I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question -ACID Product Family

Subject:I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question Posted by: JBoortz Date:9/30/2003 2:04:05 PM Can anyone help make this easier for me? A friend recently started using Sound Forge 6.0 (I think) to transfer my 4 track (cassette based) music demos over to CD. I have used the program and it does work well. My question involves loops. I usually use a standard drum machine to program a desired beat/tempo for my original songs. Then I layer on real bass and guitars, etc. I want to add drum loops to compliment the songs. Would I indeed need to purchase ACID to do this? Would I still need to dump my four track music into Sound Forge to take advantage of it's editing capabilities? My basic question is, how do I pick a loop and apply it to the tempo and style of my original tune or beat? The whole concept seems complicated, but I'm excited about the challenge. Please e-mail me direct with comments if you like, jeffboortz@hotmail.com Thanks, Jeff Boortz Houston, TX
Subject:RE: I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question Reply by: Waskel Date:9/30/2003 2:53:17 PM Challenges are great, aren't they, Jeff? If you want to use loops to add drums to your tracks, you don't have to buy Acid. You could spend weeks using expensive multi-tracking sequencer software to chop loops up into little pieces and painstakingly place copies end to end until your eyes bleed from the strain and your ears are no longer able to distinguish the difference between a bass drum and the sound your head makes when you hit it with your keyboard. At least, that's how I did it until I bought Acid. No, seriously, Acid would be the easiest and quickest way to add drums to your demos, if you want to use loops. As far as picking a loop and applying it, you still have to pick the loop, but Acid does the work of tempo matching (I assume that if you started with a drum machine, the tempo is consistent throughout the song). And if you want to get your tracks onto a computer for whatever reason (you have to do that to get them on CD anyway) Sound Forge is an excellent way to do that. Hope this helps (or at least doesn't cause more confusion) John.
Subject:RE: I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question Reply by: Iacobus Date:10/1/2003 12:57:03 PM As John noted (in a very humorous way, IMO), ACID will help you create loops a little better than Sound Forge, but definitely don't rule out the fact that Sound Forge has its own role with its digital audio editing capability. The full version of Sound Forge has the Loop Tuner, which lets you tweak a loop so that it doesn't glitch when it repeats. In fact, you may want to use both ACID and Sound Forge together. There are a couple of ways of going about it. You can create a loop from scratch from within Sound Forge and import it into ACID, for example. Note that should you go this route, remember to keep in mind the intended tempo and key so that you can effectively ACIDize properly. Use Sound Forge's ACID Loop Creation Tools for this purpose. I would also recommend working with your custom loops in ACID itself as the final step. ACID Pro has the ability to work with stretch markers, which will make your custom loops sound good at different tempos. Note that ACID Pro is the only version of ACID that has this capability. One more thing: Experiment. Find out how the mechanics work for the ACID Loop Creation Tools in Sound Forge, as lots of users get confused in this area. For example, the Edit Tempo tool is simply a monitoring tool; it does not change your sample you intend to make into a Loop in any way, but rather helps you gauge a particular sample. HTH, Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page
Subject:RE: I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question Reply by: Waskel Date:10/1/2003 7:49:12 PM Actually, I was referring to Acid as the best way to USE loops to add drums, etc... Whether you build them yourself or use loop libraries. Someday they'll improve the chopper, but till then SF is the best construction tool. John.

Subject:I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question

Posted by: JBoortz

Date:9/30/2003 2:04:05 PM

Can anyone help make this easier for me? A friend recently started using Sound Forge 6.0 (I think) to transfer my 4 track (cassette based) music demos over to CD. I have used the program and it does work well. My question involves loops. I usually use a standard drum machine to program a desired beat/tempo for my original songs. Then I layer on real bass and guitars, etc. I want to add drum loops to compliment the songs. Would I indeed need to purchase ACID to do this? Would I still need to dump my four track music into Sound Forge to take advantage of it's editing capabilities? My basic question is, how do I pick a loop and apply it to the tempo and style of my original tune or beat?

The whole concept seems complicated, but I'm excited about the challenge. Please e-mail me direct with comments if you like, jeffboortz@hotmail.com

Thanks,
Jeff Boortz
Houston, TX

Subject:RE: I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question

Reply by: Waskel

Date:9/30/2003 2:53:17 PM

Challenges are great, aren't they, Jeff?
If you want to use loops to add drums to your tracks, you don't have to buy Acid. You could spend weeks using expensive multi-tracking sequencer software to chop loops up into little pieces and painstakingly place copies end to end until your eyes bleed from the strain and your ears are no longer able to distinguish the difference between a bass drum and the sound your head makes when you hit it with your keyboard. At least, that's how I did it until I bought Acid.
No, seriously, Acid would be the easiest and quickest way to add drums to your demos, if you want to use loops. As far as picking a loop and applying it, you still have to pick the loop, but Acid does the work of tempo matching (I assume that if you started with a drum machine, the tempo is consistent throughout the song).
And if you want to get your tracks onto a computer for whatever reason (you have to do that to get them on CD anyway) Sound Forge is an excellent way to do that.

Hope this helps (or at least doesn't cause more confusion)

John.

Subject:RE: I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:10/1/2003 12:57:03 PM

As John noted (in a very humorous way, IMO), ACID will help you create loops a little better than Sound Forge, but definitely don't rule out the fact that Sound Forge has its own role with its digital audio editing capability. The full version of Sound Forge has the Loop Tuner, which lets you tweak a loop so that it doesn't glitch when it repeats.

In fact, you may want to use both ACID and Sound Forge together. There are a couple of ways of going about it. You can create a loop from scratch from within Sound Forge and import it into ACID, for example.

Note that should you go this route, remember to keep in mind the intended tempo and key so that you can effectively ACIDize properly. Use Sound Forge's ACID Loop Creation Tools for this purpose.

I would also recommend working with your custom loops in ACID itself as the final step. ACID Pro has the ability to work with stretch markers, which will make your custom loops sound good at different tempos. Note that ACID Pro is the only version of ACID that has this capability.

One more thing: Experiment. Find out how the mechanics work for the ACID Loop Creation Tools in Sound Forge, as lots of users get confused in this area. For example, the Edit Tempo tool is simply a monitoring tool; it does not change your sample you intend to make into a Loop in any way, but rather helps you gauge a particular sample.

HTH,
Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
mD's ACIDplanet Page

Subject:RE: I'm new! ACID with Sound Forge question

Reply by: Waskel

Date:10/1/2003 7:49:12 PM

Actually, I was referring to Acid as the best way to USE loops to add drums, etc... Whether you build them yourself or use loop libraries. Someday they'll improve the chopper, but till then SF is the best construction tool.

John.