But ACID software isn’t just a crutch for folks with little or no musical ability; theprogram also helps performers create their own loops and thus expand their range of tools and expres
Trang 1YYePG
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Trang 3SVP, Thomson Course Technology PTR: Andy Shafran
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A C I D P R O 5
P O W E R !
Trang 4Foreword
Respected author and speaker D Eric Franks appropriately begins this book with a chapter on theACID Pro software’s impact on the music world David knows that to fully appreciate the power andflexibility of ACID Pro software as it is today, you must first understand its roots, and why it remainsthe music creation application by which all others are judged
Before ACID Pro software, even simple composition and recording required hiring talented musicians,booking studio time, and spending a lot of money ACID Pro software changed all that with the launch
of version 1.0 With its straightforward interface and intuitive “pick, paint, and play” functionality,ACID Pro software made professional audio composition and editing accessible to anyone with a PC.Word of this revolutionary new tool spread fast, and musicians and producers everywhere embracedthe ACID Pro software as an essential component of composition, recording, editing, and production True to its revolutionary roots, ACID Pro 5 software once again raises the bar Version 5 featuresthree new patent-pending technologies: Groove Mapping™ and Groove Cloning™ quantization tools,and the powerful Media Manager ™ technology These new technologies forge exciting new musiccreation territory, giving you creative potential and flexibility that is unmatched by any other program.Other new features include native VST effects support, nestable folder tracks, ReWire™ device support,and real-time event reverse
In this book, D Eric Franks explains how to get the most out of the ACID Pro 5 application From thebasics of song creation to incorporating the ACID Pro tools into your live performance, you’ll learnthe tricks of the trade and achieve truly professional results
If you want to create songs, remix tracks, produce 5.1 surround audio mixes, develop music beds, orscore videos, you need the ACID Pro 5 software If you want to take advantage of all the program’spower, ACID Pro 5 Power! is an essential guide
Curtis Palmer,
Chief Technology Officer,
Sony Pictures Digital, Inc
Trang 5Q Q Qiv
Acknowledgments
First, I’d like to say thanks to all who worked on this book, getting it to press a little over a week afterSony Media Software officially released the application Very impressive I wish to acknowledgeSean Medlock for making sure I write real good and keeping me on task Andy Saff made significantcontributions to the editing, and Mark Garvey did a splendid job of propelling this project forward.Thanks go out to Orren Merton for creating the fun and thought-provoking quizzes at the end ofeach chapter Although I rarely worked directly with the layout staff, I want to publicly say that Ithink the book looks great Thanks, gang Finally, I’d like to thank Gary Rebholz and Michael Bryant
at Sony Media Software for their fast and incisive technical support and editing Gentlemen, I wish
we had more time and more pages
About the Author
D Eric Franks is an author and speaker who teaches multimedia production and post-production niques to folks all over the world He’s published a half-dozen books and several hundred magazinearticles Mr Franks currently supports his ACID software addiction (need more loop libraries!) by creating training materials for Digital Juice and producing background music for commercial spots
tech-He spends his weekends working on a film on that will probably never get a public screening, ifindeed it is ever finished at all
Trang 6Contents
TABLE OF
CHAPTER 1 A Song Is Born 1
Building Blocks .2
Projects .2
Media Files and Loops .3
Tracks .5
Events .7
AllYou Need to Know .9
Projects .9
Creating a Project .9
Saving Your Project .11
Change Project Properties .11
Exploring Loops and Previewing .12
Event Basics .14
Creating a Track 14
Creating an Event with the Draw Tool .14
Using the Paint Tool .15
Snapping .16
Moving and Trimming Events .16
Zooming .20
Copying, Cutting, and Pasting Events .20
Ripple Editing .23
Selecting Multiple Events .24
Duplicating Events .25
Playback and Mixing .26
Project Playback 26
Monitoring the Mix 28
Track Volume .30
Panning .30
Fading Events .31
Envelopes .31
Creating MP3 Files 33
Chapter 1 Quiz .35
Introduction xiii
Trang 7TABLE OF CONTENTS
Q Q Qvi
Getting Around 37
A Visual Tour .37
Timeline .39
Navigating the Timeline .41
Zooming .42
Transport Controls .43
Tracks .43
Events .44
Envelopes .44
Marker Bar, Grid Bar, and Time Ruler Bar .45
Toolbar .45
Window Docking Area .47
Docking Windows .47
Organizing the Window Docking Area 48
Resizing Windows .49
Defining the Windows .49
Top Ten Shortcuts* .55
Chapter 2 Quiz .56
Composition 59
Song Structure .59
Creating Structure with Markers and Regions .61
Working with Markers .61
Working with Regions .63
Time Markers 64
Musical Phrasing .64
Beats .65
Measures .65
Phrases .68
Tempo .69
Project-Level Tempo Changes .69
Changing the Tempo on the Timeline .70
Matching Project Key to a Loop .72
Adjust the Tempo to Fill a Length of Time .72
Key .74
Chords and Intervals .75
Key Progression .78
Limits .78
Project-Level Key Changes .79
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
Trang 8Q Table of Contents
vii
Mid-Song Key Changes .79
Loop-Level Key Changes .81
Pop Music Progression .81
Blues .83
Track-Level Key Changes (Pitch Shift) .84
Event-Level Key Changes (Pitch Shift) .85
Radical Event-Level Key Changes .86
Chord Progressions .87
Chord Progressions from Preexisting Loops .88
Creating Chords with Simple Loops .89
Chapter 3 Quiz 90
Polishing Up 93
Introductions .93
Making Space for an Intro .93
Types of Introductions .95
Fading In and Out .95
