Acid5 Manual

After the ACID® Music Studio™ software is installed and you start it for the first time, the
registration wizard appears. This wizard offers easy steps that allow you to register the
software online with Sony Pictures Digital Media Software and Services. Alternatively, you
may register online at www.sony.com/mediasoftware at any time.
Registering your product will provide you with exclusive access to a variety of technical
support options, notification of product updates, and special promotions exclusive to ACID
Music Studio registered users.
Registration Assistance
If you do not have access to the Internet, registration assistance is available during normal
weekday business hours. Please contact our Customer Service Department by dialing one of
the following numbers:
Telephone/Fax Country
1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) US, Canada, and Virgin Islands
+608-204-7703 for all other countries
1-608-250-1745 (Fax) All countries
Customer Service/Sales
For a detailed list of Customer Service options, we encourage you to visit
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/custserv.asp. Use the following numbers for
telephone support during normal weekday business hours:
Telephone/Fax/E-mail Country
1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) US, Canada, and Virgin Islands
+608-204-7703 for all other countries
1-608-250-1745 (Fax) All countries
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/custserv
Technical Support
For a detailed list of Technical Support options, we encourage you to visit
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/default.asp. To listen to your support options
by telephone, please call 608-256-5555.
Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

Media Software and Services
1617 Sherman Avenue
Madison, WI 53704
USA
The information contained in this manual is subject to change without notice and does not
represent a guarantee or commitment on behalf of Sony Pictures Digital Inc. in any way. All
updates or additional information relating to the contents of this manual will be posted on
the Sony Pictures Digital Media Software web site, located at http://www.sony.com/
mediasoftware. The software is provided to you under the terms of the End User License
Agreement and Software Privacy Policy, and must be used and/or copied in accordance
therewith. Copying or distributing the software except as expressly described in the End
User License Agreement is strictly prohibited. No part of this manual may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express written consent of Sony
Pictures Digital Inc.
ACID Music Studio, Vegas, Sound Forge, XFX, and Perfect Clarity Audio are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Sony Pictures Digital Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and
other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their
respective owners in the United States and other countries.
Copyright 2004. Sony Pictures Digital Inc.
Program Copyright 2004. Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
1
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Welcome to ACID Music Studio software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
System requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Installing ACID Music Studio software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Using online help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Online help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
What’sThis? help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Help on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
About your rights in ACID Music Studio software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
About Your Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Proper Use of Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Learning the ACID Music Studio Window . . . . . . . . . . .11

Overview of ACID Music Studio software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Main window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Track list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Track view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Window docking area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Starting Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
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Setting project properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Opening existing projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Getting media files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Previewing media from the Explorer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Adding media to the project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Working with Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Adding and editing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Painting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Changing the length of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Erasing sections of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Moving events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Making selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Selecting an event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Selecting multiple events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Reversing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Creating time selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Creating event selections within time selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Working with events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Copying events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Pasting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Cutting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Deleting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Trimming events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Splitting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Joining events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Working with tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Understanding track types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Reordering tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Resizing tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Changing track colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Renaming tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
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Duplicating tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Deleting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Copying, cutting, and pasting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Adjusting the mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Muting tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Soloing tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Working with groups of tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Using bus tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Using undo and redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Using undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Undoing all edits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Using redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Clearing the undo history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Playing the project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Using the transport bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Using playback options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Using the metronome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Using the Mixer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Viewing the Mixer window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Using the Mixer toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Renaming mixer controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Using the mixer’s faders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Recording Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Recording audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Setting recording properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Setting recording levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Using the metronome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Adjusting the volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Recording multiple takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Reviewing and saving takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
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Enhancing Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Changing tempo, time signature, and key. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Changing project tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Changing project time signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Changing project key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Working with tempo/key/time signature change markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Changing a track’s key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Changing an event’s key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Using snapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Choosing snapping options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Using the Chopper feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Creating selections in the Chopper window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Inserting increments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Inserting selections in the track view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Working with MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Adding MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Adding MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Creating new MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Recording MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Changing MIDI track properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Pitch shifting MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Setting root notes for MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Working with tracks in a MIDI file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Previewing MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Using the piano roll editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Viewing the piano roll editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Previewing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Selecting MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Adding note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Editing note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
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Quantizing note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Deleting note events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Undoing and redoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Saving MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Using the list editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Viewing the list editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Previewing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Filtering the list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Editing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Creating events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Step recording events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Quantizing events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Deleting events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Undoing and redoing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Saving MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Saving, reloading, or replacing MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Routing MIDI tracks to MIDI devices or soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . 88
Resetting MIDI ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Rendering projects with MIDI tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Playing MIDI from external devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Adding external devices as MIDI inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Assigning MIDI inputs to soft synth controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Working with Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Managing video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Adding or replacing video files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Removing the video track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Hiding and showing the video track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Synchronizing audio and video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Removing the video’s audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Editing video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
TABLE OF CONTENTS
6
Moving video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Trimming video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Slipping and sliding video events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Using the Video window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Copying a frame to the clipboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Using the shortcut menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Viewing the status bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Scoring video with ACID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Saving and Rendering Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Saving a project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Specifying locations for saved media files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Rendering projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Supported formats for rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Creating custom rendering settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Specifying a location for rendered files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Publishing to the Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Creating a personal account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Uploading a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Exporting to Net MD devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Writing to CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Understanding track-at-once and disc-at-once . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Burning single tracks (track-at-once) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Disc-at-once (DAO) CD burning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Proper use of software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
7
CHAPTER
Introduction
1
Welcome to ACID Music Studio software
Congratulations on purchasing a revolutionary software application for Microsoft
Windows®. With ACID® Music Studio™ software from Sony Pictures Digital, you can
create great music by simply picking, painting, and playing.
System requirements
The following lists the minimum system requirements for using the ACID Music Studio
software:
• Microsoft® Windows® 2000 or XP
• 500 MHz processor
• 150 MB hard-disk space for program installation
• 128 MB RAM
• Windows-compatible sound card
• CD-ROM drive (for installation from a CD only)
• Supported CD-Recordable drive (for CD burning only)
• Microsoft DirectX® 8 or later
• Internet Explorer 4.0 or later (version 5.0 included on CD-ROM)
CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION
8
Installing ACID Music Studio software

1. Insert the CD-ROM. The setup screen appears (if CD-ROM AutoPlay is enabled).
If CD-ROM AutoPlay is not enabled, click the button and choose Run. In the Run
dialog that appears, type the CD-ROM drive’s letter and add :\setup.exe. Click OK to start
the installation.
2. Click Install ACID Music Studio. The installation process begins.
3. Follow the on-screen prompts to install the appropriate version of the software for your
computer.
Note: Windows Installer is used for all versions of the Windows

operating system. Windows Installer is installed and then you
are asked to restart your system.
INTRODUCTION CHP. 1
9
Using online help

