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Subject:Question on BigFish Audio files.
Posted by: Turnip
Date:4/11/2002 4:09:23 PM

A couple of people have suggested going to Bigfish.com and looking at some of their loops they have for sale. I see that they have a 2 CD set called Whole Lotta Country. They have an AUDIO CD for $99,00 and then there is the CD_Rom for 249.95. What is the differance in these two? Are these things Acid loops? Or are the MIDI files or what?
I dont want to spend alot of money on something that I can't use. There is also and WAV CD-Rom. for 159.00. whats this differance in all these?

Roy

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Maruuk
Date:4/11/2002 10:49:20 PM

The expensive ones are formatted for specific samplers. The cheap one is do-it-yourself Redbook audio. The $159 is for WAV files, ready to insert into a loop player or any audio track. None are Acidized.

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Erik_Nygaard
Date:4/12/2002 4:20:11 AM

Hi Turnip

If you decide to convert any waves to Acid this batch processor will easen the burden a little:
http://www.btinternet.com/~taskie/software/acidhead-1.html

I have found one bug wich I reported to the author, namely that it will imprint a root note of C4 even if you select "no transposing" (for drum loops namely).
These loops have to be reset individually, easiest done by importing the whole bunch into Acid, selecting Properties and fix it there. Much faster than doing it in Sound Forge IMHO.
Hope this helps

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Turnip
Date:4/12/2002 10:33:50 AM

I don't fully understand the condition that the wave files come in to where you would need to convert them. Is it the length of the file or something that you need to adjust?
When the C4 note is put into the loop, can you take out that section in the chopper?

Turnip

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: blaze
Date:4/12/2002 11:51:11 AM

You don't have to convert the wav files to acid. Trust me I buy the wav CD's from BigFish all the time. The Wav formatted CD's will function in the Acid program just as if they were acid files. The program reads wav files. Trust me I don't use any other sampling or loop CD's other Big Fish, the sound quality is SUPERB!!!!

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Turnip
Date:4/12/2002 12:53:50 PM

OK... So I can order the WAV CD-ROM that is 149.00 bucks and just put the loops into a song as I would the ones I bought from SF?

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Buckskin
Date:4/12/2002 1:10:20 PM

Yes!

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Turnip
Date:4/12/2002 4:41:57 PM

Thank you. I ordered the "Whole Lotta Country" package. Anyone use the loops in the package before??

Turnip

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Maruuk
Date:4/12/2002 11:08:58 PM

Just realize you can't change the pitch or the tempo with basic WAV's. But a lot of usage doesn't require it--a dirty little secret SF doesn't exactly expound upon. I can't tell you how often I use Acid loops as basic WAV's without any stretch and squeeze. They sound better in their natural state anyway!

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Turnip
Date:4/13/2002 12:32:06 PM

So you are saying that I can't split the WAV's and assign a transpose to them? If you can't change the tempo a bit how can you customize the song?

Turnip

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Erik_Nygaard
Date:4/14/2002 7:46:39 AM

There appears to be some slight confusion going on re acidizing waves.
If you you want to transpose and/or adjust tempo of "raw" wave-files you need to input some info into the wave to tell your application what the basis for transposing/tempo-adjustment shall be. Also, Acid is guessing the tempo of non-prepared waves, but this will probably be way off if the wave in question is not an even 4_4 measure. Bottom line, I always acidize my loops to enable them to be used in projects that differ in key and/or tempo.

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Turnip
Date:4/14/2002 1:11:47 PM

Thanks Eric,
I guess now I will receive these raw wav files tomarrow. I need a crash course in how to ACIDize them. I hope I didn't spend 160 bucks on something that wont work.
Any step by step info you could give me on acidizing these things would be very much appreciated.

Thanks again

Turnip

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Erik_Nygaard
Date:4/14/2002 2:36:08 PM

I guess these files will come with some text info on tempo and root key/note (for instrumental passages). You need to imprint this info on the waves either in Sound Forge/SF XP or in Acid or you can use the Acidhead mentioned earlier in this thread.
For loops you input the number of beats in a sequence and Acid will know what tempo this is based on the samplelength of the file. For long waves or fills not suitable for looping you beatmap the track with a specific tempo and/or key note.
Here's what I would do:

Instruments:
A) Make folders for similar waves regarding key and length (number of beats)
Open the folder in Acidhead and set the key and the number of beats. Hit Go and
voila...For drum loops you would choose "No transposing", but unfortunately they still come out imprinted with C4. This you need to rectify using B) or C) as the drum loops otherwise would change tonal character based on the project key in Acid.
or
B) Open up as large a number of waves in Acid that your system can handle,right click and select Properties. Here you can set most/all characteristics for each track/file; loop/one-shot/beatmapped,beats,key note etc.
This you have to do on each track/file individually and also remember to save each track as you go down the list.
or
C) Open up a bunch of files in Sound Forge (XP) and use the Acid Tools there to set the files individually with the same characteristics and save...

