newbie needs help w/ acid 4!

[pyoo323]

hi guys.

i'm completely new to home recording, and I just got myself a few things with the cash i had from christmas to buy me some things to get a few of my songs recorded. i'm only 15, so bear with my lack of equipment. all i have right now is a m-audio mobilepre with a shure sm57 mic plugged into it. i'm using acid 4, but here's my problem:

I'm recording a song as different tracks. i don't know if this would be the right terminology, so i'll try my best to just explain it. I'm recording a cover of a john mayer song, daughters. the way I'm doing it is, first I'm recording the guitar part down. then i record the solo guitar parts. then i record vocals. and lastly, i record a rythmn part which is just a shaker acting as the metronome. so I want to be able to loop the guitar parts because it's repetetive, and the shaker as well, since its just like a metronome and just shaking at every downbeat. so how do i loop this in acid? when i try to do loop playback or whatever, it just loops all 4 tracks. i just want to loop one or two tracks, seperately. any help would be appreciated.

btw, if there is a tutorial on this kinda stuff online, let me know, i could use a good reading. (and a reading on adobe audition 1.5 as well would be needed )

thanks in advance...

-Peter

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

I would record the shaker first, since it will be acting as your metronome.

After you have recorded the shaker (if I were you, I would record an eight count) and it has placed itself in the project, draw it.

Right click the waveform [if you have an audio editor, send it to the editor program, then TRUNCATE the unnecessary beginning and ending parts of the sample]>once you're back in ACID, right click the waveform again>open TRACK PROPERTIES> select LOOP.

Now you need to make sure that your soundcard (and probably Acid) is configured to record form the souncard INPUT, not the soundcard INPUT AND ACID.

Once you have you shakers drawn to the length of your preference, you can start to record you first instrument.

Once you have recorded your first instrument and it has added itself to the project, you can repeat the process to record your second instrument. Then you can repeat the process to record your vocals.

I have been assuming that you want four seperate tracks.

If the info I have shared with you is a bit confusing I will share it with you in a different fashion.

 

[pyoo323]

Oh man, you lost me, sorry this is my first time using acid. You mentioned the use of an audio editor, I thought Acid was just that? What's a good program that'll truncate the beginning or whatever. What is the meaning of truncate anyway? I'm guessing that it takes away the blank seconds in the beginning of the recording? Thanks...

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

Oh man, you lost me

OK, let's try to walk you through this ....

What is the meaning of truncate anyway?

TRUNCATE=cut off and/or delete

I'm guessing that it takes away the blank seconds in the beginning of the recording?

Yes, you are correcto mundo.

What's a good program that'll truncate the beginning or whatever.

There are a few audio editors to choose from in the home recording game.

I would suggest Sound Forge.

I use Sound Forge (as well as do most of the viewers of this portion of the forum).

It is not truly necessary to use an audio editor with Acid (however I would suggest that you do).

If you are trying to make a song that consists of four tracks, you can do this...

-figure your tempo of the song (beats per minute) [do you want a fast tempo or a slow tempo].

-lay down a click track to help you keep rhythm. You can use a solo kick/beat.

-record your shakers

then

-record you main guitar

then

-record your added guitars

then

-record your vocals

then

-rearrange the parts that you want, if you want.

If I was unclear or if you have some more questions, please feel free to ask for more assistance.

 

[pyoo323]

Would I be adding the click track on soundforge? I have no clue to how to add one on ACID, so if I get soundforge, I can do the click track there?

Thanks a lot for your help, I really appreciate it!

 

[SPINSTERWUN]

Would I be adding the click track on soundforge?

No.

I have no clue to how to add one on ACID.

Try to read the manual. If you can't figure it out, I will walk you through it.

so if I get soundforge, I can do the click track there?

No.