For the most extensive information on the ACID Music Studio application, please refer to
the help. You can access two varieties of help within the ACID Music Studio application:
• Online help
• What’sThis? help (also referred to as context-sensitive help)
Online help
To access online help, choose Contents and Index from the Help menu or press F1 .
Note: To view online help, Internet Explorer 4.0 or later must

be installed on your system. If you purchased the ACID Music
Studio boxed version, Internet Explorer version 5.0 is included
on your CD-ROM.
Toolbar
Tabs
Information
pane
The Contents tab provides a list of available help topics. Double-click a closed book ( ) to
open the pages and then click a topic page ( ).
The Index tab provides a complete listing of the help topics available. Scroll through the list
of available topics or type a word in the Type in the keyword to find box to quickly locate topics
related to that word. Select the topic and click .
The Search tab allows you to enter a keyword and display all of the topics in the online help
that contain the keyword you have entered. Type a keyword in the Type in the word(s) to
search for box and click . Select the topic from the list and click .
The Favorites tab allows you to keep topics that you revisit often in a separate folder. To add
a topic to your favorites, click on the Favorites tab.
CHP. 1 INTRODUCTION
10
What’sThis? help
What’sThis? help allows you to view pop-up window descriptions for ACID Music Studio
menus, buttons, and dialog boxes. Choose What's This? from the Help menu, press Shift + F1 ,
or click the What’sThis? help button ( ) on the toolbar and then click any ACID Music
Studio item. To use What’sThis? help in a dialog box, click the question mark button ( ) in
the upper-right corner of the dialog box and then click an item in the dialog box.
Help on the Web

Additional ACID Music Studio information is available on the Sony Pictures Digital Media
Software Web site. From the Help menu, choose Sony on the Web, and choose the desired
location from the submenu. The software starts your system’s Web browser and attempts to
connect to the appropriate page on the Sony Web site.
About your rights in ACID Music Studio software

ACID Music Studio software is licensed to you under the terms of the End User License
Agreement. The End User License Agreement is first presented to you when you install the
software. Please review the End User License Agreement carefully as its terms affect your
rights with respect to the software. For your reference, a copy of the End User License
Agreement for ACID Music Studio software is located at
http://www.sony.com/mediasoftware.
About Your Privacy

Sony Pictures Digital respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal
information. Your use of the software is governed by a Software Privacy Policy, a summary
of which is incorporated into the registration process. For your reference, a copy of the
Software Privacy Policy is located at
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/corporate/privacy.asp. Please review its contents
carefully as its terms and conditions affect your rights with respect to the information that is
collected by the software.
Proper Use of Software

The ACID Music Studio software is not intended and should not be used for illegal or
infringing purposes, such as the illegal copying or sharing of copyrighted materials. Using
ACID Music Studio software for such purposes is, among other things, against United States
and international copyright laws and contrary to the terms and conditions of the End User
License Agreement. Such activity may be punishable by law and may also subject you to the
breach remedies set forth in the End User License Agreement.
INTRODUCTION CHP. 1
11
CHAPTER
Learning the
2 ACID Music
Studio Window
Overview of ACID Music Studio software
ACID® Music Studio™ is designed to be a powerful and flexible, but easy-to-use music
creation application. Many of the ACID Music Studio operations, menu items, and shortcut
keys are common to other Sony Pictures Digital applications.
The following sections provide a tour of the ACID Music Studio work area.
Main window
The ACID Music Studio workspace includes three main areas: the track list, the track view
(or timeline), and the window docking area. The other parts of the interface are tools and
features used while creating and working with your project. You can resize the track list,
track view, and window docking area by dragging the dividers between them.
CHP. 2 LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW

12
Divider
Track view
Track list
Divider
Window
docking
area
LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW CHP. 2

13
Toolbar
The toolbar allows you to quickly access commonly used functions and features in ACID
Music Studio.
Opens a new project. You will be prompted to Activates the Metronome to keep time during
save any changes to the current project. recording and playback.
Displays the Open File dialog. From this Activates the Draw tool to add and edit events.
window, you can browse all of the available
drives to select an ACID Music Studio project or
audio file to open.
Saves any changes to the current project. Activates the Selection tool to select multiple
The first time you save a project, the Save As events.
dialog appears.
Opens the Publish wizard so you can share your Activates the Paint tool to insert events across
ACID Music Studio creation on the Web. multiple tracks.
When used in conjunction with the Ctrl key, the
Paint tool can paint an entire one-shot, MIDI, or
Beatmapped media file to an event with one
click.
Clears the selected items from the track view Activates the Erase tool to erase events or parts
and places them on the ACID Music Studio of events.
clipboard. You can then paste them to a new When used in conjunction with the Ctrl key, the
location. Erase tool can erase an entire one-shot, MIDI
track, or Beatmapped track event with one click.
Creates a copy of the selected items from the Activates the Envelope tool to select and modify
track view on the ACID Music Studio clipboard. envelope points.
You can then paste them to a new location.
Inserts the contents of the ACID Music Studio Activates the Time Selection tool to quickly select
clipboard at the current cursor position. The all events within range of time.
pasted items cover any existing events. To make
room for pasted events, choose Paste Insert
from the Edit menu.
Reverses the last action performed. ACID Music Opens a dialog where you can download media
Studio supports unlimited undos, allowing you from the Internet.
to restore the project to any state since the last
save.
Reverses an undo. Opens a frequently updated Web page containing
special offers, tips, tricks, and other good stuff.
Turns the snapping feature on or off. With Opens the Show Me How Tutorials, which
snapping enabled, you can decide whether to explain some of the basic tasks you can perform
snap to the grid or to all elements (markers, within ACID Music Studio software.
regions, etc.).
Locks envelope points so they move with an Activates What’sThis? help to obtain information
event when it is moved along the timeline. about a specific option, menu, or part of the
ACID Music Studio window.

14
Track list
This list identifies the track order in your project and contains the track’s controls. The
following sections identify and briefly explain the controls located in the track list.
Track number/type Track FX
Track name Mute

Solo
Multipurpose slider
Multipurpose slider mode

View buttons
View buttons
These buttons control the track’s appearance (size) on the track list and the track view.
Track number and type

This area identifies the type of file (loop, one-shot, MIDI, Beatmapped) contained in the
track as well as the track’s number in the project. You can quickly change the track order by
dragging selected tracks within the track list.
Track type icons
Loop
One-shot
Beatmapped
MIDI
Track name
When you add a file to a project, the track name is initially the same name as the file’s
name. Right-click the track name and choose Rename from the shortcut menu (or double-
click) to change the track name.

15
Device Selection
On a MIDI track, the Device Selection button ( ) allows you to route the track to a soft
synth or MIDI device.
Track FX button
The Track FX button ( ) accesses the ACID FX window from which you can add, edit, and
apply effects to the track.
Mute button
Clicking the Mute button ( ) temporarily suspends playback of the corresponding track,
allowing you to focus on the project’s remaining tracks. A muted track appears grayed out in
the track view. For more information, see Muting tracks on page 45.
Solo button
Clicking the Solo button ( ) isolates the track during playback by muting the project’s
remaining tracks. For more information, see Soloing tracks on page 45.
Multipurpose slider
This multipurpose slider allows you to control either of the following:
• A track’s volume relative to the project’s other tracks.
• A track’s placement in the stereo spectrum (panning).
The multipurpose slider defaults to displaying a track’s volume control. ACID Music Studio
tracks are preset to -6.0 decibels (dB), but the volume range is -inf. to 12 dB. Each track’s
slider position is independent from the others; however, you can move sliders
simultaneously by selecting multiple tracks before making your adjustment. If you do not see
this slider, expand the track.
You may choose what the slider controls by clicking the Multipurpose slider mode drop-down
icon. Changing the slider type for one track changes it for all tracks so you can compare
levels of the same control across the project. For more information, see Adjusting the mix on
page 44.

