Simple examples -ACID Product Family - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:Simple examples Posted by: anthonytl Date:1/4/2008 4:36:05 PM I have a short kid song recorded to both a MIDI track and to wav (piano sound). It was recorded with a metronome and looks good in the Acid editor. I want to add some basic drum rhythms/fills and maybe a few other instruments to sweeten the mix. I have ACID Music Studio 7 and its collection of CD loops, and the Essential Percussion disk. Does anyone have a beginner example of doing this? A lot of the loops on the disks are too busy-sounding. I'd like to start with a basic kick beat before jumping to more complex loops. Sorry for the newbie post, but I'd like the software to come with a few simple and less exotic sounding examples.
Subject:RE: Simple examples Reply by: JohnnyRoy Date:1/5/2008 9:39:28 AM > Sorry for the newbie post, but I'd like the software to come with a few simple and less exotic sounding examples. We were all newbies at one time and it wouldn't hurt if more of us remembered that. ;-) Welcome! You have learned your first lesson about ACID: It is only as good as the loops that you purchase for it. The second lesson is like it: You will spend far more money on loops than on the original program. ;-) While it looks impressive that the sample loops that come with ACID number over 3000+, in reality there isn't enough of any one thing to do any serious work (after all it's just a sample to give you an idea of the possibilities). This turned me off to ACID at first. Then I realized that the best place for the sample CD was to leave it in the case and the real magic starts when you go out and buy some very specialized libraries for the kind of music you are making. You should search the Sony Loops & Samples Library for the type of music you are recording. Just browse by Genre. For example: if your songs are Rock, I would recommend Metarock Visions or ACID Rock as a starter set. Both will give you a nice collection of fundamental rock drums, base, guitar, and keys. If you just want drums there are libraries like Drum Tools, and Mick Fleetwood: Total Drumming. You can hear a sample of some of the loops on the Sony site. I can highly recommend the Pro Drum Works Volume 1 drum library. The Acoustic Kit is a set of basic loops that are fundamental building blocks for songs and is available separately. The library is also laid out very logically with 8th, 16th, Floor, Open, and Ride cymbal beats separated into folders. This is the drum library that I use the most. Don't forget that you don't have to use the whole loop. You can chop loops up! This means you can take a drum loop that is too busy and cut out the bass drum, snare drum, etc into single hits. Then assemble the single hits in the pattern you want and render to a new loop. The new loop is now the drum pattern you really wanted. Check the sample loops to see if they have any single drum hits. This are great for creating your own patterns. Good luck! ~jr Message last edited on1/5/2008 9:47:06 AM byJohnnyRoy.
Subject:RE: Simple examples Reply by: DKeenum Date:1/5/2008 2:29:39 PM Also, some companies salendividual loops - Power FX comes to mind. You could try that. And you could always draw a BD track with one shots. Load up a BD sound, draw some instances, and move them around until you get what you want. Play - experiment! I thought of another idea. Does the originial song that came with the program have a Bass Drum midi track? Check that.
Subject:RE: Simple examples Reply by: anthonytl Date:1/5/2008 3:57:06 PM Thanks for the tips. I was hoping Essential Drums would have more basic loops. I'll try putting together some one-shots and making my own loops. I'm taking a CD of piano accompaniment for a little kids' concert and trying to sweeten the mix so it sounds more like a combo than just a piano. Maybe Acid is overkill vs. using a regular MIDI sequencer, but I think the ability to paint loops will eventually click with me and will make shorter time of this little project, once I get the hang of it. I just wish the examples that came with Acid weren't all so bizarre-sounding. How about a simple show tune or Mary Had A Little Lamb, then gave it some Acid and now its fleece is a technicolor dreamcoat... :-)
Subject:RE: Simple examples Reply by: jisibu Date:1/23/2008 2:06:02 AM Hi Jonny, thanks for your experience with drum libraries. What about MIDI drum loops? Isn' it easier for loops editing? What is your opinion? ji

Subject:Simple examples

Posted by: anthonytl

Date:1/4/2008 4:36:05 PM

I have a short kid song recorded to both a MIDI track and to wav (piano sound). It was recorded with a metronome and looks good in the Acid editor. I want to add some basic drum rhythms/fills and maybe a few other instruments to sweeten the mix. I have ACID Music Studio 7 and its collection of CD loops, and the Essential Percussion disk. Does anyone have a beginner example of doing this? A lot of the loops on the disks are too busy-sounding. I'd like to start with a basic kick beat before jumping to more complex loops.