Track Fades .95
Event Fades (ASR) 97
Quick Fade Edges .97
Conclusions .99
End on Beat 1 .99
Big Finale .100
Mixing and Merging Songs .101
Breaks and Bridges .102
Break It Down .102
Bridges and Solos .104
Spicing Up Solos .104
Chopper Trimming .105
Project Management 110
Backing Up Projects .110
Recovering Projects .110
Saving Projects with Embedded Media 111
Chapter 4 Quiz .111
Recording Vocals and Instruments 113
Hardware .113
Noise 114
Microphones .121
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
Trang 9TABLE OF CONTENTS
Q Q Qviii
Monitoring .123
Recording into the ACID Software 124
Recording into a Track .124
Working with Takes .133
Takes by Tracks .135
Automatic Looping Takes .140
Recording MIDI .143
Chapter 5 Quiz .144
Mastering the Mix 139
Mixing a Master .139
The Studio Environment 140
Headphones versus Speakers .140
Configuring Your System .141
Subwoofers .142
If It Sounds Good .142
Mixing ACID Software 142
Clipping Redux .144
Loudness .145
Volume Envelopes .146
Grouping and Busses .148
Space and Panning .148
5.1 Surround Mixing .150
Distribution .150
Configuring the ACID Software for 5.1 .151
Fundamentals of 5.1 Surround Mixing .153
Rendering a 5.1 Surround Mix .156
Track FX .158
Compression .158
Noise Gate .161
Equalization .162
FX Chains .165
Chapter 6 Quiz .166
FX 169
Types of ACID FX .169
FX in Action .171
Experimenting .173
Where Should FX Go? .173
FX Chains .176
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
Trang 10Q Table of Contents
ix
Recommendations on FX Placement .177
Summary of Sony Media Software FX 179
Track FX .179
ExpressFX .179
DirectX Audio Plug-Ins 180
General FX Concepts .180
Presets .180
Dry/Wet .181
Rate and Hertz (Hz) .182
Frequency (Pitch) .184
FX Automation .185
Chapter 7 Quiz .188
FX Dictionary 191
Amplitude Modulation .191
Calculating Rates 193
Chorus 193
Compressor (Track) .195
Distortion .195
Dither .196
Flange/Wah-wah .198
Calculating Rates .199
Gapper/Snipper .199
Calculating Rates .200
Graphic Dynamics .200
Graphic EQ .203
Multi-Band Dynamics .205
Multi-Tap Delay 208
Calculating Rates .210
Noise Gate .210
Paragraphic EQ .211
Parametric EQ .213
Pitch Shift .214
Resonant Filter .215
Reverb 215
Simple Delay .217
Calculating Rates 218
Smooth/Enhance .218
Time Stretch .218
CHAPTER 8
Trang 11TABLE OF CONTENTS
Q Q Qx
Track Compressor 219
Track EQ .219
Track Noise Gate 220
Vibrato .220
Calculating Rates 221
Wave Hammer Surround .221
Chapter 8 Quiz 223
Loops 225
Media Files .225
Track Types .226
Audio Loops .226
Track Properties Window 233
Modifying Existing Loops .234
General Tab .235
Stretch Tab .236
Creating Your Own Loops .238
Legal and Ethical Issues .239
Recording and Editing .242
Making ACID Loops .247
Loop Limitations .255
Limiting the Limitations .255
On the Other Hand .256
More Loops! .257
Chapter 9 Quiz 258
The Secret Life of ACID MIDI 257
MIDI .257
MIDI Standard .258
Basic MIDI Synthesis .261
Software Synthesis .262
Configuring MIDI in the ACID Software 266
Preferences Dialog .266
Working with MIDI .267
Adding MIDI to the ACID Software 267
MIDI Track Properties .268
Recording MIDI .271
Recording MIDI Data .271
MIDI Triggers and Time Code .273 Generating MTC and MIDI Clock from the ACID Software 274
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
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xi
Triggering the ACID Software with MTC .276
Advanced Sync Preferences .277
FX and MIDI Tracks .279
Chapter 10 Quiz .280
Video 283
Working with Video .283
Adding Video .283
Previewing Video .285
Adding Flash Movies .288
Video Tracks .288
Video Events .289
Synchronizing Audio and Video .291
The Audio Track .294
Rendering Video .298
Render Once .298
Compression .300
Audio for DVD .305
Video Editing? .307
Chapter 11 Quiz .308
Publishing 311
Rendering .311
Miscellaneous Rendering Options .312
Digital Audio 312
Audio File Formats 314
Compression 316
Media Destination 322
Publishing 323
ACIDplanet.com 323
On the Web .326
Streaming .330
Streaming Formats .330
Audio CDs .334
Burning Songs to a CD .334
Dedicated CD Burning Software .336
Copyright 336
Chapter 12 Quiz .338
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
Trang 13TABLE OF CONTENTS
Q Q Qxii
Loose Ends and Loops 341
Loop Management .341
Media Manager .342
Setting Up the Media Manager .342
Using the Media Manager .344
Grooving .349
Painting a Groove .350
Editing a Groove .351
Groovy Advice .352
RAM .353
Processor Speed .354
Preferences .354
General Tab .355
Audio Tab 357
MIDI Tab .358
VST Effects and VST Instruments Tabs .358
ReWire Devices Tab .359
Video Tab .359
Editing Tab .360
Sync Tab .360
Keyboard Tab .360
Display Tab .361
Other Tab .361
Folders Tab .361
Chapter 13 Quiz .362
Glossary 365
Shortcuts 371
Mouse Wheel .371
Marker Bar .372
Keyboard Navigation 372
Keyboard Selection 373
Playback (Transport) Controls .374
Editing Commands .375
Chopper Commands .376
Standard Windows Commands .377
Quiz Answers 379
381
CHAPTER 13
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C
INDEX
Trang 14Introduction
The ability to create professional-quality music, using just about any modern computer, is now in thehands of the masses ACID®software is sophisticated yet simple First and foremost, it’s fun The very firsttime you fire it up, you can produce something that sounds pretty good In fact, if you haven’t alreadydone so, put this book down and go try it out!
This initial ease and simplicity masks the fact that ACID software is a powerful and professional-level toolthat’s ideally suited to song composition and film scoring, among other uses This book comprehensivelycovers these higher-level features and shows you how to use ACID software in real-world situations.Whether you’re a new-wave multimedia designer creating engrossing content for the Net or an old-school producer in a traditional recording studio, this book will teach you how to take full advantage ofthe ACID application And get this: ACID software can help you make money too!
What Is ACID?