16
Track view
In the track view, you can view and edit the events in a track. The area in which events
display is the timeline. The track view contains other elements which are described in the
following sections.
Loop bar Marker bar
Beat ruler
Zoom controls
Transport Time ruler

bar (if displayed)
Marker bar
The marker bar runs the length of your project and contains the tags for markers and regions
positioned along the project’s timeline.
Beat ruler
The beat ruler allows you to place events in reference to the musical time of bars and beats.
This ruler is fixed and does not update when you change the tempo. This allows the events
in the tracks to maintain their size when you adjust the tempo.
Time ruler
The time ruler provides a timeline for your project. This ruler can show real time in many
different formats. The ruler changes with tempo, since the number of beats and beats per
second of real time changes with tempo.

17
Transport bar
The transport bar contains the playback and cursor positioning buttons frequently used
while working on your project.
Record new track Pause/resume project playback
Loop playback Stop playback
Play from beginning of project Move cursor to start of project
Play project from cursor position Move cursor to end of project
Zoom controls
To the right of the horizontal scroll bar are the time zoom controls. Clicking the Zoom In
Time button ( ) increases the horizontal magnification of the project. To decrease the level
of magnification, click the Zoom Out Time button ( ).
Directly below the vertical scroll bar are the dedicated track height zoom controls. Clicking
the Zoom In Track Height button ( ) increases the vertical magnification of the project. To
decrease the level of magnification, click the Zoom Out Track Height button ( ).
Note: Double-clicking the horizontal or vertical scroll bars

adjusts the magnification so that as much of the project (either
horizontally or vertically) is displayed as possible.
Click the Zoom Tool button ( ) in the corner of the track view to temporarily change the
cursor into the Zoom tool. After you select an area of the track view to magnify, the cursor
reverts to the previously active tool.
Note: Double-clicking the Zoom tool adjusts both the horizontal

and vertical magnification so that as much of the project is
displayed as possible.

18
Window docking area

This area allows you to keep frequently-used
windows available while working on a project.
Two windows display in the window docking area
when you start ACID Music Studio for the first
time: the Explorer and the Mixer. The Track
Properties, Chopper™, ACID FX, Soft Synth
Properties, and Video windows can be displayed by
clicking the window’s tab or by choosing the desired
window from the View menu.
Tip: You can quickly hide or show the window docking

Click a tab to
area by pressing F11 . view a window
Explorer window
The Explorer window works similarly to the Windows® Explorer. You can use the Explorer
window to locate, preview and select media files to be added to your project. You can also
use the Explorer window to perform common file management tasks, such as renaming files
or creating folders. Display the Explorer by choosing Explorer from the View menu or
pressing Alt + 1 .
Chopper
The Chopper isolates audio events so that you can dissect them and reinsert them into a
project to produce elaborate slice-n-dice effects with minimal effort. Display the Chopper by
choosing Chopper from the View menu or pressing Alt + 2 . For more information, see Using
the Chopper feature on page 63.
Mixer
The Mixer window provides access to output levels, as well as soft synth controls and the
project audio properties. Display the Mixer by choosing Mixer from the View menu or
pressing Alt + 3 . For more information, see Using the Mixer window on page 50.
Video
This window displays prerendered video files that can be imported and synchronized with an
ACID Music Studio project. The video file displays during project playback and can be
rendered with the project to an appropriate format. Display the Video window by choosing
Video from the View menu or pressing Alt + 4 .

19
ACID FX
This window displays the ACID FX chain for the selected track. Display the ACID FX
window by clicking any FX button ( ) or by pressing Alt + 5 .
Track Properties
This window allows you to change track attributes and edit MIDI tracks using OPT plug-ins.
Display the Track Properties window by double-clicking a track’s icon or by pressing
Alt + 6 .
Soft Synth Properties
This window allows you to change the attributes of soft synth controls in the Mixer window.
Display the Soft Synth Properties window by double-clicking a soft synth control’s icon from
the Mixer window or by pressing Alt + 8 .

20

21
CHAPTER
Starting Projects
3
Now that you have an understanding of the interface and controls found in the software, you
are ready to begin creating an ACID® Music Studio™ project.
Getting started
Double-clicking the ACID Music Studio icon on the desktop starts the software. You can
immediately begin building your ACID Music Studio project using the application’s default
project properties. However, you may prefer to customize the project properties prior to
beginning the project.
Setting project properties

ACID Music Studio software allows you to configure project properties and add summary
information prior to beginning a project. Choosing New from the File menu displays the
New Project dialog. This dialog contains two tabs: Summary and Audio. Selecting the Start all
new projects with these settings check box configures the software to use the parameters and
information in both tabs as defaults when starting all subsequent projects.
Note: You can edit project audio properties and summary

information at any time. Choose Properties from the File menu
to display the Project Properties dialog, which contains the
identical tabs and parameters as the New Project dialog.
CHP. 3 STARTING PROJECTS

22
Using the Summary tab

This tab allows you to enter information about the project. These boxes may be left blank or
if information exists, you may change it at any time.
Item Description
Title Enter the name or title of the project.
Artist Enter the name of the narrator, band, or artist(s) being recorded into the project.
Engineer Enter the name(s) of the people who mixed and edited the project.
Copyright Enter the date and ownership rights of the project.
Comments Enter information that identifies and describes the project.
Universal Product Code/Media Enter the Universal Product Code (UPC) and the Media Catalog Number (MCN) to
Catalog Number be written to your CD for identification purposes.
Start all new projects with these Select this check box if your projects’ requirements do not change or you want
settings consistent settings for future projects.
Using the Audio tab

This tab allows you to set different characteristics the project uses to handle the audio.
Item Description
Sample rate Choose a sample rate from the drop-down list or enter your own rate. The
sample rate range is 8,000 Hz to 48,000 Hz. Higher sample rates result in
better quality sound, but also mean larger audio files.
Bit depth Choose a bit depth from the drop-down list. A higher bit depth results in better
quality sound, but also means larger audio files.
Start all new projects with these Select this check box if your project requirements do not change or you want
settings consistent settings for future projects.
STARTING PROJECTS CHP. 3

23
Opening existing projects

1. From the File menu, choose Open. The Open dialog appears.
2. Choose a drive and folder from the Look in drop-down list.
3. Select a file in the browse window or type a name in the File name box. Detailed
information about the selected file appears at the bottom of the dialog box.
4. Choose a file type from the Files of type drop-down list to limit the files displayed in the
dialog box.
5. Click Open.
Note: If one of the media files cannot be located when you open
an ACID Music Studio project, you can choose to leave the
media offline and continue to edit events on the track. The
events point to the location of the source media file. If you
restore the source media file at a later time, the project opens
normally.
Opening ACID Music Studio projects with embedded media

When you open an .acd-zip project, the project file and all media files are copied to the
temporary files folder.
Any changes you make to the project are saved to the files in this temporary folder until you
save the .acd-zip file again. For more information, see Saving a project on page 95.
Getting media files

Now that you’ve created a new project or opened an existing project, the next step is to add
media to the project. You can use the Explorer window to locate, preview and add media to
your project. You can also extract audio from a CD or download media from the Web.
Previewing media from the Explorer window

The Explorer window allows you to preview files in looped playback at the current project
tempo before adding them to your project. You can also preview files in the Explorer in
conjunction with playing your project, thereby allowing you to preview how a file will sound
in the project.
To preview files, use the Start Preview ( ), Stop Preview ( ), and Auto Preview ( ) buttons
at the top of the Explorer window.

