Sony’s ACID Pro (formerly Sonic Foundry’s ACID Music) is a popular loop-based music production application. Supported by systems running Windows 2000 and XP (no Mac OS support), it is a powerful audio-editing tool that can stretch or compress sound without altering its pitch. ACID Pro includes lots of DirectX audio effects, employs powerful new Media Manager technology, Beatmapper and Chopper tools, as well the ability to mix in 5.1-channel (24-bit, 192kHz) surround.

ACID Pro ($499/£285) uses loops containing tempo and key information for proper pitch transposition, laid out across the screen to create music tracks. Similar to Steinberg’s VST platform, many ACID Pro loop sample CDs are available from Sony, as well as a number of other companies. Sony also produces a content Web site, ACIDplanet.com, aimed at current ACID users, prospective ACID users and the general public that self-describes itself as ‘the Internet’s premier site for music, video and unique artists.’

In case you’re just venturing into home-based audio recording and all this jargon is a little baffling, a music loop is an audio file that, when played over and over, sounds like a continuous piece of music. A single loop might be a drum beat, guitar riff, keyboard part, or a vocal sample. With a music creation tool such as ACID Pro, you can create new songs by selecting and arranging different musical loops. Purchased loops are royalty-free so the finished compositions you create from them belong to you. Loops from the Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples collection are CD-quality sound files in WAV file format.

The Sony Sound Series Loops & Samples collection (formerly known as Loops for ACID) contains over 50,000 flexible, layerable custom sounds, packaged on CD-ROMs called loop libraries. Loops & Samples loop libraries are used by music enthusiasts and professional music producers at every level of ability, including top names in today’s world of contemporary music.

Sony Sound Series loop libraries are optimised for use in ACID software, but can also be used with any other product that supports the WAV sound file format. Each library contains hundreds of professionally recorded loops, and start at just $29.95 each. You can browse the ever-expanding collection of Sony Sound Series loop libraries at www.sonymediasoftware.com. Thankfully, ACID Pro 6 includes over 1000 Sony Sound Series loops so you can start creating music right out of the box.

Sony Media Software’s ACID Pro 6 is a relatively significant upgrade to the professional music creation and production application. Ideal for loop-based music production, ACID Pro 6 includes new multitrack recording and MIDI capabilities, transforming the software into a full-featured professional digital music workstation.

ACID Pro 6 provides advanced users (it’s hardly the most intuitive application!) with new ways to record, produce, mix and arrange audio and music compositions, far beyond the capabilities found in prior versions. And the upgraded multitrack recording and MIDI sequencing platform allows you to create music using a fast, efficient and easy-to-master method that produces high quality results.

In addition to its expanded feature set and new multi-threaded audio engine, ACID Pro 6 also reflects enhancements in Sony’s ongoing relationship with Native Instruments, creator of soft synths and samplers. ACID Pro 6 includes Native Instruments’ KOMPAKT Sony ACID Pro Edition (worth $200), a configurable sample playback engine that includes a custom sound library assembled by Native Instruments specifically for ACID Pro 6. Hook up a MIDI keyboard and you’ve got 120 instruments playable from high-quality samples (pianos and keys, basses, guitars, drums and percussion, organs, ethnic instruments and the like), with effects and synth parameters that you can apply.

Multitrack audio and MIDI recording lets you simultaneously record multiple tracks of audio and MIDI into the ACID timeline through a variety of methods, including step recording, punch in/out, continuous looping and more, while multiple media files per track lets you layout multiple media files per track, including one-shots, Beatmapped events, loops and disc-based files with new automatic crossfade capabilities.

In fact, multitrack recording has been so well-integrated that experienced ACID Pro users may need to rethink their workflow. The software’s capabilities have expanded dramatically, and so has its potential role in audio production. There’s no longer any need to export tracks from ACID Pro into another application to incorporate them into a multitrack recording session, for instance. It’s a novel experience for anyone who’s used previous versions of ACID Pro to enable multiple tracks for recording and watch the waveforms paint themselves across the interface simultaneously.

MIDI data can now be manipulated directly on the ACID timeline, using either a piano roll or a drum grid interface. You can edit all note positions, velocity, pitch bend, and controller information using a visual approach in the main multitrack interface. ACID Pro 6 now also provides processing of MIDI data directly on the timeline, including quantisation, swing, editing of velocity values, event duration changes, and more.

Using automation envelopes, ACID Pro 6 software provides increased mixing flexibility for VST instrument parameters, and the Drum Map Editor provides a neat way to create custom Drum Map templates. ACID Pro 6 now provides for the creation of project sections that lets you more efficiently rearrange time-based segments of audio and MIDI events located across multiple tracks.

The software allows for hands-on mixing using external hardware control surfaces, such as control record, transport, envelopes, faders, mutes, solos, pans, and effects automation. It also includes native support for the Mackie Control Universal, however the generic control interface option allows user-customisable mapping of up to five generic control surfaces. The new multitrack workflow provides you with the ability to monitor audio signals with real-time track effect DSP during recording sessions.

The Media Manager is a powerful way to tag, organise, and search your collection of content. You can use project sections to audition different arrangements of a project, as well as maximise efficiency with folder tracks and cluster editing. The Clip Pool lets you easily choose and arrange the events you want to use in your compositions, and you can place multiple media clips on one track - automatic crossfades tie everything together.

Finally, you can deliver projects in nearly any format without leaving the ACID Pro 6 environment thanks to integrated DAO CD burning, AC3, AIF, ATRAC, AVI, MOV, MP3, MPEG-1 & MPEG-2, OGG, PCA, RM, W64, WAV, WMA, and WMV support.

ACID Pro 6 will definitely please long-standing users of the software. The combination of a multitrack recording environment for audio and MIDI along with excellent looping tools really opens up an exciting range of possibilities for composers, studios, musicians and multimedia work. This is without a doubt the best and most comprehensive version of ACID Pro ever. Highly recommended!

[9] - Editors’ Choice

[Best Software Pricing UK]
[Best Software Pricing US]

BIOS, Apr 24, 06 | Print | Send | Comments (1) | Posted In Audio