is no option to change sounds. It has to be easier than this. I read the other replies and they are just too complicated, HELP!!!!

Syncopator, thanks for your clever workaround. This has been frustrating me for a long time.

My pleasure. :-)

peachy, I'm sorry you're feeling frustrated.

My solution (the one marked in the green box) is the easiest way. It's not difficult — I just "over-explained" it for the benefit of users of all levels. So, perhaps it looks like it's time-consuming. But it really only takes 2 or 3 minutes.

Until someone writes a little application that automates this process (or until Apple simplifies it, which may or may not ever happen), this is the easiest way. Take a deep breath, follow the instructions, and you'll be good to go! 🙂

Im just here to read the comments. (insert photo of michael jackson eating popcorn)

Someone likes to study his thesaurus, doesn't he?!