Selecting ringtone in silence from standard clock alarm app

I am using the default clock application on a Realme 8 5G phone to set alarms. Today I remembered an important alarm I wanted to set. However, my companion was in bed and I did not want to wake my companion up. Hence, I did not want to have the ringtones play when I selected them. But I couldn't just leave the default ringtone because my companion doesn't like it. Thus I must select a different one so that it doesn't bother my companion when it goes off. My idea was to turn off the volume and select the ringtone by ringtone name (in silence). I might have them memorized by name or just want to wait till it goes off to hear it. My strategy was to turn the volume off. However, clicking on the ringtone still makes me hear it. Why doesn't Android silence the ringtones when I do this and select them, one at a time, in turn, from the ringtone radio controls? Is there a way to select the ringtones without making a noise? Thanks.