I prefer doing a little planning/preparing and use A) first then B) for any odd files. The explorer window in Acid is great for instant checking of a wave's status. Sometimes I have to resort to C) if the loops need any further doctoring like removing dead space or that blasted extra beat some likes to put in.I am presently doing 9 CDs worth of drum loops for a company and would be lost in ambient space without Acidhead. Wish Sonic would enhance their Batch Processor to handle Acid info as well (guess they already have some nifty scripts for in-house developing...)
Hope this helps.

Subject:RE: Question on BigFish Audio files.
Reply by: Turnip
Date:4/15/2002 1:16:40 AM

This is awesome Eirc. It will take me a day or so to Digest this info U gave me. To say that this helps, is an understatement. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I'll post to this forum as I progress.

Talk to you soon.

Roy "Turnip" Hyland

Subject:Message for Erik
Reply by: Turnip
Date:4/15/2002 6:15:43 PM

You wrote...........
***For loops you input the number of beats in a sequence and Acid will know what tempo this is based on the samplelength of the file.***

Is this beats per minute? Or is it time, as in 4/4 or 3/4?
Here is a sample file name. BL4OFA095.wav
This would be BanjoLoop4 OF (key A) Tempo 95 beats per minute. Am I reading this right?

Also what is the "DISK BASED" selection with the tempo option underneath ONE SHOT ans LOOP in Acidhead?

Thx Turnip

PS: Sorry for mispelling your name earlier. (Eric)

Subject:RE: Message for Erik
Reply by: Erik_Nygaard
Date:4/17/2002 11:55:34 AM

"***For loops you input the number of beats in a sequence and Acid will know what tempo this is based on the samplelength of the file.***

Is this beats per minute? Or is it time, as in 4/4 or 3/4?"

BMP...Acid will also show number of beats in the explorer window, but there is no time signature info in the file AFAIK. So if it says 12 beats this could be 3 measures of 4/4 or 4 measures of 3/4 etc. In Sound Force you can set the number of beats pr measure that will show on the timeline and the loop will align to this. But this is just for visualizing in SF,useful for checking odd loops though.
Acid will unfortunately only display 4/4.

"Here is a sample file name. BL4OFA095.wav
This would be BanjoLoop4 OF (key A) Tempo 95 beats per minute. Am I reading this right?

Yep, in addition the loop provider can also put in info re beat/measure in the loop name, like "1 Snare Bottom 75 6_8" from one of the drumloops I am working on.

"Also what is the "DISK BASED" selection with the tempo option underneath ONE SHOT ans LOOP in Acidhead?"

Disk based = Beatmapped
This is for longer instrumental/vocal performances that is not suitable for looping. For instance, when I arrange a bunch of drum loops into a complete performance, I finish by soloing all drum-tracks and render to a new complete stereo drum-track.
This may be 3-4 minutes long an unsuitable for looping because the whole file would have to be but in precious ram(would probably play only once as well).
I think Acid will set this file to beatmapped for you automatically; it will play it streamed from disk with the project's current key and tempo imbedded in the file.
Right click and select Properties, all the info is there. This file can also follow any changes to tempo/key, but
a) this outs a strain on the cpu having to recalculate.
b) pitch-shifting will also shift the formants in the wave, the chip-munk effect on vocals.
c) I usually experience a glitch at the start of playing beatmapped files that are pitch-shifted. Changing the tempo within reason appears to go much smoother.

Good luck!

Subject:RE: Message for Erik
Reply by: Turnip
Date:4/18/2002 12:00:22 PM

Thanks again EriK,
I am making some headway. I didn't Acidize all the loops and put them into categories yet. I am laying down a song and doing it piece meal until I have a firm idea on how these loops were made. ie: What the BPM is a so forth. I'll be in touch

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