Subject:Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Posted by: Veggie_Dave

Date:2/17/2005 5:05:50 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: JohnnyRoy

Date:2/17/2005 3:40:14 PM

Dave, I have a Tascam 80-8 (1/2 inch 8-track tape) in my basement that was the last piece of recording gear I used before ACID so I know how difficult it is to get back into things. Technology moves so fast. (I totally missed the whole ADAT thing although friends of mine had studios that used them)

I asked the same question as you because I already had Vegas but I’m glad I bought ACID when I did. While Vegas can manipulate loops, ACID adds a bunch of musical capabilities that you won’t want to be without. ACID will match pitch and tempo of any loop you throw at it. Vegas will require you to adjust the pitch of each loop manually to match keys. ACID also has markers for dynamic tempo, key, and time signature changes on the fly. (i.e., if you need to lay down a I-IV-V you just lay down the I and drop key changes for the IV and V) The grid in ACID will always snap to a musical boundary (unless you override it) so it’s dead simple to line up loops with perfect accuracy. (not so in Vegas)

ACID also has VSTi support that Vegas doesn’t. Even if you don’t play a MIDI instruments, you may want to assign MIDI files to different VSTi instruments or use the MIDI Piano Roll Editor or the List Editor in step-time to bang out a bass loop or two. Nothing does loop based composition better than ACID and having loop libraries like Mick Fleetwood or Rudy Sarzo to jam with is just like jamming with other musicians in the studio (except the drummer isn’t tapping while you’re trying to think) ;-)

Sound Forge is not for “making” music. It’s more for audio editing with sample accuracy and for mastering your final ACID mix. You can use it as a 2-track tape recorder but its not a multi-track program.

Download the ACID Pro trial and give it a work-out. Come back here and ask questions. Have fun making music again.

~jr

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:2/19/2005 12:04:29 PM

In addition to what JohnnyRoy said, ACID is much more flexible if you need to change loops around. If I remember correctly, the latest version of Vegas supports ACIDized loops, but if you make any tempo changes in Vegas, the loops already added to the project remain at the tempo they were last added at.

If you want to change the tempo of those loops to match the current Vegas project's tempo, you have to delete them and re-add them. Kinda clunky compared to ACID.

ACID is not only for music but for general sound beds as well. (e.g., an ambient sound that loops, like a river gurgling or a bird chirping in the distance. It can also be used for certain "One-shot" type events, like a car crashing.)

Sound Forge can be used in a very creative manner as long as you feel like tinkering. You can play with the FM synthesis generator (Tools > Synthesis > FM; only available in the full version of Sound Forge) and create some really funky stuff.

Iacobus
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RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
Buy Instant ACID by JohnnyRoy and mD! Now!
mD at ACIDplanet

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: Veggie_Dave

Date:2/25/2005 9:30:15 AM

Thanks for the help guys.

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: dirtynbl

Date:3/4/2005 5:34:05 PM

i'd try out each demo.

i'm a long time believer of Avic, but 5 was the ultimate disappointment. Granted, the addition of VSTi's was glorious (granted their implementation is crappy), but other than that the program changed zero. If youo don't need VSTi's get Vegas 5 its much much more robust. Acid, frankly, feels like a toy compared to Vegas. If you want VSTi's, and it kills me to say this, get LIVE! or Nuendo or Cubase SX and save your self the crappiness of Acid 5.

Subject:RE: Vegas, ACID and Sound Forge

Reply by: Weevil

Date:3/4/2005 8:08:20 PM

...Whereas I think A5 was a really excellent upgrade. Packed full of practical and usable features for its target market. I was becoming increasingly disillusioned with Sony’s direction until its release. Without any doubt in my mind the best update to either Acid or Vegas in years.

And there has never ever been a piece of complex software ever released that has contained no bugs. Man...particularly one that has to interact with a multitude of third party hardware setups and third party software plug-ins, all trying to manipulate “huge amounts” of data, all at once, all in real time.

And there’s an update coming soon.