Sorry for the newbie post, but I'd like the software to come with a few simple and less exotic sounding examples.

Subject:RE: Simple examples

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:1/5/2008 9:39:28 AM

> Sorry for the newbie post, but I'd like the software to come with a few simple and less exotic sounding examples.

We were all newbies at one time and it wouldn't hurt if more of us remembered that. ;-) Welcome!

You have learned your first lesson about ACID: It is only as good as the loops that you purchase for it. The second lesson is like it: You will spend far more money on loops than on the original program. ;-)

While it looks impressive that the sample loops that come with ACID number over 3000+, in reality there isn't enough of any one thing to do any serious work (after all it's just a sample to give you an idea of the possibilities). This turned me off to ACID at first. Then I realized that the best place for the sample CD was to leave it in the case and the real magic starts when you go out and buy some very specialized libraries for the kind of music you are making.

You should search the Sony Loops & Samples Library for the type of music you are recording. Just browse by Genre. For example: if your songs are Rock, I would recommend Metarock Visions or ACID Rock as a starter set. Both will give you a nice collection of fundamental rock drums, base, guitar, and keys. If you just want drums there are libraries like Drum Tools, and Mick Fleetwood: Total Drumming. You can hear a sample of some of the loops on the Sony site.

I can highly recommend the Pro Drum Works Volume 1 drum library. The Acoustic Kit is a set of basic loops that are fundamental building blocks for songs and is available separately. The library is also laid out very logically with 8th, 16th, Floor, Open, and Ride cymbal beats separated into folders. This is the drum library that I use the most.

Don't forget that you don't have to use the whole loop. You can chop loops up! This means you can take a drum loop that is too busy and cut out the bass drum, snare drum, etc into single hits. Then assemble the single hits in the pattern you want and render to a new loop. The new loop is now the drum pattern you really wanted. Check the sample loops to see if they have any single drum hits. This are great for creating your own patterns.

Good luck!

~jr

Message last edited on1/5/2008 9:47:06 AM byJohnnyRoy.

Subject:RE: Simple examples

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:1/5/2008 2:29:39 PM

Also, some companies salendividual loops - Power FX comes to mind. You could try that.

And you could always draw a BD track with one shots. Load up a BD sound, draw some instances, and move them around until you get what you want. Play - experiment!

I thought of another idea. Does the originial song that came with the program have a Bass Drum midi track? Check that.

Subject:RE: Simple examples

Reply by: anthonytl

Date:1/5/2008 3:57:06 PM

Thanks for the tips. I was hoping Essential Drums would have more basic loops. I'll try putting together some one-shots and making my own loops. I'm taking a CD of piano accompaniment for a little kids' concert and trying to sweeten the mix so it sounds more like a combo than just a piano. Maybe Acid is overkill vs. using a regular MIDI sequencer, but I think the ability to paint loops will eventually click with me and will make shorter time of this little project, once I get the hang of it. I just wish the examples that came with Acid weren't all so bizarre-sounding. How about a simple show tune or Mary Had A Little Lamb, then gave it some Acid and now its fleece is a technicolor dreamcoat... :-)

Subject:RE: Simple examples

Reply by: jisibu

Date:1/23/2008 2:06:02 AM

Hi Jonny,
thanks for your experience with drum libraries. What about MIDI drum loops? Isn' it easier for loops editing?
What is your opinion?
ji