The ACID 5 software from Sony Media Software is the most popular and advanced loop-basedmusic creation and remixing tool ever created It doesn’t require any particular musical talent otherthan a good ear, and needs no special equipment other than a basic computer The ACID application
is a fully capable standalone tool, and yet it meshes perfectly with studio hardware and other ware multimedia applications It’s stunningly easy to create catchy tunes within an hour of installingthis artistic tool And it all starts with the loop
soft-Loops are short sections of music or a performance, saved as standard media files on your computer.They’re the building blocks of an ACID song The first loops were created by physically attaching shortsections of magnetic audio tape end to end These loops were recorded in such a way that when theyended, they immediately began playing again at the start of the file, potentially forever Hence the termloop Today’s versions aren’t literally loops, but they perform the same function
Recorded by professional musicians, loops allow you to take a drumbeat, a bass line, and a lead instrumentmelody and assemble them into a new and original composition Because there are many thousands ofloops available, the creative possibilities are almost endless And because the individual loops are created
by some of the world’s top musical talents, the quality is top-shelf It doesn’t even matter whether you canplay a note yourself or not But ACID software isn’t just a crutch for folks with little or no musical ability; theprogram also helps performers create their own loops and thus expand their range of tools and expression.The ACID application is primarily a musician’s tool, with a focus on song creation and multi-track mixing,but many other professionals and serious hobbyists will find it extremely useful ACID software is ideallysuited for multimedia professionals who need to create original music for Shockwave and Flash presenta-tions (I’ve found this to be a lucrative avenue.) Video and film professionals will find no tool that’s bettersuited to scoring We’ve heard ACID loops in everything from television commercials to the Bollywoodfilm Ashoka DJs and mixmasters can use the ACID application to remix songs in amazing new ways,even in demanding and exciting live performance venues And of course, studios and musicians will find
Trang 15About This Book
This book takes you beyond the basics and explains guru-level procedures that utilize the ACID 5 application
to its fullest potential The ACID application is more than a toy, although it can be more fun than a videogame This book is targeted at the intelligent multimedia professional who is ready to use ACID software onthe job, as well as the hobbyist who wants a serious artistic tool The clear and solid examples in the first fewchapters will quickly allow the less technically inclined reader to express his creativity more fully On theother hand, technically savvy non-musicians will find the chapters on introductory music theory invaluable asthey move beyond playing around with the ACID software and into serious music composition And for thosewho are techno-wizards both with software and in the studio, this book will explain the most efficient tech-niques for maximizing the power of the ACID application
This book is going to start with the fun stuff Within minutes of popping the ACID CD into your computer,you can pump out some pretty amazing tunes Immediately after you install the program (and beforeyour read another word), you really should play around with it for a bit The first goal of this book is tofamiliarize you with the nuts and bolts of the ACID software Thanks to the well thought out user interface(UI) and program workflow, you can master the ACID application fairly quickly
The second goal of this book is to go beyond the basics and into true music creation Most people nevercreate a song that’s more than a bunch of loops that sound good together, layered track over track Itshouldn’t end there, however Just as a good story or novel has an arresting introduction, a dynamicexposition, a shocking conclusion, and a satisfying denouement, a good song has structure as well To useanother analogy, just because you can type doesn’t mean you can write a great novel The middle section
of this book focuses on music and music theory, with a heavy emphasis on how to expresses your musicalideas effortlessly using the ACID software
The final goal of this book is to get into some of the more technical aspects of the ACID tools From burning industry-standard CDs to producing highly compressed MP3 files for the Internet, publishing andsharing your music is the ultimate goal In the process, this book will cover everything you need to knowabout maximizing the quality of your music after the creative process is over In addition, it will show youhow to polish your masterpieces using effects processing There are also a hundred other fascinating top-ics that you can dive into, from amazing MIDI technology to recording your own vocals and solo jams.This book is all you need to get you on your way
Trang 16Q Introduction
xv
Which ACID Is Which?
Sony Media Software has released a number of different versions of the ACID application They rangefrom a free version that comes with a new computer or another piece of hardware, all the way up to anexpensive professional version As you might expect, you get what you pay for
The ACID XPress software is the free version of the program, used by Sony Media Software as a tional introduction to the ACID family You might get this application free with some hardware you buy, oryou can download it directly from Sony Media Software After you get the application, you can also grabsome demo songs from ACIDplanet.com You can certainly get a taste of the application and create somepretty cool stuff, but this version’s capabilities are quite limited Sony Media Software may offer somegood deals on upgrading to a higher version from the Express version
promo-The ACID Music Studio software is the base level of the application that this book covers If you’re evenmildly serious about producing quality music, you need to own this version of the ACID software at thevery least Full-featured and powerful, the ACID Music application is priced to fit the budget of the inter-ested amateur musician and composer, yet it can still produce professional-level output The ACID Musicsoftware also comes with a CD of basic loops
The ACID Pro application is the high-end version of ACID software that’s appropriate for studios, professionals,and prosumers As with the other versions, it’s easy to step up to this version when you’re ready Its uncompro-mising quality and the technical tools you need to get the job done make this an awesome addition to any multimedia professional’s audio rack The ACID Pro application also comes with a CD of basic loops
Table I.1 details some of the major differences between versions
Table I.1 Acid Software Versions
ACID XPress Software ACID Music Studio Software ACID Pro Software
Trang 17Q Q Qxvi
ACID XPress Software ACID Music Studio Software ACID Pro Software
* Source: http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com
What’s New in Version 5?
All versions of ACID software do the same basic thing: create and remix loop-based music Since SonyMedia Software marketing covers all of the new features in the ACID 5 software extensively in their promotional materials and on their Web site (follow the Comparison link on the main ACID 5 page), I’m only going to highlight a few additions that I found particularly impressive
Q New organizational tools include the Media Manager (see Chapter 13), which greatly aids management ofthe thousands of loops you’ll accumulate, and Folder Tracks(see Chapter 5), which will help you arrangeyour inevitably complex timelines more efficiently
Q If you’re a less than virtuoso performer, Groove Quantization (see Chapter 13)will smooth out imperfectperformances automatically Actually, there’s a lot more to it than that, but the subtle changes that theGroove tools make can have a dramatic impact on the feel of your music
Q Of course, ACID software has always had its own effects, and the last version introduced DirectX effects tothe mix Now we can also play with the hundreds of Virtual Studio Technology (VST) effects(see Chapter 7).VST is a proprietary industry standard for audio effects, plug-ins, and instruments, originally developed bycomputer music pioneer Steinberg (now owned by Pinnacle)
Q The ACID 5 software now has ReWire support(see Chapter 10) ReWire is a system for transferring audiodata between two computer applications, in real time, which means they can be coordinated and synchedtogether very precisely You can use your favorite MIDI composition tool in sync with an ACID project, ortake the ACID application to the club for a live performance
NOTE: WHICH ACID DO YOU OWN?
Unsure of which version of ACID software you own? From the Help menu, select About Sony ACID The dialog box lists the type of product you’ve purchased, and the version and build number as well You may be able to purchase a new license online and instantly upgrade to a more advanced version
Q
Trang 18Q Introduction
xvii
Reading This Book
This book is designed as both a tutorial and a reference You should have this book open when the ACIDapplication is running, because there are many examples and procedures in the book that only makesense in the context of the program Learning by doing is always the best study method
Q If you’ve never used ACID software before, you may want to work through the examples in the first twochapters fairly carefully to master the basics (After playing with the program for a couple of hours first,
of course.)