24
Previewing a media file

1. Select the media file in the Explorer window that you want to preview.
2. Click the Start Preview button ( ). The media file begins looped playback. You can
monitor its levels on the preview bus.
3. Click the Stop Preview button ( ) to end playback.
Previewing multiple media files

You can use the Explorer’s multiple-selection preview feature to preview a group of files in
the order that you select them.
1. From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and on the Audio tab of the Preferences
dialog, select the Enable multiple-selection preview in Explorer window check box.
If you want, you can enter values in the Number of times to repeat each Loop box, Seconds of
each One-Shot to play box, and Number of Beatmapped measures to play box to specify how
different file types are previewed.
2. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.
3. In the Explorer, select the media you want to preview. Hold Shift while clicking to select
multiple, adjacent files or hold Ctrl while clicking to select multiple, nonadjacent files.
4. Click the Start Preview button ( ). The first selected file in the list is previewed, followed
by each file in the list. A file’s icon changes to a Play icon ( ) to indicate which file is
currently previewing.
Tip: To add the currently previewing file to your project,

press Ctrl + Enter . Press Enter to add all selected files to your
project.
Using Auto Preview

Click the Auto Preview button ( ) to toggle automatic playback of media files when you
select them in the Explorer. If your project is currently playing when you select a new file,
the new file plays back along with your project. This feature allows you to listen to the media
file in the context of your project.

25
Adding media to the project

You must add media files to a project before you can paint, arrange, and process them. When
you add a file to a project, a new track is created to accommodate it. New tracks are added at
the current volume of the Preview fader in the Mixer window, unless you have set a default
track volume level.
There are several methods of adding media files to a project.
Note: Before using long Beatmapped or long one-shot files from

CDs or shared network folders, copy the media to your local
drive for the best possible performance.
ACID Music Studio temporary files

When you add a media file to a project from a removable device, a copy of the media file is
stored in the temporary files folder. This keeps the media file available for use even if the
source of the media is no longer accessible.
Be aware that the temporary files folder is cleared when you close the ACID Music Studio
application. However, files are not cleared from the folder if the software closes
inappropriately.
Adding media files from the Explorer window

The Explorer window will likely be your primary means of locating media files used in
projects. Display the Explorer, if needed, by choosing Explorer from the View menu, or by
pressing Alt + 1 .
There are three ways to add media files from the Explorer window:
• Double-click the desired file.
• Drag the file from the Explorer to the track view or track list. Dragging a file from the
Explorer to the track name of an existing track allows you to replace the original file with
the new file, while all events remain in place.
• Right-click and drag a file to the track view or track list to specify the type of track to be
created. When you drop the file, a shortcut menu appears that allows you to choose
whether to treat the file as a loop, one-shot, Beatmapped track, or as an autodetected
type.

26
Adding media files from the Open dialog

There are three ways to add media files from the Open dialog:
• Select the desired file and click Open.
• Right-click the selected file and choose Select from the shortcut menu.
• Double-click the selected file.
Adding media files from outside the application

You can also add a media file to a project by dragging it from Windows® Explorer to the
track view.
Adding multiple media files simultaneously

To add multiple media files to the project, Ctrl +click (or Shift +click) to select the files and
drag them to the track view or the track list.
Extracting media files from CD

You can extract 44,100 Hz, 16-bit, stereo data from CDs. Extracted CD tracks are added to
new tracks in your ACID Music Studio project.
1. Insert a CD in the CD-ROM drive.
2. From the File menu, choose Extract Audio from CD. The Extract Audio from CD dialog
appears.
3. If you have more than one CD drive, choose the CD drive that contains the audio you
want to extract from the Drive drop-down list.
4. From the Action drop-down list,
choose how you want to extract
audio:
• Choose Read by track and select
each track you want to extract.
Each track is extracted to a new
track in your project.
• Choose Read entire disc to
extract the current CD to a
single file.
• Choose Read by range and enter
a starting time and ending time
(or a starting time and length).
The time range is extracted to a
new track in your project.

27
Click Play to preview your selection. In order to preview, your CD drive’s audio output
must be connected to your sound card, or you can connect headphones to the front of the
CD drive.
5. From the Speed drop-down list, choose the speed at which you want to extract audio.
6. Click OK. The Save As dialog appears.
7. Enter a file name and choose a location for the new file(s).
Tip: Extracted tracks can be automatically named for you.

From the Options menu, choose Preferences, and on the
General tab, select the Autoname extracted CD tracks check box.
8. Click Save to start extracting audio.

CD data extraction begins and a progress meter is displayed. If the file is longer than 30
seconds, the Beatmapper™ Wizard appears.
9. Use the Beatmapper Wizard or choose to open the file as a one-shot. The extracted file is
added to a track.
You can also double-click a CDA file in the Explorer window (or drag it to the track view)
to extract a CD track without opening the Extract Audio from CD dialog.
Note: When adding media from multiple CDs, you may need
to press F5 to refresh the Explorer window to view the new
CD’s contents.

28
Downloading media files from the Web

The Get Media from the Web command allows you to view and download various audio and
video files available on the Internet.
1. From the File menu, choose Get Media from the Web.
2. Choose an icon from the left frame to specify the media provider from which you want to
download files.
3. Preview the file, select the file you want to open and click Download. The Browse for
Folder dialog appears.
4. Select a folder for the download. The selected file is downloaded to the folder specified in
the Destination box.
5. When you are finished downloading, close the Get Media from the Web dialog. The file
is added to your project.
Click Show Details to display additional information about your download. In this mode, you
can add files to a download queue, specify where the downloaded files should be stored, and
monitor the progress of your downloads. Click Start to begin downloading queued files, or
click Hide Details to return to basic mode.

29
CHAPTER
Working with
4 Projects
This chapter provides the basics you need to begin working with events and tracks.
Adding and editing events

You have added media to the project, and tracks have been created for the media files. Now
you can add events to the track view. The following sections describe three basic techniques
used when working with audio events: painting, deleting, and moving.
Painting events
After you add a media file to your project, you must paint it on the timeline in order to hear
it. When you paint on the media file’s track, you create an event that displays the file’s
waveform. You can paint events on the timeline using either the Draw tool or the Paint
tool.
Note: Media files must be added to the project before either of

these tools can be used to paint events.
Placing events with the Draw tool

The Draw tool is the most common method of placing events on the timeline. This tool
allows you to add track-specific events, one at a time. In addition, you can use the Draw tool
to select, edit, and move events.
1. Click the Draw Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose
Draw from the submenu. The pointer displays as a pencil icon.
2. Place the Draw tool at the left edge of any track containing a media file.
CHP. 4 WORKING WITH PROJECTS

30
3. Click and hold the mouse button while dragging the Draw tool to the right. A waveform
representing the event appears on the timeline as you drag the mouse.
Notice that if you are placing a loop file on the timeline, small indentations appear along
the top and bottom edges of the event indicating the start and end points of each
individual loop.
Note: Events can be also be drawn from right (end) to left

(beginning).
4. Release the mouse button to end the event.

