Subject:bad Acid trip

Posted by: mattr_

Date:3/3/2002 8:37:36 AM

Ok - I was gonna make this a long rant but I'll keep it brief!
I recently purchased Acid Pro.3 - I have a brand new, powerful comp.
After being assured by both this website and the salesman and various users and friends I was under the impression Acid could do everything but make the coffee!!
I have since become irrepairably disillusioned with this software. I have been making music for a long time and all I want to do is record MY stuff in the arrangements I hear in my head (including some songs in MINOR KEYS!!! - something that is not mentioned anywhere from what I could see (except in the forum)
My question? If all I want to do is record my songs and make a CD of them why didn't I just buy an eight track analogue recorder and send the mix through my PC for tweaking in an inexpensive, simple mixing software program??
Is this just me or are these disappointments common? Yes, I can put together some great dance/techno tracks using loops but HELLO - that's not all I want to do.
I guess I may be a luddite when it comes to this particular program but I'm so losing patience - with all the crashes and no minor keys etc.
any suggestions, criticisms, abuse, guiding comments would be welcomed : )
thanks
mattr_

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: MyST

Date:3/3/2002 9:52:45 AM

Did you try the demo before buying?
Also, the included Sound Forge and Vegas Audio aren't enough to complete what you want to do?
There are alot of knowledgeable people on these forums, ask specific questions on the different ones to get better answers. ie: multi-track recording should be adressed in Vegas family, editing should be adressed in Sound Forge.

Hope this helps.

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:3/3/2002 10:11:30 AM

Another thing to keep in mind is that you can, indeed, include minor keys/chords and such. You just have to know your music theory on top of knowing how to ACIDize a file. The best results are obtained by creating your own loops. Remember that you're (almost) working exclusively with digital audio waveforms, which is quite different from working with something such as MIDI.

See the KB article on ACIDizing here and the other article on minor keys here for more info.

Iacobus

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: musicdog

Date:3/3/2002 9:21:02 PM

mattr,
Keep in mind that Acid is only a tool.
Real art comes from the mind of the craftsman.
I've been in the music biz since the early 70's and Acid can do a thousand times more than the equipment we had in the 70's, experiment and use your imagination.
Don't be angry at the tools, learn to use them...
musicdog

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: mattr_

Date:3/4/2002 1:17:49 AM

Thanks for the replies to my rant : )
I have 'experimented' with Acid Pro for over a month (one early 9 hour session ending when the program crashed saying 'Acid has experienced a problem and has to close...we apologise for any inconvenience' - yes, I've since got into the habit of saving as I go)
I wrote my rant after a particularly frustrating session so it may have been a tad negative or defeatist!!
I know I have to learn more about it - and "musicdog" is spot on with the 'art comes from the mind of the crafstman'.....I agree completely with that one mate! The frustration comes from knowing I could have had half a dozen completed songs with my old four track Tascam by now. Digital vs Analogue - that's a whole 'nuther debate.....
thanks again to all who replied, I will try to exercise more patience : )

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: vanblah

Date:3/4/2002 10:09:21 AM

It sounds more like you needed Vegas and not Acid. Acid is not multi-tracking software. Although, if you are the only one playing the tracks then you don't need multi-tracking capabilities.

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:3/4/2002 11:25:57 AM

I hate to say this, but as we see this issue more and more, may be Sonic Foundry needs to post a huge 36 point flashing red notice on the ACID pages that says "NOTE: ACID is NOT for multitrack or live recording! Please see Vegas instead." It seems that way too many people are confused as to the distinctions between ACID and Vegas, and end up with one when they really want the other.

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: mattr_

Date:3/4/2002 7:34:13 PM

Thanks Chienworks......I'm not doing 'live' recordings. I'm building tracks, playing all instruments myself. From work that I hear in Acid Planet and from friends of mine who use Acid to do exactly this, Acid works fine for this type of home recording. I got Vegas Audio LE + Sound Forge 5.0 with Acid Pro 3.0 and have been using those too - I don't see the difference between recording multiple, separately performed tracks in either Vegas or Acid.
A word should be said about dealers who sell you something after you've explained EXACTLY what you want to use it for and ask 'is this the right thing for me to buy?' and they go ahead and sell it to you anyway......
Once more guys - I am not unhappy with Acid Pro, just frustrated occasionally with Tech hiccups....
thanks again for the feedback : )

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: musicdog

Date:3/5/2002 12:08:46 AM

I feel your pain mattr.
I've spent hours on a project and some glitch will screw it up.
I've learned to save often and if I am adding radical plugins, I will make a copy and experiment with that.
musicdog

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: spesimen

Date:3/5/2002 12:17:12 PM

acid is fine for multitracking, it's just like the "8-track" you describe but with unlimited tracks. i'm not sure if you've tried using sound types other than loops - like beatmapped or one-shot tracks. these types are more useful for doing standard recording, multitrack style. if you need to record more than a stereo pair at once, you'll need vegas or something else, but for just overdubbing your own tracks on itself acid is great! it has the quickest and simplest interface for getting stuff down without the process getting in the way of creative flow, at least for me. now the bugs are another story of course..

Subject:RE: bad Acid trip

Reply by: vanblah

Date:3/5/2002 4:12:39 PM

Acid plays back multi-track audio, but does not record more than two tracks at a time. It is fine for a single person who can't usually play more than one instrument at a time anyway, but if you wanted to record several keyboards and a drum machine or sampler etc. (for whatever reason) you would have to sub-mix first. So it's not quite like the 8 track recording device mentioned.

Doug