Beat Mixing with Acid DJ 2.0 ? -ACID Product Family

Subject:Beat Mixing with Acid DJ 2.0 ? Posted by: John_b Date:4/1/2001 2:18:45 PM Waszup all...I just purchased Acid DJ and I wanna know if anyone knows how to 'beatmix' with it ? I puschased Acid DJ hoping I can use it do do dance megamixes with it, and my first task is to beatmix the songs together. 1. Does Acid DJ tell me the bpm of the song i'm playing ? 2. How do i add/decrease the bpm to match the song I want to mix with ? Any help is much appreciated..thank u !
Subject:RE: Beat Mixing with Acid DJ 2.0 ? Reply by: nlamartina Date:4/2/2001 9:14:25 PM John, Here's a copy of a post I wrote to an ACID user with a question similar to yours: "Ah, the wonderful lure of remixing. Let me explain some things you can and can't do with Acid 2.0 to answer your question. ACID 2 CAN DO THE FOLLOWING: - Lets you cut up, paste, and rearrange pieces (sound bites) of a song your ripped from a CD or recorded yourself. - Lets you add new elements, like drums or FX to your mix to create a whole new sound (just like pro remixes) ACID 2 CAN'T DO THE FOLLOWING: - Isolate specific tracks within your recording, ie, let you grab the background vocals out, rip a drum riff, etc. That takes either a very VERY experienced (and well-paid) SoundForge user or military technology, both of which are hard to come by. - Synthesize drum beats or vocals for you. If you want new sound, you gotta make it yourself (unless you utilize the built-in FX). So to answer your question, "Yes", it's very possible to do a great remix on Acid. Keep in mind though that it can be very difficult. Most often the rhythm will fall apart because your licks aren't lined up. It's best to work with just small snippets from the original work and compile from there. Be very careful about tempo. You might want to play bits looped, or you might not for rhythm reasons. Experiment and play with it, and you'll see what you're capable of. Also, keep in mind that if you do remix a song from a professional artist, it MUST BE FOR YOUR OWN PRIVATE USE. Ie, do NOT post your mix on MP3.com, AcidPlanet, etc. Copyrighted material is copyrighted material, no matter how you dress it up. Yes, I know you're not a terrible pirate, no, it won't hurt the artist, no, it doesn't seem fair, and actually, yes, I do support Napster (under certain circumstances), but please, be respectful of other people's intellectual property. The sooner you become a true musician, the sooner you'll understand. Anyway, that'll do it for ya. Have lots and lots of fun, but don't forget to be patient!" There you go. That should answer your question. Oh, and ACID can ATTEMPT to tell you the BPM in the song (look at the bottem toolbar) but it won't always be accurate. Additionally, fiddle with the file properties to adjust the BPM count to your liking (try loop, one-shot, and disk- based since each has different parameters). I hope this helps, and best wishes, Nick LaMartina
Subject:RE: Beat Mixing with Acid DJ 2.0 ? Reply by: John_b Date:4/3/2001 5:27:16 PM Wow Nick..thank you so much for taking time to get so detailed. It really helped !! I think I got it now...still a little confused about matching the beats..but i'm taking your advise and being patient. I printed out your response..it'll help alot !!! BTW, i dj for a radio station, so most of the work i'm trying to do is megammixes for my mix shows on tha radio. The remixes I plan I to do are legit...i got record lables wanting me to do them....hopefully I can get this Acid DJ to work.. thank u again

John,

Here's a copy of a post I wrote to an ACID user with a
question similar to yours:

"Ah, the wonderful lure of remixing. Let me explain some
things you can and can't do with Acid 2.0 to answer your
question.

ACID 2 CAN DO THE FOLLOWING:
- Lets you cut up, paste, and rearrange pieces (sound
bites) of a song your ripped from a CD or recorded yourself.
- Lets you add new elements, like drums or FX to your mix
to create a whole new sound (just like pro remixes)

ACID 2 CAN'T DO THE FOLLOWING:
- Isolate specific tracks within your recording, ie, let
you grab the background vocals out, rip a drum riff, etc.
That takes either a very VERY experienced (and well-paid)
SoundForge user or military technology, both of which are
hard to come by.
- Synthesize drum beats or vocals for you. If you want new
sound, you gotta make it yourself (unless you utilize the
built-in FX).

So to answer your question, "Yes", it's very possible to do
a great remix on Acid. Keep in mind though that it can be
very difficult. Most often the rhythm will fall apart
because your licks aren't lined up. It's best to work with
just small snippets from the original work and compile from
there. Be very careful about tempo. You might want to play
bits looped, or you might not for rhythm reasons.
Experiment and play with it, and you'll see what you're
capable of. Also, keep in mind that if you do remix a song
from a professional artist, it MUST BE FOR YOUR OWN PRIVATE
USE. Ie, do NOT post your mix on MP3.com, AcidPlanet, etc.
Copyrighted material is copyrighted material, no matter how
you dress it up. Yes, I know you're not a terrible pirate,
no, it won't hurt the artist, no, it doesn't seem fair, and
actually, yes, I do support Napster (under certain
circumstances), but please, be respectful of other people's
intellectual property. The sooner you become a true
musician, the sooner you'll understand.

Anyway, that'll do it for ya. Have lots and lots of fun,
but don't forget to be patient!"

There you go. That should answer your question. Oh, and
ACID can ATTEMPT to tell you the BPM in the song (look at
the bottem toolbar) but it won't always be accurate.
Additionally, fiddle with the file properties to adjust the
BPM count to your liking (try loop, one-shot, and disk-
based since each has different parameters).

I hope this helps, and best wishes,
Nick LaMartina