5. Click the Play from Start button ( ) on the transport bar. The event plays back.
Painting events with the Paint tool

Unlike the Draw tool, the Paint tool allows you to quickly paint multiple events across
several tracks. This can be useful when you need to quickly add several seemingly random
events to a project. The Paint tool is also best used for painting multiple one-shot events
that will be evenly spaced on the grid lines.
1. Click the Paint Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose
Paint from the submenu. The mouse pointer displays as a brush icon.
2. Click and hold the mouse button while dragging the Paint tool randomly across the
several tracks. Notice that events are painted in every grid space the Paint tool contacts.
3. Release the mouse button to stop adding events.
4. Click the Play from Start button ( ) on the transport bar. All new events play back.
Tip: With the Paint tool selected, you can use Ctrl +click to
paint an entire event for one-shot, Beatmapped, and MIDI
tracks.
WORKING WITH PROJECTS CHP. 4

31
Changing the length of events

After an event is painted on the track view, you may discover that it is too long or not long
enough; however, ACID Music Studio software makes it easy to change the length of an
event. You may find it helpful to turn snapping options on by choosing Snapping from the
Options menu and choosing Enable from the submenu.
To alter an event’s length, click the Draw Tool button ( ) and drag either end of the event.
When you drag the event past the end of the file, looped files repeat, but one-shot and
Beatmapped tracks draw silence.
Original event Drag the end ...to increase its length.

of the event...
Erasing sections of events

Occasionally you may need to delete only specific sections of an event and leave the rest of
it intact. The easiest method of deleting a section of an event is to use the Erase tool.
1. Click the Erase Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and choose
Erase from the submenu. The pointer displays as an eraser icon.
2. Drag in the track view to delete event data.
Tip: With the Erase tool, you can delete an entire one-shot,
Beatmapped, or MIDI event. Just hold Ctrl while you click the
event.

32
Moving events
The position of the left edge of an event indicates when the event becomes audible during
playback. You can move events along the timeline either individually or as a group.
In addition, you can stack events on top of one another. A longer event placed over a
smaller event conceals the smaller event and makes it inaudible. A smaller event placed
over a larger event is audible and renders the section of the longer event it covers inaudible.
1. Click the Draw Tool button ( ).
2. Click the event to be moved. The event is highlighted to indicate that it is selected.
Tip: You can hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple events.
3. Drag the event to a new location on the track.
Making selections
You must select events before you can move or edit them.
Selecting an event
1. Click the Draw Tool button ( ).
2. Click an event. The event is highlighted.
Selected event

33
Selecting multiple events

You have several methods for selecting multiple events:
• Press Ctrl or Shift while clicking events.
• Use the Select All on Track command.
• Use the Select Events to End command.
• Use the Select All command.
• Use the Selection tool.
These methods are explained in the following sections.
Note: Unless stated otherwise, selections can only be made

using the Draw tool.
Selecting multiple events using the keyboard and mouse

Holding Ctrl while clicking events allows you to select multiple, nonadjacent events that
reside on any track. This method is useful when you need to move several scattered events
by an equal amount within the project.
Holding Shift allows you to select multiple, adjacent events. Selecting any two events while
holding Shift automatically selects all events located between the selected events. Events
may be selected from the same track or across tracks. This method is useful when you want
to move several adjacent events by an equal amount within the project.
Selecting multiple events using the Select All on Track command

Right-clicking any track in the track view and choosing Select All on Track from the shortcut
menu selects every event on the track.
Selecting multiple events using the Select Events to End command

Right-clicking an event in the track view and choosing Select Events to End from the
shortcut menu selects every event on the track after the selected event.
You use this command across multiple tracks by holding Ctrl to click events on several
tracks and then right-clicking and choosing Select Events to End from the shortcut menu.
Selecting events using the Select All command

Choosing Select All from the Edit menu selects all events in a project.

34
Selecting multiple events using the Selection tool

You can drag the Selection tool across the track view to select events across multiple tracks.
This tool allows you to select events using three methods: vertical, horizontal, and free
selection.
Method Description Displays as...

Vertical Allows you to select all events on all Parallel dashed line spanning the vertical
tracks within an interval of time. length of the project.
Horizontal Allows you to select all events on a track Parallel dashed line spanning the
or several adjacent tracks. horizontal length of the project.
Free selection Allows you to select a group of adjacent Dashed line box.
events on adjacent tracks. This is the
default selection method.
1. Click the Selection Tool button ( ) or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and
choose Selection from the submenu.
2. Place the pointer on the track view. The pointer displays as an arrow with an adjacent
dotted box ( ).
3. Drag the mouse on the track view. A dashed rectangular box appears on the track view
and all events within and adjacent to it are selected.
4. While holding the left mouse button, click and release the right mouse button (referred
to as toggle-clicking). The selection method changes to vertical and again, all events
within and adjacent to the selection area are selected.
5. Toggle-click the mouse once more. The selection method changes to horizontal and all
events within and adjacent to the selection area are selected.
Reversing events
You can select events in the timeline and reverse their audio and peak data. Select
an event in the timeline, right-click, and choose Reverse (or press B ) from the
shortcut menu. An arrow appears on the event in the timeline to indicate that it
has been reversed.

35
Creating time selections

You are not limited to selecting events. Frequently, you may want to select only audio
events occurring within a time selection. You can do this using the Time Selection tool.
1. Click the Time Selection Tool button () or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and
choose Time Selection from the submenu. The pointer displays with an adjacent cursor
( ).
2. Drag the mouse in the track view. The selection area is highlighted on the track view.
3. Release the mouse button. A time selection is created and all events within it are
selected.
Tip: If the selection area is automatically snapping to the track

view’s grid lines, the snapping feature is turned on. You can turn
snapping off by pressing F8 .
Creating event selections within time selections

You can also select specific events within a general time selection. This technique is useful
for selecting individual instruments from a particular section of a song. For example, you
may want to copy all percussion events from a song’s bridge and re-use them in the coda.
1. Click the Time Selection Tool button () or choose Editing Tool from the Edit menu and
choose Time Selection from the submenu. The pointer displays with an adjacent cursor
( ).
2. Drag the mouse in the track view. The selection area is highlighted on the track view.
3. Release the mouse button. A selection is created and all events within it are selected.
4. Hold Ctrl and click any event that extends beyond the time selection. The entire event
appears highlighted; however, only the section of the event contained within the time
selection is actually selected.
Tip: You can select additional events within the time selection by
continuing to hold Ctrl while clicking events. In addition,
holding Shift allows you to select the events of multiple adjacent
tracks within a selection.

36
Working with events

In this section, you’ll learn about basic event editing techniques such as cutting, copying,
pasting, trimming, splitting, and joining events.
Prior to performing the procedures in these sections, verify that the Ripple Edits function is
turned off. Ripple Edits are an extremely powerful editing option and their scope is beyond
that of this chapter. Verify that Ripple Edits is not selected in the Options menu.
Copying events
Copying an event, a time selection, or event within a time selection places an exact copy of
the selected event(s) on the clipboard, but leaves the track view unchanged. Events copied
to the clipboard can be pasted in the project an unlimited number of times. In addition,
clipboard content remains on the clipboard until replaced by new content.
1. Select the event data you want to copy or make a time selection. For more information, see
Making selections on page 32.
2. Copy the event data using any of the following methods:
• Click the Copy button ( ) on the toolbar.
• Choose Copy from the Edit menu.
• Right-click the selection and choose Copy from the shortcut menu.
• Press Ctrl + C .
Pasting events
The clipboard’s contents can be pasted in a project an unlimited number of times. However,
an event is always pasted in the track it was copied/cut from. In addition, pasting the
contents of the clipboard over an existing event results in the pasted event overlapping the
existing event. To avoid pasting over existing events, you have two options:
• Use the Paste Insert command. For more information, see Using Paste Insert on page 38.
• Turn on ripple editing.
When events are cut/copied to the clipboard and subsequently pasted into a project, the
time data inherent in the cut/copied events is maintained and pasted as well. For example, if
you select two events on the same track that are separated by five seconds of silence, copying
and pasting these events results in the five seconds of silence also being pasted into the
project.
Original events Pasted events