Q If you already have a good feel for the program, you may want to browse through the first two chaptersand see if it all seems familiar It shouldn’t be a waste of time There are a few surprises, shortcuts, andexpert tips scattered throughout these chapters
Q Veteran ACID users with limited formal music training may want to concentrate on the music theory chaptersand the new features, and otherwise use the book as a comprehensive reference Major new features, such
as MIDI and video, have entire chapters dedicated to them
Getting Additional Help
Don’t underestimate the quality of the ACID documentation that Sony Media Software includes with theprogram This text is a supplement to these primary references, not a substitute Read the manual, pauseyour mouse cursor over unfamiliar items in the UI to get the ToolTips, watch the status bar at the bottom
of the program, and don’t forget to use F1 for specific context-sensitive Help on just about anything Finally, check out the Sony Media Software Web site and user forums The discussions that occur onACIDplanet.com are nearly as interesting as the music that shows up there:
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com
http://www.acidplanet.com
Trang 19This page intentionally left blank
Trang 20The goal of this chapter is to introduce the basic features of the ACID software and explain how theyfunction in practical use The procedures described here are the fundamentals We’ll talk about lay-ing down tracks, trimming, and mixing, among other things Along the way, we’ll define the termsand illustrate them with a host of examples
The best way to use this chapter is to turn on your computer, run the ACID software, put this book inyour lap, and try the procedures as you read Some procedures are so easy that they won’t seemworth the trouble, but you might as well go ahead and try them anyhow Why not? They’re a breeze.Besides, we’ll be describing concepts throughout this book that simply cannot be understood withouthearing them for yourself We’ll start at the beginning, lay down some tracks, and do a little mixing.The final section explains how to save a song so that you can publish it and share it with others From start to finish, this chapter shows you how to begin a project and output a final song We’regoing to start with four quick definitions—projects, loops, tracks, and events—and then immediatelymove into practical examples
START PLAYING!
One of the primary goals of this book is to be motivational, to get you excited about the ACID application and mately about music With that in mind, I want to stop you right here: Have you played with the ACID software yet? Don’t worry, we’ll get to work soon enough But if you haven’t played around with the application yet, close this book, run the program, use the Explorer window to find your loops, and drag-and-drop a few into your timeline We’ll see you back here in a few hours
ulti-Q
Trang 21CHAPTER 1 } A Song Is Born
Q Q Q2
Building Blocks
The ACID software uses specific terms to convey specific ideas It’s important to understand what “theprogram,” “the manual,” and “the Help” mean when referring to program-specific terms, since themeaning of each term might be quite different from how it’s used in the real world (although thosereal-world meanings often offer a clue) Here are a few fundamental ideas that need to be discussed
Projects
The first step in composing a song with the ACID software is to create a project When you first run the
application, a new project is loaded automatically Every time you use the software, you’re working on
a project The projects you’ll save on your computer contain all of the information about your tion, such as the key, tempo, and audio files used Project files control every aspect of your song,including which sounds are used, how they’re mixed together, and what effects modify the sound ACID project files have the acd extension and are only recognized by the ACID software That is,they cannot be opened or played back in any other applications Although a project saves informa-
composi-tion about your composicomposi-tion and the sounds that make it up, a project file is not a song and cannot
be played back as such on a media player, over the Internet, or on a CD player
The great thing about working with projects, instead of editing actual audio files on your computer,
is that you’re not actually changing any media files on your computer This editing process is destructive, and it lets you edit and experiment with sounds without fear of changing the originalmedia files You primarily edit ACID project files and not loops or media files (although you can dothat as well) When you’re done with your project, which is made up of loops, media files, andeffects, you can save it to another format that can be burned to a CD or published on the Internet
non-This is called rendering, and it’s the process of creating an actual song Actually, since the ACID
software is also a video-scoring tool, the final render might even create a new movie file
SAVE YOUR WORK
When you start a new project, the first thing you should do is save it Select Save from the File menu and type a name for your project Saving is the last thing I do before I shut down the ACID software at 3 a.m It’s become a habit I save all the time, reflexively, especially when something aurally wonderful has just happened (you’ll know when) Periodically I’ll save versions of a project as I work, especially when it’s taking a new sonic direction I just tag an 001, 002, 003 to the end of the filename, methodically That way, I always have something to go back to if
a particular path gets hopelessly muddled.
My motto is: Save early, save often.
Q
Trang 22Q Building Blocks
3
So, if you haven’t done so yet, let’s start a project If you have the ACID application running right now,
you’re in a project already Congratulations To start a new new project, go to the File menu, select
New (or press Ctrl+N on your keyboard), and click the OK button This opens the New Project dialog.(You’ll learn some more details about some of the other parts of the New Project dialog in just a fewpages.) The first thing you want to do is save: File menu, Save The first time you do this, you’ll have toenter a filename and then click OK Excellent: You now have a perfectly silent musical composition
Media Files and Loops
A file is the most basic unit a typical computer user works with Files can be text documents (.txt), pictures (.bmp), or songs (.mp3) Media files (see Figure 1.1) are just files that contain audio, video,digital music, or pictures Media files that can be used in the ACID software are video, audio, orMIDI in nature Audio files are central to the application, of course Some typical audio file formatsthat can be used in the ACID application are wav and mp3
Trang 23CHAPTER 1 } A Song Is Born
Loops are normal wav audio files and are commercially available from multimedia companies for use inloop-based music tools ACID loops from Sony Media Software actually contain a little more informationthan a typical wav file, such as key and tempo information This makes them particularly easy to use in theACID software You can use Sony Media Software loop libraries with many other multimedia applications,such as video editing applications or Flash animation tools, and loops from other companies can also beused in the ACID software In fact, it’s a killer app that’s so dominant that many other companies produceloop libraries containing the extra musical information needed to integrate with the ACID application.Many other companies also have software that can read media compatible with the ACID software.Over the years, the definition of “loop” has expanded from its original meaning to include non-repeating material (These are called One Shots in the ACID application, for example.) This material,such as solo sections and vocal quotations from old movies, isn’t designed to loop over and over, butit’s still broadly referred to as a loop when used in loop-based music creation tools In the same waythat we no longer “dial” a telephone number on our pushbutton phones, loops may not always
“loop” infinitely In any case, loops still tend to be short audio files on a computer that can be puttogether to make longer and more complex songs Although loops are the fundamental buildingblocks of an ACID house, there are other components that we’ll talk about later, such as beatmapsongs and video files
Let’s add a loop to your
project The Explorer
win-dow should be visible at
the bottom of the
pro-gram, and it should look
very familiar if you’ve
ever used a Windows
computer Click on the
hard drive that contains
your loops, find the folder
where you’ve stored them,
and then drag and drop a
media file into the timeline
(see Figure 1.2) You’ve
just created a track
Figure 1.2
The Explorer window and the main timeline.
