Did I make a mistake here? -ACID Product Family - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:Did I make a mistake here? Posted by: judono Date:6/30/2003 7:12:05 PM First off, I tried the search feature for my question but I guess I couldn't define my search in suitable words... So I just bought Acid Techno 3.0 about a few hours ago. It seems cool and all but I can't find what I would desparately need to create MY OWN music. It seems there's all kinds of loops to choose from but how do I create MY OWN loop from scratch? Or is it possible to EDIT an already made loop to your liking? (And I mean more than just changing the beat and pitch) I'm looking for something here that mimicks midi sequencing. I can't afford the REAL Acid program (about $200 i think?) so I went with this. But if I can't create MY OWN tracks, hopefully FRYE's will let me take this back. So : where do I create my OWN Tracks/Loops?
Subject:RE: Did I make a mistake here? Reply by: Dimentox Date:7/1/2003 1:58:15 AM Get acid music from best buy. 50 bucks comes with loops and an xtra loop cd (which i lost!!! ARGH)
Subject:RE: Did I make a mistake here? Reply by: dkistner Date:7/1/2003 7:06:53 AM My two cents: You don't need to mimic midi sequencing; you need to DO midi sequencing. Unless you're trying to record in your own audio that you are playing on an instrument. You don't need a giant expensive host to do it with, either. Somebody else here will have to tell you how to do this in Acid...if you even can. I've done very minor midi edits within Acid from an externally created midi file painted into a track by going through the midi editor, but it's not something I would want to have to do very often. You'll be happier creating/editing your midi files in something else. Oh, I should say right now that I have Acid Pro 4.0, and I don't know what's available in Pro that you do not have in Techno! But a lot of what I'm about to say will apply anyway. Here's what I use to get my own work into Acid: Harmony Assistant (the freebie version of Melody Assistant may do it for you, though; you'll have to compare), which is a very inexpensive/powerful scoring program that exports to midi files. Personally, I prefer to get the midi recorded to dry waves by routing HA's output through SoFo's Virtual Midi Router into Chainer (as standalone, outside of Acid)/VSTis (you'll find free ones at kvr to get you started). Only then do I bring the audio files into Acid for mixing and effects work. But others here may be routing and recording directly in Acid, and hopefully they'll provide you with some tips and caveats. For loop-making, you'll probably need an audio editor to be able to make sure your loop points are seamless; Sound Forge is recommended a lot for for that, because of the way it interfaces with Acid, but I don't have it. I use the trusty old Cool Edit 2000--with the multitrack plugin, although if you're mixing in Acid you don't need that. There may be other very cheap or free audio editors out there. It could be that even some of the mp3-playing software that you may already have contain simple audio editing functions that would do you in a pinch until you can do something else. And something else you can try: Take any loop you already have and apply effects to it. For example, I just tried the Izotope Spectron plugin to morph some existing Acid loops I already had, and I was very surprised at how different they sounded. Spectron is a costly plugin, though, for somebody who can't afford to buy Acid Pro 4, so you might also try some of the FX at kvr and elsewhere to see if the free ones will do what you want. There are tons of them. Search in the forums and you'll find various "roundup of the best"-type threads that will mention freebie VSTi and FX plugins you can get. It's costly to do even modest "hobby level" digital audio work. But if you are very inventive and are willing to do some research and go through the learning curves, you can find ways to do it very cheaply. Just be sure you have a good system backup before you go installing and trying out all the stuff out there, because some of it is not very well programmed and can really screw you up. You just have to have to strategy to recover quickly when you try something new. This is true of any software you download off the Internet!
Subject:RE: Did I make a mistake here? Reply by: merlyn60 Date:7/1/2003 8:04:28 AM As far as I know, its possible to both create your own loops AND edit already made loops to your liking in Acid Techno. However, as far as mimicing midi, the only possible way you can do that without actually have a midi sequencer is to record a note into Acid and create the pattern that you want by copying and pasting that note and adjusting the pitch of each note to your liking. I do this often with my Acid projects and its can be pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it. However, you need to have at least one synth (vst or outboard) that you can record into Acid so you can get a note to start out with. In addition, there are limitations to this method (i.e. not really being able to adjust the sound characteristics of the note because its not being generated by a synth in realtime), but with practice and some "know how" (i.e. knowing how to get a pattern of notes to sound the way you want plus the addition of effects), its is definately possible to get away with out having a dedicated Midi sequencer, although its not easy. Merlyn
Subject:RE: Did I make a mistake here? Reply by: judono Date:7/1/2003 10:48:22 AM excellent... thnx for the help and replies every1 !