37
Taking this concept a step further, if you select discontinuous events from several tracks,
copying and pasting these events results in any selected time data being pasted into the
project as well. This maintains the relative position of events in the project.
Original events Pasted events
Using the Paste command

1. Place the cursor at the desired position on the timeline.
2. Paste the clipboard contents using any of the following methods:
• Click the Paste button ( ) on the toolbar.
• Choose Paste from the Edit menu.
• Right-click the track view and choose Paste from the shortcut menu.
• Press Ctrl + V .
Using Paste Repeat

When building projects, you often need to paste the contents of the clipboard several times.
Rather than repeatedly pasting and moving the content, the Paste Repeat command allows
you to specify the number of times and at what interval the clipboard’s contents are pasted
on the track view. This is a useful way of quickly building a project that uses a repetitive riff
or structure. For example, you can build the backing tracks for a twelve-bar blues, copy
them, and use Paste Repeat to paste several copies of it in the project.
1. Click the Time Selection Tool button ( ).
2. Drag the mouse in the track view to create a time selection spanning several events and
copy it to the clipboard.
3. Click the Go To End button ( ) on the transport bar or press Ctrl + End to send the
cursor to the end of the project.
4. From the Edit menu, choose Paste Repeat or press Ctrl + B . The Paste Repeat dialog
appears.
5. Enter a number in the Number of times to paste box.
6. Select the End to end radio button and click OK. The events are pasted end to end the
number of times specified in step five, starting at the cursor position.

38
Using Paste Insert

To insert the contents of the ACID Music Studio clipboard at the current cursor position
and force existing events to move in time to accommodate the pasted events, choose Paste
Insert from the Edit menu.
If the cursor is in the middle of an event, the event splits at the cursor position where the
new events are pasted. For more information, see Splitting events on page 39.
Cutting events
Cutting an event, a time selection, or an event within a time selection removes the audio
data from the track view and places it on the clipboard. Once data is placed on the
clipboard, it can be pasted back into the project an unlimited number of times. Clipboard
content remains on the clipboard until it is replaced by new data.
1. Select the event data you want to cut or make a time selection. For more information, see
Making selections on page 32.
2. Cut the event data using any of the following methods:
• Click the Cut button ( ) on the toolbar.
• Choose Cut from the Edit menu.
• Right-click the selection and choose Cut from the shortcut menu.
• Press Ctrl + X .
All selected events are removed from the track view and placed on the clipboard.
Deleting events
Deleting an event, a time selection, or an event within a time selection removes the data
from the track view and discards it. Deleted events are not placed on the clipboard and do
not replace or interfere with current clipboard content. In addition, deleted events cannot
be pasted back into a project.
Note: Deleted data can only be replaced in a project using the

Undo command. For more information, see Using undo on page
47.
1. Select the event data you want to delete or make a time selection. For more information,
see Making selections on page 32.
2. Press Delete .
All selected events are removed from the track view and discarded.

39
Trimming events
Whereas deleting allows you to select event data to be removed from the project, trimming
allows you to select the data that remains. Trimming is performed by creating a time
selection or selecting an event within a time selection and subsequently deleting all
unselected data.
1. Create a time selection or select specific events within a time selection. For more
information, see Creating time selections on page 35.
2. Press Ctrl + T to trim the data within the selection. All unselected event data is removed
from the track view and discarded.
Splitting events
Splitting is a quick way to create independently functioning events from a single one. You
might consider splitting an event if you want to adjust a small part of the track. For example,
you may want to apply pitch shift to a guitar track for a few measures and then return the
track to its original setting.
Splitting occurs at the cursor position or at the in and out points of a time selection. When
you split an event, a new ending point is created for the original event and creates a starting
point for the newly created event.
When you split an event, the newly created events abut each other. If Quick fade edges to
prevent clicks is selected in the Event Properties dialog, fades are added at the split point.
Split position Two events
However, you may move either of the events, which creates a gap.
Split position Two events

40
Splitting at the cursor position splits all selected events that the cursor crosses on all tracks.
1. Select the event(s) that you want to split.
2. Place the cursor where you want the split to occur or make a time selection.
3. From the Edit menu, choose Split or press S . The result of the split depends on how
events were selected.
Joining events
You may join events on ACID Music Studio tracks that have been segmented along the
timeline. Joining events is an efficient way to redraw an event and remove any splits or
silent regions between events.
You would want to join events if you decided that the event should play uninterrupted over
the specified time range.
1. Select the events or range of events that you want to join. For more information, see
Selecting multiple events on page 33.
2. From the Edit menu, choose Join or press J . The selected events are joined.
Select all the events that you want to join.
You can also select the first and last events

you want to join, creating a selection range.
After you join the events, a single event appears.
Joining events is similar to dragging the

edge of an existing event

41
Working with tracks

A new track is automatically created for each media file added to a project, and all events
placed on the track derive from that file. Because of this, you can use track-level functions to
affect every event on the track. The following sections explain several basic track functions
and features.
Understanding track types

When you add media to a project, a new track is created for the file. Depending on the type
of media you add, one of four track types is created to accommodate it: loop, one-shot,
Beatmapped, or MIDI. You can identify a track’s type by looking at the track number/type
icon in the track header.
Loops
Loops are small chunks of audio that are designed to create a continuous beat or pattern
when played repeatedly. They are usually one to four measures long. Loops are the type of
file that you will use most frequently.
One-shots
One-shots are chunks of audio that are not designed to loop, and they are streamed from the
hard disk rather than stored in RAM if they are longer than three seconds. Things such as
cymbal crashes and sound bites could be considered one-shots.
Unlike loops, one-shots do not change pitch or tempo with the rest of a project.
Beatmapped
When you add a file that is longer than thirty seconds to a project, the Beatmapper™
Wizard starts, allowing you to add tempo information to the file. As a result, these tracks
respond to tempo and key changes just like loops.
MIDI
A MIDI track is created when you open a MID, SMF, or RMI file. You can use MIDI tracks
to record data from and play back through synthesizers and other MIDI-compliant
equipment.

42
Reordering tracks
When building an ACID Music Studio project, you may want to reorder the tracks to place
similar instruments in proximity to one another. For example, placing all drum loops
together in the track view makes it easier for you to fine-tune the mix of the song’s overall
drum sound.
1. Drag the track header to a new location in the track list. A heavy black horizontal line
appears on the track list to indicate where the track will be placed.
2. Release the mouse button. The track is dropped in the new location and the entire track
list/track view adjusts accordingly.
Tip: You can reorder multiple tracks by holding Ctrl or Shift

while selecting tracks and dragging the tracks as a group.
Resizing tracks
You can change the height of a track, thereby affecting how many tracks display in the track
view. This is especially useful when building a project with a large number of tracks. In
addition, you can decrease the track’s height until only the multipurpose slider, Track FX
button, Mute button, and Solo button are visible.
1. Drag the bottom edge of a track up or down in the track list. The pointer displays as a
vertical stretch icon ( ).
2. Release the mouse button to establish the track’s new height.
Tip: You can set the default height for all new tracks by right-
clicking the newly resized track in the track list and choosing Set
Default Track Properties from the shortcut menu.
Changing track colors

As mentioned previously, tracks are automatically created to accommodate new media files.
These tracks are also supplied with a default color. However, you can change track colors to
organize the tracks in your project. To change the color, right-click the track in the track
list, choose Color from the shortcut menu, and choose the desired color from the submenu.