Drag files from Explorer to the timeline to create
a track.
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5
Tracks
In a bricks-and-mortar studio, engineers record the audio of a song as separate tracks Physically,
tracks are narrow bands on an audiotape that run parallel to each other for the length of the tape.Recording the various parts of a song to separate tracks on the same piece of tape means perfectsynchronization can be achieved, and the tape can be played back while a new part is recorded toone of the blank tracks
Another feature of this method is that the engineers can adjust and mix the individual tracks toanother tape Musically, a track corresponds to a single part or performance in a song For example,guitar, drums, and vocals can all be recorded to separate tracks Tracks don’t necessarily contain asingle voice For example, a track could contain an entire orchestral wind section or a combineddrum and bass section
Tracks in the ACID application (see Figure 1.3) are analogous to tracks in a studio or on an tape An ACID track contains one media file You can use the controls to adjust, mix, and otherwisemodify an audio loop with special effects The number of tracks is unlimited and can include MIDIsongs or even video
audio-Every track has a number of important controls in the Track Header section on the left side (see Figure1.4) Many of these controls correspond to faders and knobs typically found on the mixer board in aconventional studio (See Chapter 6, “Mastering the Mix,” for more on mixers in the ACID software.)
Figure 1.3
Three loop tracks, with a drum beat
on Track 1, a piano part on Track
2, and a bass line on Track 3.
Figure 1.4
The controls available in the Track Header.
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Q Q Q6
Q Minimize/Maximize/Restore buttons—Changes the height of the track between three preset values.Many aspects of a track’s appearance can be customized Track size can be controlled by using theMinimize, Maximize, and Restore buttons in the Track Header The lower edge of the track in the TrackHeader can also be dragged to change the size Finally, the vertical scroll bar on the right side can beused to zoom in and out of the timeline, changing the height of all the tracks Tracks can be all differentsizes The width of the Track Header can be changed by dragging the narrow bar that separates it fromthe timeline
Q Track Number/Type/Color/Pitch—The track number is the order of the track from the top down and islocated in the top-left corner The track number is simply a numerical indication of the tracks’ order fromtop to bottom The track order, and thus the track number, does not affect the mix or sound of a project.Track color can be changed by right-clicking the colored square in the Track Header, selecting Colorfrom the pop-up context menu, and then choosing a color from the sub-menu The color of the waveform
of the events inserted into the timeline is determined this way as well This color is used for your ence only One possible idea is to make all bass tracks the same color, all percussion tracks another,keyboard tracks another, and so on The type of track is largely determined by the kind of media filebeing used (such as wav or mid), but can be set independently in certain situations Loop tracks arerepresented with a looped arrow, One Shot tracks with a straight arrow, MIDI tracks with a painter’spalette, and video tracks with a filmstrip icon Pitch shifting information is also displayed in this area ofthe track See Chapter 9, “Loops,” for a discussion of loop and track types
refer-Q Track Name—Defaults to the name of the media file, but can be changed By default, the name of atrack is derived from the name of the source media file You can change this name by double-clicking itand entering a new one
Q Bus/Device Selection button—This sets the routing for the track to one of the busses or devices The ACIDaudio signal can be sent through any number of real devices (such as multiple sound cards), virtualdevices (busses in the ACID software), or effects (FX), just as an audio signal can be sent through adevice in a real studio (such as a guitar through a phaser pedal) Although this can seem a bit confusing
at first, all of this routing gives you a lot of flexibility and power to control the mix The Bus/DeviceSelection button isn’t visible on the track unless you have more than one sound card on your computer
or have inserted an additional bus or FX into the project See Chapter 6 for more information on ing tracks together into a bus
group-Q Track FX button—Click this button to add effects to a track See Chapter 7, “FX,” for more information
on adding and modifying a project with effects
Q Mute and Solo buttons—These are mutually exclusive buttons that silence a track or make it the onlytrack playing Click the Solo button on one track to hear only that track Click another Solo button onanother track to hear both of those tracks Click multiple Solo buttons to play several “solo” tracks at
a time Likewise, click the Mute button on a track to silence it Multiple tracks can also be muted at thesame time
Trang 261 Make sure the Draw tool, the pencil on the toolbar, is selected (see Figure 1.6).
2 Click the track and drag from left to right
As you draw an event, you see the waveform appear, and there are periodic notches in the borders.We’ll discuss this in more detail later, but for now, press Shift+Spacebar and hear what it sounds like
In Figure 1.7, the media file Synco Shuffle 3b.wav in the Explorer window is used to create track 1.The event in the track represents the sound of the media file as a waveform It also controls how the
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media file is used in the project, setting which part of the entire file is played, how many times itrepeats, and when it occurs, among other things Media files appear in the Explorer window Whenyou insert a media file into a project, you add it as a new track Occurrences of a media file in a
project are known as events.
Nothing that you do to an event, distortion nor deletion, will ever change the actual media files stored
on your computer Instead, events control every aspect of how the ACID software plays back and mixes
a sound file into a project and then the final song Trimming an event does not trim the media file saved
on your computer This kind of non-destructive editing gives you an open license to create aural mayhem
on your machine, safe in the knowledge that your source media files aren’t being modified
An event can be shorter than the media file it contains, in which case only a portion of the loop ismixed into the project Another event can be longer than the loop it contains, in which case multiplerepetitions of the loop are mixed into the project Figure 1.8 shows a number of different events cre-ated from the same media file Track 1 (top track) contains an event that’s exactly the same length asthe loop file, so it repeats only once Track 2 uses the same source loop, but its events use only shortsections of the total file Track 3 also uses that source loop, but its event is three times longer than theoriginal file and therefore it repeats three times
NOTE: REVERSING EVENTS
You can reverse events on the timeline Right-click the event and select Reverse from the menu, or just press U on your keyboard
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9
All You Need to Know
And that, in a few pages, is all you need to know:
1 Start a new project
2 Create some tracks by dragging media files onto the timeline
3 Draw events on the timeline to create music
If this was all new to you, now is the time to take a break and begin your addiction to the ACIDapplication Otherwise, let’s explore some of the details we’ve glossed over so far
Figure 1.9
The New Project dialog All of the information on the Audio tab is optional.