Subject:Did I make a mistake here?

Posted by: judono

Date:6/30/2003 7:12:05 PM

First off, I tried the search feature for my question but I guess I couldn't define my search in suitable words...

So I just bought Acid Techno 3.0 about a few hours ago. It seems cool and all but I can't find what I would desparately need to create MY OWN music.

It seems there's all kinds of loops to choose from but how do I create MY OWN loop from scratch? Or is it possible to EDIT an already made loop to your liking? (And I mean more than just changing the beat and pitch) I'm looking for something here that mimicks midi sequencing.

I can't afford the REAL Acid program (about $200 i think?) so I went with this. But if I can't create MY OWN tracks, hopefully FRYE's will let me take this back.

So : where do I create my OWN Tracks/Loops?

Subject:RE: Did I make a mistake here?

Reply by: Dimentox

Date:7/1/2003 1:58:15 AM

Get acid music from best buy. 50 bucks comes with loops and an xtra loop cd (which i lost!!! ARGH)

Subject:RE: Did I make a mistake here?

Reply by: dkistner

Date:7/1/2003 7:06:53 AM

My two cents: You don't need to mimic midi sequencing; you need to DO midi sequencing. Unless you're trying to record in your own audio that you are playing on an instrument. You don't need a giant expensive host to do it with, either. Somebody else here will have to tell you how to do this in Acid...if you even can. I've done very minor midi edits within Acid from an externally created midi file painted into a track by going through the midi editor, but it's not something I would want to have to do very often. You'll be happier creating/editing your midi files in something else.

Oh, I should say right now that I have Acid Pro 4.0, and I don't know what's available in Pro that you do not have in Techno! But a lot of what I'm about to say will apply anyway.

Here's what I use to get my own work into Acid: Harmony Assistant (the freebie version of Melody Assistant may do it for you, though; you'll have to compare), which is a very inexpensive/powerful scoring program that exports to midi files. Personally, I prefer to get the midi recorded to dry waves by routing HA's output through SoFo's Virtual Midi Router into Chainer (as standalone, outside of Acid)/VSTis (you'll find free ones at kvr to get you started). Only then do I bring the audio files into Acid for mixing and effects work. But others here may be routing and recording directly in Acid, and hopefully they'll provide you with some tips and caveats.

For loop-making, you'll probably need an audio editor to be able to make sure your loop points are seamless; Sound Forge is recommended a lot for for that, because of the way it interfaces with Acid, but I don't have it. I use the trusty old Cool Edit 2000--with the multitrack plugin, although if you're mixing in Acid you don't need that. There may be other very cheap or free audio editors out there. It could be that even some of the mp3-playing software that you may already have contain simple audio editing functions that would do you in a pinch until you can do something else.

And something else you can try: Take any loop you already have and apply effects to it. For example, I just tried the Izotope Spectron plugin to morph some existing Acid loops I already had, and I was very surprised at how different they sounded. Spectron is a costly plugin, though, for somebody who can't afford to buy Acid Pro 4, so you might also try some of the FX at kvr and elsewhere to see if the free ones will do what you want. There are tons of them. Search in the forums and you'll find various "roundup of the best"-type threads that will mention freebie VSTi and FX plugins you can get.

It's costly to do even modest "hobby level" digital audio work. But if you are very inventive and are willing to do some research and go through the learning curves, you can find ways to do it very cheaply. Just be sure you have a good system backup before you go installing and trying out all the stuff out there, because some of it is not very well programmed and can really screw you up. You just have to have to strategy to recover quickly when you try something new. This is true of any software you download off the Internet!

Subject:RE: Did I make a mistake here?

Reply by: merlyn60

Date:7/1/2003 8:04:28 AM

As far as I know, its possible to both create your own loops AND edit already made loops to your liking in Acid Techno. However, as far as mimicing midi, the only possible way you can do that without actually have a midi sequencer is to record a note into Acid and create the pattern that you want by copying and pasting that note and adjusting the pitch of each note to your liking. I do this often with my Acid projects and its can be pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it. However, you need to have at least one synth (vst or outboard) that you can record into Acid so you can get a note to start out with. In addition, there are limitations to this method (i.e. not really being able to adjust the sound characteristics of the note because its not being generated by a synth in realtime), but with practice and some "know how" (i.e. knowing how to get a pattern of notes to sound the way you want plus the addition of effects), its is definately possible to get away with out having a dedicated Midi sequencer, although its not easy.

Merlyn

Subject:RE: Did I make a mistake here?

Reply by: judono

Date:7/1/2003 10:48:22 AM

excellent... thnx for the help and replies every1 !