43
Renaming tracks
To rename a track, right-click the track name and choose Rename from the shortcut menu,
or double-click the track name. Renaming a track applies to the project only and does not
change the file associated with the track.
Duplicating tracks
To duplicate a track, right-click it and choose Duplicate Track from the shortcut menu. An
exact copy of the track and its events are created and added below the original track in the
project. The words “Copy of” appear before the name of the duplicate track to identify it in
the track list.
Deleting tracks
You can delete unnecessary tracks from a project by selecting the track and using any of the
following methods:
• Choose Delete from the Edit menu.
• Right-click a track and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
• Press Delete .
Copying, cutting, and pasting tracks

Copying a track places an exact copy of the selected track on the clipboard, but leaves the
track view unchanged. To copy a track, select the track and do one of the following:
• Click the Copy button ( ) on the toolbar.
• Choose Copy from the Edit menu.
• Right-click the track header and choose Copy from the shortcut menu.
• Press Ctrl + C .
Cutting a track removes it from the track view and places it on the clipboard. To cut a track,
select it and do one of the following:
• Click the Cut button ( ) on the toolbar.
• Choose Cut from the Edit menu.
• Right-click the track header and choose Cut from the shortcut menu.
• Press Ctrl + X .

44
Tracks that are copied or cut to the clipboard can be pasted back into the current project or
into a different project an unlimited number of times. This is a useful way to share tracks
between different compositions. You can paste a track in one of the following ways:
• Click the Paste button ( ) on the toolbar.
• Choose Paste from the Edit menu.
• Right-click the track view and choose Paste from the shortcut menu.
• Press Ctrl + V .
Adjusting the mix

Use the multipurpose slider to adjust the mix of a specific track.
Click the Multipurpose Slider Mode drop-down icon to choose what you want to adjust.
Function Description
Volume Controls how loud a track is in the mix. A value of 0 dB means that the track plays with
no boost or cut from ACID Music Studio software. Dragging the fader to the left cuts the
volume; dragging to the right boosts the volume.
Pan Controls the position of a track in the stereo field. Dragging the fader to the left places
the track in the left speaker more than the right, while dragging the fader to the right
places the track in the right speaker.
Because the default panning mode is additive, you can introduce clipping when panning a
track to the left or right. Unlike a left/right balance control—which simply decreases the
volume of one channel—the default panning mode actually adds the audio from one
channel to the other. When panning a track, choose an appropriate pan type and adjust
the track volume accordingly.
Once you have chosen what you want to adjust, drag the fader to adjust the level. You can
hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple tracks and move the faders together as a group.
Note: When adjusting the mix of your tracks, remember to look

at the meters on the mixer. Because you are adding the volumes
of all the tracks together, it is easy to clip the audio output. Make
sure that the meters never display the red clip indicator during
playback.

45
Muting tracks
Each track has a Mute button ( ). Clicking this button shades the corresponding track (to
indicate that it is muted) and renders it inaudible during playback. Clicking the Mute button
a second time returns the track to its original level in the mix. Toggle-muting a track is an
effective way of determining whether a track contributes to the overall sound of a project.
You can also press Z to mute a track or group of tracks.
Tip: Press Ctrl and click the Mute button to mute only the
selected track (and restore any other muted tracks). If the
selected track is already muted, press Ctrl and click the Mute
button to restore all tracks.
Soloing tracks
Located next to the Mute button, the Solo button ( ) allows you to isolate tracks in a
project during playback. When you click this button during playback, the corresponding
track remains audible and all other tracks are muted. Clicking the Solo button a second time
returns all tracks to their original levels in the mix. Toggle-soloing a track is an effective
method of configuring and previewing isolated track effects against how they sound in the
project.
You can also press X to solo a track or group of tracks.
Tip: Press Ctrl and click the Solo button to solo only the
selected track (and restore any other soloed tracks). If the
selected track is already soloed, press Ctrl and click the Solo
button to restore all tracks.
Working with groups of tracks

Select a group of tracks by holding the Ctrl key while you click the track header of the
desired tracks. Now you can adjust the volume, panning, track color, and other track
attributes simultaneously.

46
Using bus tracks

You can use bus tracks to automate volume and panning functions by adding envelopes. For
example, you can apply a volume envelope to fade in and out of the entire project.
Viewing bus tracks

From the View menu, choose Show Bus Tracks or press U . The bus tracks appear at the
bottom of the track view. A bus track appears for each mixer control (master bus and soft
synths) in your project.
Adding bus track envelopes

Right-click the bus track header in the track list, choose Insert/Remove Envelope from the
shortcut menu, and choose the appropriate envelope type (volume or pan) from the
submenu.
You can identify which mixer controls have envelopes by looking at each control’s letter or
number. An automated mixer control has a small fader icon on its letter or number in the
Mixer window.
Soft synth Soft synth

with without
automation automation
Modifying bus track envelopes

You can modify a track envelope for the master bus or soft synth in the same way you do for
any other track. For more information on envelopes, please see the ACID Music Studio
online help.
Using undo and redo

You have unlimited undo and redo capabilities in ACID Music Studio projects. Each edit
you perform is added in the project to an undo history, which allows you to quickly restore
the project to any of its previous states. In addition, undoing an edit automatically places it
in the project’s redo history where it can be quickly re-performed. However, any new edit
performed on the project overwrites the redo history.
Note: The undo and redo histories are cleared when you close
the project or exit the application.

47
Using undo
To undo an edit, click the Undo button ( ) on the toolbar or press Ctrl + Z . Edits are
undone in the reverse order they were performed.
Note: You can also undo the most recent edit by choosing Undo
from the Edit menu.
Undoing a series of edits

Clicking the down arrow next to the Undo button ( ) displays the project’s undo history.
The history displays as a drop-down list with the most recent edit located at the top.
Undoing an edit in the list requires all subsequent edits to be undone as well.
1. Click the arrow to the right of the Undo button ( ). The undo history appears.
2. Locate the edit to be undone. Notice that all subsequent edits are automatically selected
and the total number of edits to be undone is indicated at the bottom of the drop-down
list.
3. Click the edit to be undone. The project is restored to the state it was in prior to the
selected edit.
Undoing all edits

Choosing Undo All from the Edit menu undoes all project edits and automatically adds them
to the redo history.
Using redo
To redo an edit, click the Redo button ( ) on the toolbar or press Ctrl + Shift + Z . Edits are
re-performed in the reverse order they were undone.
Note: You can also redo the most recent undone edit by
choosing Redo from the Edit menu.