Trang 29CHAPTER 1 } A Song Is Born
All of the information on the Summary tab is optional The Audio tab contains properties that affectthe quality of the project’s output:
Q Master bus mode (see Chapter 6) determines whether your project is a simple stereo project or in fancy5.1 Surround Sound At this point, we’d highly recommend that you start out with a stereo project, sincethat will be complicated enough to mix Besides, you’ll certainly want to downmix a 5.1 project tostereo for compatibility anyway Unless you know what you’re doing, we’ll save 5.1 for a later chapter
Q Number of additional stereo busses (see Chapter 6) determines how many busses are available togroup tracks together or for Assignable FX This number depends on your hardware setup (such as thenumber and type of sound cards), and on how many groups of tracks you’d like to create Don’t worry
if the concept of busses and whether you need them is mysterious at this point; additional busses areeasy to create and can be added at any time More information on busses and why you might want touse them is available in Chapter 6 More information on Assignable FX and how they work is available
in Chapter 7
Q Sample rate is one of the two fundamental parameters that control the final objective quality of theaudio file that you render from your project The sample rate is measured as the number of samples persecond (Hz) 44,100Hz (44.1KHz) is the same quality as a music CD and most ACID loops, and that’sthe default setting in the ACID software You’ll want to select 48,000Hz for DVD audio projects Highernumbers mean higher quality and larger final file sizes, while lower numbers make smaller files thatmay be more suitable for distribution on the Internet Although it’s convenient to set up a project samplerate in this dialog, it’s not necessary The final song’s sample rate can be set independently when yourender it after the project is finished
Q Bit-depth is the other fundamental parameter that determines the quality of a song, and it’s measured asthe number of bits per sample Having more bits per sample allows you to save more information aboutthe sample, yielding a higher-quality file 8 bit-depth represents each sound pressure measurement (on
a microphone or out of a speaker), with only 256 possible values (2 to the 8th power) 16 bit-depthsamples have a much greater resolution, with 65,536 possible values (2^16) Bit-depth is important toboth file size and quality, and it’s discussed in greater detail in Chapter 12, “Publishing.” For now, a bit-depth of 16 is fine, since that’s CD quality and is the bit-depth of most loops If your source mediauses a bit-depth of 16, selecting a bit-depth of 24 offers no advantages or improvements in quality
NOTE: CALCULATING FILE SIZE
From the bit-depth and sample rate, you can calculate the final file size For one second of uncompressed CD-quality audio:
(44,100 Hz ⫻ 16 bit) ⫻ 2 stereo channels = 1,411,200 bits
Or, since there are 8 bits in a byte:
(1,411,200 bits / 8) = ~176,400 bytes
For a number of reasons, such as the actual size of a byte, this is only an estimate The final file has a small amount
of additional information saved in the header, so the actual file size is slightly larger.
Q
Q Q Q10
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11
If you want your project to always use the same settings, and they’re different from the ACID defaultsettings (stereo, 44Khz, 16 bit), select the Start All New Projects with These Settings option at the bot-tom of the dialog
Saving Your Project
Immediately after you create a new project, you can save it as a project file on your hard drive Untilyou save a project, no information or changes you make will be permanent To save a project:
1 Select Save from the File menu, or press Ctrl+S
2 The first time you do this, the Save As dialog opens Browse for the desired location on your hard diskdrive (HDD) and enter a name for the new project The name will have the format MYPROJECT.ACD,replacing MYPROJECT with whatever name you choose The acd extension is required for ACID project files
3 Click the Save button when you’re finished
After you save the project, you can make future saves by pressing Ctrl+S You should get into thehabit of pressing Ctrl+S whenever you’ve made a change that you like Better to save as frequently
as possible than to lose your work due to a power failure or some other glitch To create a copy of aproject, select Save As from the File menu and enter a new name This is a great way to create differ-ent versions of the same song
Change Project Properties
Although you can set up the project properties when you create a new project, you can also changethese settings at any time Furthermore, you can always change the settings on the Audio tab whenyou make a final render:
1 Select Properties from the File menu, or press Alt+Enter You can also click the Project Audio Propertiesbutton on the Mixer window (see Figure 1.10)
2 On the Summary tab, enter the optional song composition, engineering, and copyright information.Some audio file formats you create for publication will save this information along with the song Otherwise, this information is used for your personal reference
3 On the Audio tab, enter the number of additional stereo busses This is important if you have multipleaudio outputs, such as multiple soundcards
NOTE: WHEN TO USE RENDER AS
The Save and Save As commands are used only to save proprietary ACID project files (.acd) When you’re ready to create a song for general playback on any media player, to burn to a CD, or to publish on the Internet, use the Ren- der As command.
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4 Also on the Audio tab, set up the quality of the song The default settings for the sample rate (Hz) andbit-depth are 44,100Hz (44.1kHz) and 16-bit, which is CD quality These settings can all be changedwhen you create the final version of the song for publication
5 For future convenience, select the Start All New Projects with These Settings item to always load newprojects with these changes
6 Click the OK button when you’re finished
Exploring Loops and Previewing
After you start a new project, you see the ACID workspace and a completely empty timeline with notracks on it Since events are what you mix into a final song, and they’re created from loops on yourcomputer, locating loops is the first step in creating a song
You locate loops using the ACID Explorer window This window looks and operates just like WindowsExplorer and is just as easy to use The left side of the window contains the Tree View, which allowsyou to browse through drives and folders, while the right side contains the List View, which displaysfolders and media files By default, the Explorer window is located in the Window Docking area atthe bottom of the ACID user interface (UI) If it’s not, select Explorer from the View menu or pressAlt+1
Although you can drag media files directly into the ACID workspace from Windows Explorer, theACID Explorer window displays more loop-related information and allows you to preview loops auto-matically You can (and should) preview loops while playing back a project, so you can auditionthem to see if they fit the creative vision for your song There are a small number of buttons along thetop of the Explorer window, pictured in Figure 1.11:
Figure 1.10
The Project Audio Properties
button on the Mixer window.
Trang 32Q Exploring Loops and Previewing
Q To display information about a selected loop, click the arrow next to the Display button in the Explorerwindow and select the Summary View item from the menu
Q To preview the selected loop file automatically, click the Auto Preview button in the Explorer window Ifyou enjoy extra mouse clicks, you can preview loop files manually using the Play and Stop buttons
Q When you have a folder of loops that you particularly like or that you use frequently, click the folder toselect it (in either the left or right panel) and click the Add to Favorites button This creates a shortcut tothat folder in the special My Favorites folder, found in the root of the Tree View
The basic routine when you’re adding media to a project is to play back the project (or loop play asmaller portion of it) and preview media files in the Explorer window one at a time (possibly usingthe arrow keys on your keyboard to move, pause, and preview the files in a folder) until you find suit-able loops Of course, this isn’t an entirely random process As you become more familiar with yourloop library, you’ll be able to zero in on what you need much more quickly
Figure 1.11
The Explorer window toolbar The Auto Pre- view button is an on/off toggle Clicking the View button cycles through the different view options, while click- ing the arrow next to the button displays a menu
of options.
