File Conversion
ACID

 

ARRANGING MUSIC WITH SONIC FOUNDRYS ACID

 

A loop is a sound that sounds good when played over and over. Music is repetitive by nature. Sonic Foundry makes a wonderful and really inexpensive loop based music arrangement tool called ACID. For the Mac, Bitheadz Software makes a program like Acid called Phrazer. Phrazer is mostly the same as Acid, and is available for download at: http://www.bitheadz.com

Acid is a super cool program. Its actually pretty easy to use. Acid allows you to place many tracks of WAV sound on top of each other, and helps you sync them so that they sound good. Youll use a number of different layers, each containing one sound. That sound can occur once, or it can be played over and over in a loop. Youll pile sounds that work well on top of each other until you have a song! You can control the volume of each sound. You can also record sounds into Acid as your composition plays. Youre going to make your own songs. Youll be bigger than the Beatles.

Youre about to have more fun than you ever knew you could with the computer. Even more fun that at the web design course page.

Yes, even more fun than those porn sites.

 

Acid is Loop Based

Acid works best with music that is intended to loop, or play more than once in a row. Most music works this way. The drumbeat is mostly repetitive; the bass holds the song to a particular rhythm. Just because the music is loop based doesnt mean it has to be repetitive. You can add and remove sounds whenever you like. You can add effects, and recorded solos to your music. Acid will also accept longer pieces of recorded WAV sound. The more sounds you insert into Acid, the larger your Acid Project file size will be, but when you finally export to WAV it doesnt matter how many sounds your song has. A one-minute WAV file will always be the same size.

Acids innovative technology analyzes the tempo of loops you use and matches them to the songs tempo.

 

Previewing Sounds With the Explorer

Acid is a pretty easy program to use once you know where everything is. First youll need to know how to preview sounds you might want to place into your mix. You can preview sounds by themselves, or if you want to hear what a sound might add to your composition, you can preview it while your mix plays.

At the bottom of the Acid screen, youll see a number tabs. The Explorer tab allows you to search through your computer for WAV sounds to place in your composition. The graphic below illustrates the areas youll need to pay attention to when previewing sounds.

 

 

To Preview Sounds

  1. Click the Explorer Tab
  2. On the left, navigate through your computer hierarchy until you find and open the folder containing the sounds you might want to use.
  3. In the large center window, you will see all of the sounds in your chosen folder.
  4. Select a sound by clicking it.
    Itll start playing.
  5. You can control the volume of a previewing sound by adjusting Preview Playback Volume Slider, in the lower right corner of the Acid window.

 

Adding Tracks

Once you find a sound you like, select it and hit ENTER on your keyboard.

The sound will appear in the Track Editor.

 

If you already have more than one track, your new sound will appear in the last layer. You can also drag a sound into the track editor and place it wherever you want.

 

Removing Tracks

To remove a track, click on the name of the track, and hit Delete on the keyboard.

 

Adding Sound to a Track With the Draw Tool

Weve added a new track, but we havent yet talked about how to put sound on that layer. Youre basically going to "draw" the sound in.

To draw sound on a layer:

  1. Select the Draw Tool from the toolbar at the top of the Acid Window.
  2. Click and drag in the layer where you want the sound to go.
  3. Each notch in the sound is one loop.

You can add sound anywhere in the track. You dont have to start at the beginning. You can add sounds at multiple places in the track.

 

Removing Sounds

To remove the sound, simply click it and hit Delete on your keyboard.

 

Zooming In and Out

Some actions will require precise sound placement and editing. Zooming is your friend. You can use the magnifying glasses next to the track editor scroll bars to zoom horizontally or vertically, or you can use the arrow keys on you keyboard to zoom horizontally.

Try zooming in to look at you work.

 

Controlling Playback

After you place some sounds, youll want to test them to see how they sound.

At the top of the Acid Window, youll find the playback controls.

 

You can also use the following keyboard commands to control playback.

SPACEBAR: Plays and stops the playback head

ENTER: Stops the playback head.

LEFT AN RIGHT ARROW: Moves the playback head a small amount.

 

Loop Play

Sometimes youll want to listen to a part over and over again to make sure you got it right. Or, you might want to loop a certain part while you experiment with previewing and adding sounds.

You can easily loop a segment by adjusting the loop region.

The Loop Region Marker is found at the top of the track-editing window. Youll have an easier time with it if you zoom in.

The Loop Region Marker is also used later to mark a specific area for export.

To Loop a Segment

  1. Drag the Loop Region Marker where you want it. Adjust the covered area by dragging the Loop Region Markers edges.
  2. Click the Play Looped button
  3. Click the Play Button

 

You must turn off the Play Looped button to stop the loop.

You may preview or record sounds while in a loop.

