The Art of Acid -ACID Product Family - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:The Art of Acid Posted by: Snappy Date:8/1/2004 2:52:03 PM I am ever-perplexed by these "Who uses Acid?", "What is Acid good for?" topics. I have been using it for the last 3-4 years as my main (pretty much ONLY) axe! ACID OWNS LOOP-BASED MUSIC! (though occasionally competitors and inspired products do appear that merit checking out...) It lets you create songs, line beats up, and just CREATE in such an effortless, intuitive fashion (comparatively speaking), that I can't see how anyone could not immediately see the value of this program. I come from a history of hardware samplers, sequencers, MIDI etc. -- trimming loops/samples by hand, matching tempos manually, playing them into a sequencer on a keyboard, etc. As strange as it sounds, at this point, I can't even IMAGINE going back to that! It would be like going back to the dark ages! Acid cuts away soooo much technical BS -- it allows me to be EASILY 10 times more productive than the old ways... (and that's a conservative estimate!) (Unless you are one of the lucky few who has a full-time engineer around to do all your pre-production/low-level programming for you! ;-) ) In the end, I can get 'perfectionist' results that I wouldn't even have had the patience to DO on hardware gear... I'm not even going to get into all the unique ways that Acid allows me to be creative by exploiting its various features in unexpected ways. Not because I don't have the time, but because those are my personal, secret-weapon techniques. The various ways in which Acid lets me create SONGS (not just cool noises) that wouldn't have happened any other way! Maybe a strong background in 'the old ways' is required before one can really appreciate the beauty of a thing like Acid. Those of you raised on one-button beatboxes, I can see how maybe this isn't so amazing to you, because you take a lot of things for granted. Those of you who are used to more 'conventional' means of creating electronic music, though, I'm sure you see the advantage Acid brings to the mix. Bottom line -- if you can't figure out what it's for, or what's cool about it, then just don't strain your brain... maybe creativity isn't really your strong suit... (Try DJ'ing!) -------------- All this having been said, Acid has PLENTY of room for things to be improved. (And I do mean PLENTY! I have a list a mile long). But still, it is a whole new breed of animal -- like the first drum machine, or the first sampler. It's a new frontier! Trials and tribulations are to be expected, I guess...
Subject:RE: The Art of Acid Reply by: yup Date:8/1/2004 5:46:21 PM Well put. Acid is fantastic. I agree. PC recording in general is amazing. I used to use a tascam 424 4 track and had to bounce tracks to create any kind of composition. It was a feat. And then all the expensive hardware I had to buy as well, signal processors, compressors, amplifiers, drum machine, etc. It was quit bewildering and costly. It definately helps to have had some "old school" hours put into this kind of work to appreciate what not only acid can do, but computers in general can do. Its good to be alive in 2004. I definately look forward to whats next.
Subject:RE: The Art of Acid Reply by: MacMoney Date:8/1/2004 8:34:13 PM Guy's I think we are going to see some cool stuff from Acid 5. George Ware
Subject:RE: The Art of Acid Reply by: SHTUNOT Date:8/1/2004 9:53:29 PM What he said! ;) Ed.
Subject:RE: The Art of Acid Reply by: Iacobus Date:8/2/2004 11:30:01 AM Well put, Snappy. I do remember the early days of PC-based recording, which was pretty much MIDI-centric for the most part. (I never want to go back. Being a guitarist sucked back then.) Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page Guitars 4 Kids
Subject:RE: The Art of Acid Reply by: MyST Date:8/2/2004 1:10:22 PM What SHTUNOT said! Mario
Subject:RE: The Art of Acid Reply by: DKeenum Date:8/2/2004 5:47:02 PM I like life on ACID!

I am ever-perplexed by these "Who uses Acid?", "What is Acid good for?" topics.

I have been using it for the last 3-4 years as my main (pretty much ONLY) axe!

ACID *OWNS* LOOP-BASED MUSIC!

(though occasionally competitors and inspired products do appear that merit checking out...)

It lets you create songs, line beats up, and just CREATE in such an effortless, intuitive fashion (comparatively speaking), that I can't see how anyone could not immediately see the value of this program.

I come from a history of hardware samplers, sequencers, MIDI etc. -- trimming loops/samples by hand, matching tempos manually, playing them into a sequencer on a keyboard, etc. As strange as it sounds, at this point, I can't even IMAGINE going back to that! It would be like going back to the dark ages! Acid cuts away soooo much technical BS -- it allows me to be EASILY 10 times more productive than the old ways... (and that's a conservative estimate!) (Unless you are one of the lucky few who has a full-time engineer around to do all your pre-production/low-level programming for you! ;-) ) In the end, I can get 'perfectionist' results that I wouldn't even have had the patience to DO on hardware gear...

I'm not even going to get into all the unique ways that Acid allows me to be creative by exploiting its various features in unexpected ways. Not because I don't have the time, but because those are my personal, secret-weapon techniques. The various ways in which Acid lets me create SONGS (not just cool noises) that wouldn't have happened any other way!

Maybe a strong background in 'the old ways' is required before one can really appreciate the beauty of a thing like Acid. Those of you raised on one-button beatboxes, I can see how maybe this isn't so amazing to you, because you take a lot of things for granted. Those of you who are used to more 'conventional' means of creating electronic music, though, I'm sure you see the advantage Acid brings to the mix.

Bottom line -- if you can't figure out what it's for, or what's cool about it, then just don't strain your brain... maybe creativity isn't really your strong suit... (Try DJ'ing!)

--------------

All this having been said, Acid has PLENTY of room for things to be improved. (And I do mean PLENTY! I have a list a mile long). But still, it is a whole new breed of animal -- like the first drum machine, or the first sampler. It's a new frontier! Trials and tribulations are to be expected, I guess...