NOTE: LOOPS ON YOUR HARD DRIVE
Most loop libraries come on CD-ROM discs The ACID Explorer window allows you to browse for and preview media files in any location on your computer, including on floppy disks (Remember those?) Typically, though, CD-ROM drives aren’t as fast as your computer’s hard drives Because you’ll be previewing loops frequently, it’s highly recommended that you copy your loop libraries to your HDD Although media files such as loops can take
up a lot of space, you’ll save a lot of time by having them on your HDD Not to mention that you won’t need to swap discs in and out of your CD-ROM drive.
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Event Basics
Loops and events are the bricks you use to build songs in the ACID software, so creating events is themost important skill to master Fortunately, it isn’t very difficult For one reason or another, SonyMedia Software decided that a drawing or painting metaphor is appropriate for describing eventcreation in the ACID application This is why the two primary tools used to create events are theDraw and Paint tools The rest of this section covers all of the basic event operations, such as copying,pasting, and moving them around a project
Creating a Track
All audio events, video events, and MIDI events are contained in tracks on the timeline Therefore,you need to create a new track before you can create an event To create a track, browse for andpreview loops in the ACID Explorer window, and then double-click one to create a track
When you add a new track to your project, the ACID application adds it as the last track You can alsoadd media files to the timeline, creating a new track wherever you drop each file Once the ACID soft-ware creates a track and it’s visible on the ACID timeline, it’s ready for you to insert events into it
Creating an Event with the Draw Tool
Finally, we get to the meat and potatoes of ACID music composition: the creation of events The est tool to use is the Draw tool, which is selected by default when the ACID software is run
easi-To draw an event, click the Draw tool button on the easi-Toolbar or press Ctrl+D This is the default tool,
so it may be selected already Then click on the timeline and drag the mouse cursor horizontally fromleft to right to draw an event, as pictured in Figure 1.12 (Right to left will also work, if you prefer.)
Events can be any length at all Most events in a project are based on loops that can be repeated,and therefore they’re contained in loop tracks, which are identified by the loop icon in the TrackHeader In summary, to create an event, double-click a media file in the ACID Explorer window tocreate a track, and then draw the event on the timeline
Events that are created in a loop track will loop automatically when the event extends beyond thelength of the original media file A small notch at the top and bottom of the looped event marks eachrepetition (see Figure 1.13)
Figure 1.12
Using the Draw tool to draw
an event on the timeline.
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15
Using the Paint Tool
The Paint tool is not unlike the Draw tool, in that you still drag the mouse on the timeline to createevents Click the Paint tool button on the Toolbar, or press the D key repeatedly until it’s selected.Then click on the timeline and drag the mouse cursor horizontally to paint an event The Paint toolhas four uses:
Q Painting across tracks Although the Draw tool only works horizontally within a single track, the Paint
tool works across all tracks This can be a timesaver in some situations, but mostly it’s just incredibly fun
to doodle around with the Paint tool, creating a song instantly Try this out in a live performance, ing events just-in-time before the playback timeline cursor arrives
paint-Q Creating multiple events with a single stroke Typically this is useful with a short one-shot media file, such
as a single kick drumbeat When you drag the mouse on the timeline while using the Draw tool, a singleinstance of the loop is drawn no matter how far the mouse is dragged When you use the Paint tool,you create a single event for every grid line that you drag across By zooming in and out on the project(roll your mouse wheel), you can set the grid spacing to be once every measure, once every two beats,once every beat, or some other spacing Then, to use the kick-drum beat example, you could use thePaint tool to quickly insert a kick on beat 1 of every measure, on beats 1 and 3, on every beat, or peri-odically at any grid spacing you zoom to
Q Erasing Right-click an event using the Paint tool to erase sections of the event The amount of the eventthat’s erased is equal to the space between two grid lines, and is therefore dependent on grid spacingand zoom level Snapping must be turned on for this to work
Q Joining events Events that are split, or that are in separate pieces, can be rejoined by painting acrossthe split or gap between them
Figure 1.13
This event contains three repetitions of a media file The notch at the top and bottom of the event indicates each loop.
NOTE: SNAP TO IT
One thing you’ll notice almost immediately about drawing events is that you can’t exactly draw them anywhere you want Instead, the event tends to want to begin on one of the vertical grid lines, and tends to want to end on
another one This behavior is called snapping, and it’s designed to make sure events line up with the project’s beat.
You can toggle snapping on or off by pressing F8.
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The Paint tool is very efficient, and you should definitely play around and learn how to use it
Although it’s not as intuitive to some as the Draw tool, it’s more powerful in many situations
Snapping
Snapping is a default behavior in the ACID software It’s a huge timesaver because it synchronizesloops to the beat automatically Snapping applies not only to moving events, but also to event creation and trimming (see Figure 1.14) There will be many times when you won’t want an event
to snap to the visible grid lines, and there are two main solutions to this: turn off snapping or zoom
in on the project There are three ways to turn off snapping:
Q Click the Enable Snapping button on the Toolbar to toggle it on or off Snapping is on when the button
is pressed
Q Press the F8 key This is a shortcut for the Enable Snapping button and toggles this function on or off
Q To disable snapping temporarily, click on an event and then press the Shift key without releasing themouse button Now you can drag the event with snapping disabled temporarily
Moving and Trimming Events
You can move events around on a track easily by dragging them Since each track is associated with
a single media file, events must remain within their original track (that is, you can only drag eventshorizontally) Once again, the leading edge of the event snaps back and forth to the grid lines as it’sdragged You can drag events over other events on the timeline, covering them up
Trimming events is about as easy as moving them Move the mouse cursor over an event edge Whenthe cursor changes from a tool icon (such as the pencil icon for the Draw tool) to the trim cursor (seeFigure 1.15), drag the edge of the event toward the center of the event to shorten it, or away from theevent to lengthen it Again, the edge you’re trimming snaps to the grid lines Events that you’re trim-ming are always selected, which is indicated by an event background that’s a color other than white
Figure 1.14
Events line up with the
vertical grid lines on
the timeline Also
notice that the beats in
the drum part tend to
line up with the grid
lines as well This is all
automatic as long as
snapping is turned on.
