Subject:Creating original loops - Iacobus HELP!!!

Posted by: ohmaya

Date:10/19/2005 10:15:50 PM

OK - been a user for years and still struggling with one basic premise in ACID 5.0...
I record a four beat, one measure long sustained note. I want it to be a loop that I can paint in to be a drone for, say, 4-8 measures. When I record the one measure, and chop to a new track or render it out, and the end of the measure is not a zero crossover point, the loops clicks at the looping point from measure to measure when I paint it in. Another situation that is similar...if I record audio where the note on beat 4 sustains slightly past the end of the measure (ex: reverb or delayed note) and I chop to a new track, the end of the note gets chopped and I lose the nice sustain of the last note when I paint the loop.
I have tried editing the recorded measure in Sound Forge as well as in the chopper. I even bought Iacobus' books for both Acid and Sound Forge hoping there would be a step-by-step tutorial on how to create your own loops, but no go. I am working on a lot of ambient soundscapes, and the drones are key to my sound. I just cant get it to go. Do I have to do one shots rather than loops? Or do I have to just record 16 or more bars to get the sustained sound? I know that cant be - there has to be a secret to this. How do I edit the loop so as not to lose the continuity of the sound when I paint the loops in?
Thanks!!!
Flo

Subject:RE: Creating original loops - Iacobus HELP!!!

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:10/20/2005 8:31:02 AM

If you want trailing reverbs then you must make them one-shots. It’s the only way. Take a look at Hark Loops Sustained Inversions. They did a really nice job on a collection of sustaining loops (actually one-shots) that you use by blending them on alternate tracks.

To make your sustained loops not click, you should use Sound Forge. Use Edit > Sample... and set the Sample type to Sustaining. Then select View > Loop Tuner (Ctrl+Alt+L) to get extremely accurate loop points that don’t click. Not only do you need to cross at zero but the wave must follow a smooth path across zero as well.

If that still doesn’t make it smooth enough, use Tools > Crossfade Loop... to blend the ends together. This is how you make loops for samplers. I use to use this to make loops for my Ensoniq EPS.

~jr

Subject:RE: Creating original loops - Iacobus HELP!!!

Reply by: ohmaya

Date:10/20/2005 1:21:02 PM

Blending one shots on alternate tracks - that did cross my mind as an option! Great thought!
When you say to use crossfade loops to smooth out the transition, are we doing that on the one track rather than on alternate tracks?
Thanks so much! Will try this tonight.
Will check out that collection of sustained inversions, too. Sounds like it could be interesting.
Flo

Subject:RE: Creating original loops - Iacobus HELP!!!

Reply by: ohmaya

Date:10/20/2005 1:23:28 PM

Another thought just crossed my mind...if I put the sustained loops on alternate tracks, could I then render the two tracks out to make one loop and not lose the tail end? Or should I just leave them as two separate tracks?
Flo

Subject:RE: Creating original loops - Iacobus HELP!!!

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:10/21/2005 6:40:14 AM

> When you say to use crossfade loops to smooth out the transition, are we doing that on the one track rather than on alternate tracks?

Sorry I wasn’t clearer in my instructions. Tools > Crossfade Loops is a Sound Forge command not ACID. I was giving you direction on how to do this in Sound Forge to permanently make the loops repeat without a click.

> if I put the sustained loops on alternate tracks, could I then render the two tracks out to make one loop and not lose the tail end? Or should I just leave them as two separate tracks?

I would leave them two separate tracks. This way you can edit them later if you like. Just group them together under a folder and collapse them and just think of them as one track.

~jr

Subject:RE: Creating original loops - Iacobus HELP!!!

Reply by: ohmaya

Date:10/21/2005 7:20:57 AM

Thanks, JR
AND you were right about the hook loops -good stuff!

Subject:RE: Creating original loops - Iacobus HELP!!!

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:10/22/2005 10:45:43 AM

Hi Flo,

Sorry I'm a bit late.

Adding to what JohnnyRoy mentioned, as an alternative, you could certainly make loops out of your drones. They'd just have to be more than an even number of beats. (Like 9 beats instead of 8.)

A lot of vocal loops, for example, are made in this manner due to the phrase starting on an upbeat or ending on a downbeat.

(When chopping to a new track, extend the Loop Region out a beat or two more than usual at the out point to capture that extra reverb tail.)

However, this would not make it easy to just paint the loop over and over, as the loop would eventually go off meter.

But if you just need a stab here or there instead of continuously looping, it would work fine. If you wanted a continuous layer of droning, you can layer them as JohnnyRoy mentioned with the added benefit of them stretching to match the project tempo and/or key.

HTH,
Iacobus
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