 

Selecting and Moving Sounds

 

Selecting Sounds

You may use the Draw Tool to select and move sounds.

Hold Ctrl to select multiple sounds.

Hold SHIFT to select all the sounds in between the two you click.

Use the Select Tool on the keyboard to select large areas or sounds on multiple tracks. To use the Select tool, simply click and drag over sounds you wish to select.

 

Moving Sounds

As well as cut and paste, you can drag, shorten, or elongate sounds.

To drag a sound, hold it in the middle, and drag.

To shorten or lengthen a sound, hold its edge and drag.

 

Slicing a Sound

You dont have to use the whole sound. You can chop a sound up, and use it in pieces or parts.

To slice a sound:

  1. Click the sound where you wish to slice it.
  2. On your keyboard, hit the S key.

The sound has been sliced and moved.

 

Using Markers

You can add markers to mark regions of the song, like chorus and verse. You can also use markers to remind yourself where you want to do something later on.

Notice the Red Marker

 

Adding Markers

To add a marker, click where you want the marker to go, and hit the M key on your keyboard. You can also hit M during playback to add a marker on the fly.

 

Renaming Markers

You can write anything you want next to a marker. Simply right-click the marker and choose Rename.

 

Deleting Markers

To delete a marker, right click the marker, and choose Delete.

 

Navigating to Markers

You can automatically navigate between markers by holding Ctrl and using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

 

Volume

 

Changing Volume for the Whole Track

Each layer has a volume slider that allows you to adjust the volume for that sound. You can also mute the layer, or play it solo, which mutes all the other layers.

 

Changing Volume for Smaller Segments

You can adjust the volume for small segments on a track.

  1. Select the sound segment you wish to change the volume for.
  2. RIGHT CLICK-> ENVELOPE-> VOLUME

 

  1. You may now drag the sounds blue volume level up or down

 

Volume Points

You may want the sound to get gradually louder, or you might want it to peak just for a moment. You can add Volume Points to adjust the line in a non-linear fashion. Then you can drag the volume points up or down.

To add a Volume Point:

  1. Add a blue volume line (above)
  2. RT CLICK the line, choose Add Point
  3. Drag the volume point up or down
  4. Right Click the Volume point to choose between a slow or fast fade

 

Levels

The Level Meter, found at the lower-right side of the screen, measures the level of sound. It is important not to "over level". The meter tops out at "0". When recording or playing a sound, youll have to make sure that the level meter never passes zero, or youll end up in reverb land. You actually want the meters as close to zero as you can get without going over. Youll notice if the meter goes above zero. The top will turn red and meter will get very upset at you.

Youll need to adjust the volume of your tracks so that your piece sounds right, but never goes over level. This can be one of the more difficult parts of musical composition.

 

Changing Pitch

You know you want to be Barry White. Acid changes pitch by speeding up or slowing down a sound, so its not always the optimal way to change pitch, but if youre only trying to change the pitch a little, it works great.

To change a sounds pitch:

  1. Click the sound
  2. Use the + and keys on your 10 key, on the keyboard. The 10 key are the calculator-type keys on the right side of the keyboard.
    If you hit the + once, the sound goes up an octave.

This sound has been raised 3 octaves

For the most part, you are better off editing a pitch in a sound-editing program like Sound Forge before inserting it into Acid.

 

Recording

You can record directly into Acid. This is very handy for singing over a background track, or for recording live musical instruments. Acid will play your mix while you record. You must use headphones while recording to ensure that the microphone doesnt pick-up playback.

To record:

  1. Click in your mix where you would like the recording to begin.
  2. Click the Record Button on the Acid Tool Bar

 

The recording window will open

 

  1. Name the recording
  2. Click Start, and record your head off
  3. Click Stop or Cancel when youre done
    Stop saves the new recording
    Cancel erases the new recording, in case you messed up.

 

Youll notice that your recording has become a new track.

 

Saving Your Acid Compositions

When you save your Acid files, Acid does not separately save each WAV you used in the song. Instead, it makes a note of where each sound is kept in your hard drive. There are a couple of options youll want to know that will help you keep things straight and allow you to transfer your Acid files from computer to computer.

 

To Save an Acid File

1.      Click FILE-> SAVE

2.      Choose the appropriate type from the File Type menu

 

ACID Project: Normal Acid file. The computer marks the locations of each WAV to be used.

ACID Project with external audio: Acid copies each WAV used in the song and places them in the folder with the song information. This allows you to edit, or delete the WAV you originally placed in the mix, because Acid will refer to the newly created copy from now on.

Mixed Wav File: Will export your Acid file as a WAV, for easy CD burning or MP3 conversion.

 

Exporting Segments

You can export segments of your acid song by adjusting the Loop Playback Markers and clicking:

Edit-> Mix to New Track

 

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