Subject:Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Posted by: Veggie_Dave

Date:2/17/2005 5:03:35 AM

As I've got to the point where I need more music for my DVDs than I can afford to pay for, I'm seriously considering getting Acid Pro. As an ex-sound engineer and session musician, who admitedly hasn't stepped into a studio since ADAT was the biggest and best thing to ever happen and Cubase was an Omega piece of software (somewhere between the late eighties and very early nineties), the actual process of creating music shouldn't be a problem

My question is, as Vegas has such amazing audio abilities, is Acid Pro worth getting? I know it doesn't have the ability for multi-track input, but this isn't a problem as there'll be little, if any, live recording anyway. However, I do need to be able to not have to rely completely on loops created by third-parties - for example, I need to be able to create new bass lines etc., but it must be purely by electronic means as an accident many years ago left my left hand parcialy paralysed (which is why I'm no longer a session musician)

So, is ACID the way to go or is Sound Forge the answer?

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:2/17/2005 6:14:25 AM

I would say Acid is the way to go, but I think you should be asking more on the lines of "Acid or Vegas?". It sounds like you already have Vegas? Sound Forge is strictly a stereo editor, it does not have mutitracking capabilities like an Adat. Think of Forge as a Dat recorder, where you can edit and master the contents of what's on the DAT tape after it's recorded. Acid is more of a preproduction tool where you can arrange loops and midi sequencing together as well as record one track while playing those other parts you've previously arranged.

To further answer your questions,unfortunately I have to ask more questions.

1. Are you going to include midi sequencing as part of your music creation?
2. Do you want the ability to use virtual synths?(ie software keyboards that can be played by a midi controler)
3. Do you want to be able to punch-in on a previously recorded track?
4. Do you see the ability of editing takes together as a big part of your workflow?

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: Veggie_Dave

Date:2/17/2005 4:27:13 PM

Good questions...

The perfect solution would be to require no outside components, the ability to sample if needed, and the ability to take single note samples to create multi-note progressions etc. that can be mixed with third-party loops

There's no need for punch-ins and, if at all possible, I really don't want to have to use a midi controller, either

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: Rednroll

Date:2/17/2005 5:57:09 PM

"the ability to take single note samples to create multi-note progressions etc. "

"I really don't want to have to use a midi controller, either"

Ok, these 2 statements kind of contradict each other. To do this what you're looking for is a dedicated "sampler". You can either look into getting a hardware sampler, or a software program sampler. The problem is in either case to do multi-note progressions you would need a midi controler keyboard to trigger the samples which would span the root note across the keyboard with it's corresponding pitch. You could do this in Acid without an external midi controler, but it would take you forever to put a musical phrase together. This would work just as it does in Vegas. You would have to record a sample note into Acid, then copy that note and change the pitch of every individual note along with the spacing to create a musical phrase. As you could imagine, this would be a very tedious process. One thing you could look into is to see if there is a VSTi sampler available. VSTi's are Virtual software synthesizers.....basically the same as having a hardware sound module, but still you would need a midi controler to trigger the notes. Acid does support VSTi's, where you can play loops arranged in Acid and play additional parts by triggering sounds in the VSTi with an external midi controler. This sounds like what you are trying to achieve to me. So you would have to get a software program like Acid and in addition purchase a VSTi sampler. You would then need a midi interface and an external keyboard midi controler to play the sounds loaded into the VSTi. Sorry, I don't know of any VSTi samplers, but I'm sure there's some available.

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: spiderlegs

Date:2/24/2005 4:11:45 PM

Not to undersell Sony, but you might also check out Reason. Version 3.0 is coming out soon.

I run Reason into my sequencing software package (Cubase SX) where I can record my analog tracks (guitar, vocals, whatever) and then master in SoundForge. The bulk of my system is software/digital recording, so I only need to go outside of the software for analog.

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: Veggie_Dave

Date:2/25/2005 9:31:12 AM

Thanks for the help everyone.

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: raventommy

Date:2/25/2005 5:37:35 PM

I also don't want to exlude Acid from the picture, as I use Pro 5 daily; but when I wanted to get more into multi-tracking, without having to spend hours upon hours digging through manuals or (very kind) forums like this one, I discovered the latest version of Cakewalk HomeStudio 2004 XL. This is no consumer program--it's Sonar 2.2; the guys at Sweatwater told me this when I told them how suprised I was to find out all that it had to offer. Just for starters: VST and VSTi wrapper is included; reads Acid files; virtually unlimited audio and midi; can make .wav files into Acid-type files...really, for @ $150, it's hands-down THE best program I've bought (next to Acid, that is).
And you want stability? Man, this program is rock solid. Take a look over at the Acid Forum, and you'll find a steady stream of people reporting crahses. Cakewalk really did an outstanding job in providing the Acid features I use daily, and incorporating multi-track functions as well. Hard to beat, IMHO.