Subject:I play guitar in a goth-metal band,what can i do with acid?

Posted by: vegeta666

Date:7/24/2003 7:42:58 AM

Im a gutarist in a goth metal band here in ohio.I receently got ACID 4.0 and i have no clue what the hell im doing. Im am pretty interested in mixing vocals and tracks for us but i have no idea what im doing.

Also i want to make my own songs on here but I really dont know how,I have a pretty good drum machine that i use.Can i play songs from there in acid?What is the basic function of acid anyway.I bought it because one of the other bands around here suggested that i use it.I spent my whole check on it.(sorry im ranting).

so, can someone out there help me again? Thanks in advance.

Subject:RE: I play guitar in a goth-metal band,what can i do with acid?

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:7/24/2003 11:24:39 AM

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/tutorials/default.asp
Lots of tutorials for ACID.

Also, stop by and visit http://www.acidplanet.com/tools/8packs/ and download the latest 8pack. This is a complete ACID project and the 8 loops that it was made from. It's a great way to see what ACID does, how it works, and how others are making use of it.

Subject:RE: I play guitar in a goth-metal band,what can i do with acid?

Reply by: spesimen

Date:7/24/2003 1:48:21 PM

i use acid for tracking and mixing a lot of guitar music. it's really pretty much like any other multi-track with the added bonus of easy loop arrangement.

for doing guitar stuff, it's pretty straightforward to load up some beats in it, and then record takes, edit + loop 'em.. check out some of the tutorials like chienworks suggested to get started.

Subject:RE: I play guitar in a goth-metal band,what can i do with acid?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:7/26/2003 3:27:30 PM

Hi Vegeta,

In addition to what everyone's already said, there is a lot to learn when ACID's paradigm comes into play.

I play and record guitar too. (You can check out some material here and here.)

Some tips I can give off the top of my head:

-Be aware of the different track types. There are a total of three: Loop, Beatmapped and One-shot.

Loop and Beatmapped track types are able to be stretched to a different key or tempo in ACID. One-shots are left alone as they are. (You hear them as they are in any key or tempo.)

-When recording your guitar playing, remember to leave some breathing room. Set the cursor a measure or two before where you intend to actually record your guitar.

-When you're done recording a take, you can solo the take (by clicking the "!" in the track list), set the Loop Region (the element at the top of the timeline window that looks like a gray horizontal bar with a yellow handle on each end) over the take you want to keep and render or "bounce down" the results to a new track. (Use CTRL+M as the keyboard shortcut.)

This will delete any unwanted, extraneous data, in addition to "ACIDizing" the file if the bounce is short enough (which is 30 seconds by default).

There's a lot more, but this will hopefully get you started.

Above all, have patience. A great project doesn't happen in a day. It happens in two. ;o)

Welcome to the fold!

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: I play guitar in a goth-metal band,what can i do with acid?

Reply by: mmzz

Date:7/27/2003 6:02:24 PM

i only track with acid. i have yet to do any loop based songs. lots of tools to help make great songs. splitting a track and shifting can really help with bad timing or goof ups. acid blows away any digital 4-8-16-24 etc track that is made by tascam or whoever. (except for portability but that can be cured with a laptop.) try finding free or cheap effects to hook up to a 4track. better yet try getting tascam to upgrade your machine when a newer model comes out. just play around alot, read how people get good recordings (in studios as well as acid) and dont be afraid to ask questions. i have recorded tons of songs that sound as good as anything being released by and record lable.

my trick, record at home and take the tracks to a $50+ (or any med-high grade studio. the $50 and under little guys are better for local band tracking in my experience and can rarely get great mixes) an hour studio and mix it down. (and redo vox if needed).

~mz

Subject:RE: I play guitar in a goth-metal band,what can i do with acid?

Reply by: Jacose

Date:7/27/2003 6:47:57 PM

i have used Acid for some songs,

http://www.sectionz.com/detail.asp?rtype=mp3&szid=3712

"sungreen"

http://www.sectionz.com/detail.asp?rtype=mp3&szid=4289

"beautiful day(s)"

http://www.sectionz.com/detail.asp?rtype=mp3&szid=4752

"salenaiise girl"


none of these are goth rock.

but

you can definetly use Acid as a multitracker.

I wish there were someway just to have a track that can have more than one wav file in it, but even so, with bus tracks and envelopes, you can really do alot!

Subject:RE: I play guitar in a goth-metal band,what can i do with acid?

Reply by: Spy

Date:7/29/2003 3:51:21 AM

Greetings,

Just to add to what everyone else has said, allow me to point out that Acid is not a multitracker (you need Vegas or similar for that), i.e. it will not record more than one track at a time. Also, the actual number of tracks you can have in any one project will depend on how powerful your computer is (and how much RAM and hard disk space you have, etc.)

You didn't state whether you have any other equipment (apart from your drum machine) for your intended task. I'm presuming you have a mic (or some mics) and a guitar (or some guitars) but do you have a mixing desk (live and/or studio)? What audio interface (soundcard) do you have? The reason I ask these questions is that the only way you can ensure that what you play is what you record is to use good quality pres and a good quality interface (ASIO, up to 24-bit wordlength and up to 48KHz sampling rate as a minimum).

If any of what I've just said (written) is confusing you, you could try getting a book on digital recordings or home/project studios for beginners. Alternatively, spend time with one of the people you know that already uses Acid and see how their set-up works.

HTH





One Love, Spy!