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Waveforms
A waveform is a visual representation of a sound file In ACID events, waveforms are visible in the Chopper window and the Track Properties window, among other places Ultimately, you edit
in the ACID software by ear, but you can make very precise cuts, splits, and trims simply by looking
at the peaks and valleys of a media file or event
Q The size of a peak indicates the amplitude (loudness) of the sound
Q Stereo media files have two parallel waveforms that represent the two stereo channels The top
waveform is the left channel and the bottom waveform is the right channel
Q The color of a waveform corresponds to the associated track’s color
You can use waveforms to identify where the beat falls in rhythmic music The two events in Figure1.16 display the waveforms of two different media files The top track has a spoken-word media file.The bottom track contains a drum part and displays clear periodic peaks in the waveform that line upwith the beats marked along the top of the timeline By zooming in and out on the timeline or inanother window, you can see more detail in the waveform and make more accurate edits
Figure 1.15
As you move your mouse cursor over the edge of an event, it will eventually turn into a trim cursor, indicating that you can now drag the edge of events to trim them.
Figure 1.16
The top event is monophonic, and the bottom one is in stereo.
NOTE: WHAT ARE SFK FILES?
The ACID software calculates and draws the waveforms of media files at the time of insertion For short media files (like most loop files), this is extremely fast and you might not even notice the delay The waveforms for longer media files, typically entire songs or the soundtrack to a video file, take much longer to draw In these situations, the ACID application stores the waveform drawing on your hard drive as an sfk file for future reference For example, if you inserted suppers_ready.mp3 (roughly 23 minutes long) into a project, the application would calculate the waveform, which might take a few dozen seconds, and save it to suppers_ready.sfk You can delete these small sfk files at any time, since the ACID software will redraw them as necessary
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Slip Trimming
When you’re trimming an event, the event edge moves to cover or reveal a media file For example,when you trim a drum part with a kick beat on one, the kick remains on beat one, even though theevent gets longer or shorter In slip trimming, the relative distance of the media file from the edgebeing trimmed remains the same In other words, the media within the event moves along with thetrim and changes relative to the project, the timeline, and the beat
Take a look at Figure 1.17 for a visual explanation The top event is the original event The secondtrack shows what happens if you drag the edge of the event (trim it) longer The last track shows theresults of a slip trim to the same position The event is the same length as the one in track 2, but themedia within the event is in a different position Notice that the loop notch is also in a different posi-tion, and that the mouse cursor is a slip trim cursor
You can engage slip trimming by pressing the Alt key while dragging the edge of an event Watch forthe mouse cursor to change from the regular draw or paint tool cursor to the special slip trim cursorwhen the Alt key is pressed
Shifting the Media Within an Event
The media within an event can also be shifted and moved relative to the project while the event itselfremains stationary In Figure 1.18, the first track has a single event in it The track below it has anidentical event, but the media within it has been shifted Notice that the waveform of the event in thesecond track is in a different position than in the first track, even though the event remains in thesame position on the timeline The mouse cursor also changes to a shift cursor This is simply a varia-tion of slip trimming
Figure 1.17
The third track shows the results of
a slip trim You can see the slip
trim cursor on the last event, which
is a reversed regular trim cursor
Figure 1.18
The waveform of the second
event is shifted to the right, but
the event itself remains in the
same position when you slip
trim.
Trang 38of other tools in the Chopper window that make trimming easier.
To view the Chopper window, select Chopper from the View menu or press Alt+2 The Chopper dow displays the entire media file of the selected track Click on a different track to load a differentmedia file into the Chopper To trim and insert events into the timeline using the Chopper:
win-1 Drag the mouse on the waveform in the Chopper window This creates a selection region that’s lighted
high-2 Position the timeline cursor on the main timeline where you would like the new event to be inserted
3 In the Chopper window, click the Insert button
You can see in Figure 1.19 that the selection area in the Chopper window is also highlighted on themain timeline, representing the location of the event to be inserted
There are many more features, including (but not limited to) markers, regions, and spacing out events
at regular intervals See Chapter 4, “Polishing Up,” for more information on trimming events usingthe Chopper, creating interesting variations on a media file by splitting it up creatively
Figure 1.19
The selected area in the Chopper window
is inserted into the timeline at the cursor’s position.
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Zooming
Zooming is a fundamental skill that’s easy to master Zooming helps you work on the timing of yourproject in more detail At extreme levels of zooming, you can make microsecond-level and even sam-ple-level changes in event placement and trimming Zooming also subdivides the project into finergrid lines (see Figure 1.20), giving you more control over event placement and trimming, yet contin-ues to offer snapping to the existing song structure
There are a number of different zooming methods Zooming in on the timeline horizontally meansthat less time is visible, but you can see more detail in the waveforms Zooming out horizontallyshows more of a project and gives you an overview of the song Vertical zooming changes the trackheight More information on zooming is found in Chapter 2, “Getting Around.”
Copying, Cutting, and Pasting Events
The standard Windows functions of copying, cutting, and pasting all work in the ACID software asyou’d expect them to As with Windows, copying or cutting an event places the data on the WindowsClipboard temporarily The Copy, Cut, and Paste items are all available on the Edit menu The stan-dard Windows shortcuts apply (Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+X for cut, Ctrl+V for paste) Copying leaves theoriginal event on the track, while cutting removes it You can also right-click an event and select Copy
or Paste from the context menu (see Figure 1.21) Once you have some data saved to the temporaryWindows Clipboard, you can paste it into a new location
Figure 1.20
The grid lines in the top example
are at every measure The
sec-ond example is zoomed in a bit,
and the grid lines fall on each
beat The final example is
zoomed in much further and
shows even more detail in the
pictured event.
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21
When you’re pasting an event, click on the timeline to move the cursor to the location where youwant the pasted event to begin The cursor snaps to the nearest grid line, meaning that the pastedevent is snapped into synchronization with the project automatically Snapping can be turned off(F8), or for more precise placement, you can move the cursor using the left and right arrow keys onyour keyboard
Another way of pasting in the ACID software is the Paste Repeat command (see Figure 1.22) Thisallows you to paste an event multiple times quickly, either end to end or with a defined interval betweenrepetitions To Paste Repeat an event from the Clipboard:
1 Click on the timeline to move the cursor to the location where you want the pasted event to begin
2 Select Paste Repeat from the Edit menu or press Ctrl+B
3 In the Paste Repeat dialog, enter the number of times you want the event to be repeated in the Number
of Times to Paste box
4 Select a paste spacing option and enter a spacing interval in the Paste Every box, if applicable
Figure 1.21
Right-click an event to display a context menu that contains the Copy, Cut, and Paste commands (among others).