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Subject:Chopper question
Posted by: djrave808
Date:10/8/2006 7:16:32 PM

in acid pro 6.0 can i take a drum loop and chop up the loop so it breaks down the different instruments in the loop like the snare drum and hi hat etc. i know you can do it with an akai mpc 2500 but can you do it in acid?how bout in soundforge?

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:10/9/2006 7:54:01 AM

Since we're talking about digital audio here (vs., say, MIDI), there's no easy way to separate instruments in a stereo (or mono) mixdown. It'd be like trying to completely extract eggs that have been beaten into a cake mix. (Mmm...cake.)

MIDI's a different story, since MIDI is just a set of instructions (rather than the actual audio).

Iacobus

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: djrave808
Date:10/9/2006 11:59:45 AM

here is an example what i'm talking about can this be done in acid 6.0 or soundforge?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn9W0qUxcgQ

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: Lossl ben Hossl
Date:10/9/2006 12:18:56 PM

slicing is what the chopper is used for, you can do pretty accurate work with it, but you won´t play the slices with a MIDI controller or similar
instead you can select some slices in the chopper and draw them into the sequencer part, where you can also alter the pitch etc.
it´s more like drawing instead of actually playing those slices
hope that helped

there used to be a sample video of the chopper in an ACID Pro 5 Seminar Series training DVD on this site
sadly it is not included anymore in the sample videos the ACID Pro 6 training DVD
but you simply could try the demo

Message last edited on10/9/2006 12:29:19 PM byLossl ben Hossl.
Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: djrave808
Date:10/9/2006 12:28:05 PM

i don't want to play the slices on pads but can i slice up a drum loop into the different instrument used like if i want to slice out the snare drum and just hear that playing can i do that?

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: Lossl ben Hossl
Date:10/9/2006 12:34:08 PM

you can select a snare, bd or any portion of the loop and drag them into the sequencer time line where you can freely move and mangle them

you should try the demo and see if you like that kind of workflow


Message last edited on10/9/2006 12:38:49 PM byLossl ben Hossl.
Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: djrave808
Date:10/9/2006 1:06:00 PM

i have acid pro 6.0 all i want to know is when i put my drum loop in the chopper how can slice up the different drums in the loop so if i just want to use the snare from the loop i won't hear the bass drum or the hi hat?

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: Lossl ben Hossl
Date:10/9/2006 1:22:49 PM

select the desired part by holding the left mouse button until you marked an area... it should be highlighted in the track colour now
you can audition your choice by using the play button at the bottom of the chopper
drag that section into the sequencer timeline, where you have to arrange your new beat with the slices you made in the chopper

of course it is not possible to separate a certain sound if they are overlapping or played simultaneously (ie snare + hihat)

Message last edited on10/9/2006 1:30:53 PM byLossl ben Hossl.
Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: djrave808
Date:10/9/2006 2:01:39 PM

oh ok because the chop function in the mpc you can chop up the loop and make a drum set out of the different instruments in the loop
you would think software could do this also

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: Lossl ben Hossl
Date:10/9/2006 2:31:30 PM

software actually does it aswell... ACID is especially well equipped for these tasks, if you like to "programm" your beats instead of actually playing them

i personlly think ACID sets the standards if you like this workflow

its just that it can´t separate two simultaneosly played instruments.
no equipment -be it hardware or software can do this by simply chopping
you could try to isolate either of them manually by additionally using high, low or band pass filters, but no way by slicing only
and even then i would not take satisfyingly sounding results for granted

Message last edited on10/9/2006 2:42:17 PM byLossl ben Hossl.
Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: djrave808
Date:10/9/2006 2:53:22 PM

well on the akai site it says it can do it here is the link
http://www.akaipro.com/prodMPC2500.php

click on the product overview and it will bring up a pdf file go to page 5 and look at the question and answer section

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: djrave808
Date:10/9/2006 2:54:33 PM

plus on the you tube link that is what the guy did he chopped it up and put each individual instrument on each pad

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: djrave808
Date:10/9/2006 3:07:19 PM

here is the link to akai page go to page 5

http://www.akaipro.com/products/pdffiles/MPC2500_Overview.pdf

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: jumbuk
Date:10/9/2006 3:09:58 PM

Yes, you can do that with the MPC and Acid, provided you have a clean drums-only loop. Neither the MPC nor Acid can separate (say) a hihat and a snare that are playing on the same beat.

You have Acid. Why not read the manual and go do it for yourself?

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: Lossl ben Hossl
Date:10/9/2006 3:14:55 PM

they only say that it slices the beat, there is nothing uncommon about this technology anymore
it cuts the loop by "guessing" the hits by special algorythms
it only uses amplitude rise / drop algorithms for this... it doesn´t care (and doesn´t know) what is actually played at that time... so if for instance there was a snare and a trumpet sounding simultaneously at a certain time, it will ALWAYS play the snare + trumpet simultaneously if that certain slice is getting triggered
your best chance would be to find a part in the loop where the snare and the trumpet (or bd+hh or whatever combination) do not sound simultaneosly
you can also see that on the vid you provided:
quite a few pads trigger some slices which actually contain chords and not single voices, because at that time in the loop, there is a chord audible and not a single note

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: djrave808
Date:10/9/2006 3:38:04 PM

i got u now thanks for the info i just discovered the forum and the info helps out alot

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: indeepthought
Date:10/11/2006 2:03:53 PM

i do this all the time in acid, but it is much more accurate in soundforge if exporting to sampler

Subject:RE: Chopper question
Reply by: Klirrfaktor
Date:10/12/2006 7:27:58 AM

you can use native instruments intakt or basement arts reflex for fast slicing of drumloops

in acid i just use shortcut S to cut loops to simgle hits. using a good zoom ratio makes this quite easy and fast

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