48
Redoing a series of edits

Clicking the down arrow next to the Redo button ( ) displays the project’s redo history.
The history displays as a drop-down list with the most recently undone edit located at the
top. Redoing an edit in the list requires all subsequently undone edits to be re-performed as
well.
1. Click the arrow to the right of the Redo button ( ). The redo history appears.
2. Locate the edit to be redone. Notice that all subsequently undone edits are automatically
selected and the total number of edits to be redone is indicated at the bottom of the drop-
down list.
3. Click the edit to be redone. The project is restored to the state it was in prior to the
selected undone edit.
Note: Clicking the desktop outside the drop-down list cancels

the redo operation.
Clearing the undo history

You can clear the undo and redo histories without closing the project or exiting the
application. After the histories are cleared, new ones are created as you continue building
the project.
1. From the Edit menu, choose Clear Undo History. A confirmation dialog appears, alerting
you that this action permanently deletes the current edit histories.
2. Click Yes to clear the edit histories or No to retain the current edit histories.
Playing the project

You have several methods for playing your projects.
Using the transport bar

All buttons required to play your project are located on the transport bar. The transport bar
should look somewhat familiar to you, as it contains buttons found on most home CD and
cassette players. For more information, see Transport bar on page 17.

49
Using playback options

As you build a project, you will likely have different playback needs. For example, you may
want to hear the project in its entirety when checking the final mix, but not when you are
working on the ending. Because of this, you have three playback options:
• Playing the entire project.
• Playing from the cursor position.
• Playing in looped playback.
Playing the entire project

To begin playback from the beginning of the project, click the transport bar’s Play From Start
button ( ) or press Shift + Space . To stop playback, click the transport bar’s Stop button
( ) or press Space .
Playing from the cursor position

To begin playback from the current cursor position, click the transport bar’s Play button( )
or press Space . To stop playback, click the transport bar’s Stop button ( ) or press Space .
Playing in looped playback

You can also limit playback to a specific loop region on the track view. This playback
method uses the transport bar’s Loop Playback button ( ) and allows you to fine-tune mixes
and effects while continually listening to the selected area. For more information, see
Transport bar on page 17.
1. Drag the handles of the loop bar to create the desired loop region.
Handle Loop bar
2. Click the Loop Playback button ( ) to turn on looped playback.
Hint: When ACID Music Studio software is in looped

playback mode, the color of the Loop bar is blue. In normal
playback mode, the color of the Loop bar is gray.

50
3. Click the transport bar’s Play button ( ) or press Space . Playback of the selected area
begins. To stop playback, click the transport bar’s Stop button ( ) or press Space .
Using the metronome

You can use the ACID Music Studio metronome feature to keep time during playback. If
you have the Metronome button ( ) enabled on the toolbar, the metronome will
automatically play when you start playing your project.
The metronome sounds are created by the general MIDI sound set, and the volume of the
metronome during playback is determined using the Preview fader in the Mixer.
The metronome’s sound is not mixed in the final rendering of the project.
Using the Mixer window

The Mixer window is a dockable window with a default location in the lower-right corner of
the ACID Music Studio workspace. The Mixer window contains the following controls:
• A Preview fader, which allows you to adjust the loudness of media files previewed from the
Explorer window, Track Properties window, Beatmapper Wizard, or the Chopper tool.
Also, the Preview fader’s volume determines the volume of new tracks added to the
project, unless you have set a default track volume level. This allows you to set up a quick
mix while you are adding media to your project.
• A Master bus fader, which controls the overall volume.
• Faders for up to 32 soft synth controls when added to the project.
The function of the master bus and soft synth controls are beyond the scope of this chapter.
Viewing the Mixer window

The Mixer window appears by default when you start the ACID Music Studio software. To
view the Mixer window, choose Mixer from the View menu or press Alt + 3 . A check mark
appears adjacent to the command to indicate when the window is displayed.

51
Using the Mixer toolbar

The Mixer window toolbar contains two buttons: Project Audio Properties and Insert Soft Synth.
Button Description
Displays the Project Properties dialog.
Adds a soft synth control to your project. You can assign MIDI tracks or
external MIDI input devices to the soft synth control and assign the soft
synth control to a DLS set.
Renaming mixer controls

Double-clicking a mixer control name allows you to rename the control. Press Enter to save
the change.
Enter a new
name for the
mixer control
Using the mixer’s faders
Adjusting the Preview fader

Drag the fader up or down to adjust the preview volume.
Hiding the Preview fader

Once you have added all desired media files to a project, you may want to hide the Preview
fader to make room for soft synth controls. To hide the Preview fader, right-click within the
Mixer window and choose Show Preview Fader from the shortcut menu.

52
Adjusting split faders in the mixer

Split faders allow you to adjust the levels of the left and right channels independently. To
move the faders individually, drag the fader for the desired channel and release the mouse
when it is in the correct position.
However, you can adjust both channels simultaneously by doing either of the following:
• Drag in the middle of the fader while making your adjustment.
• Click the Lock Fader Channels button( ) before adjusting the fader.
You can also change the fader level by double-clicking:

• Double-click the fader to reset it to 0.0 dB.
• If you have set each channel differently, double-click either channel to match the
remaining channel to its level.
Changing meter resolution

You can select the meter resolution. This is useful when building a project from several
media source pools that have varying volume levels. To change the resolution, right-click a
meter and choose the desired resolution from the shortcut menu.
Note: Changing the meter resolution of one fader automatically

changes all other meters in the mixer to match the selected
resolution.
Adjusting for clipping

The volume of certain media files may cause a meter to clip. Clipping results in a distorted
audio signal and displays in a red indicator at the top of the meter. If the meter clips, lower
the volume and click the red clip indicator to reset the meter. Continue adjusting the fader
and resetting the meter until you eliminate the clipping.
Tip: You can also reset a meter by right-clicking it and choosing

Reset Clip from the shortcut menu.

53
CHAPTER
Recording Audio
5
ACID® Music Studio™ is a loop-based audio-production tool. It is not designed for multi-track recording
projects. However, the application does allow you to record audio from your system’s sound card. This
limited recording capability makes it possible for you to record audio or MIDI from an external source and
place it in your project.
This feature actually makes the software an excellent tool for recording song demos. You can build a backing
track of the appropriate length and tempo using a variety of loops and combine the backing track with a one-
shot vocal or guitar track that you record.
Recording audio
If you are familiar with other Sony Pictures Digital applications, recording in ACID Music Studio software
should be fairly intuitive. The following procedure briefly outlines the steps involved in recording audio.
1. Connect the audio source or MIDI device to your computer.
2. For audio recording, verify that the card is properly configured for the audio source (microphone, line
level, etc.).
3. Place the cursor in the track view at the position where recording will begin. To record multiple takes,
create a loop region instead. For more information, see Recording multiple takes on page 56.
4. Click the Record button ( ) on the transport bar. The Record dialog appears.
5. Set the desired recording properties. For more information, see Setting recording properties on page 54.
6. Set the recording level. For more information, see Setting recording levels on page 55.
7. To use the metronome feature during recording, click the Metronome check box.
8. Click Record to begin recording. A new track is created in the project and begins to record the incoming
audio signal into it.
CHP. 5 RECORDING AUDIO

54
9. Click Stop to end recording.
The recorded audio is placed on its track as a Beatmapped™ file and can now be manipulated at the track or
event level, like any other file in the project.
Regions are added to mark each measure in the recording. You can view the regions in the Track Properties
window. These regions can be useful when creating loops from your recordings in ACID Music Studio or
Sound Forge® software.
Setting recording properties

Prior to recording in ACID Music Studio software, you must configure the application’s recording properties
in the Record dialog. This ensures that you are recording through the appropriate device with the desired
attributes, and that you are storing the recorded file in the appropriate folder.
Record type
Use these radio buttons to specify the type of recording you are about to make.
File name
This box allows you to name the recorded file prior to actually recording it. If you do not specify a name, the
default name “Record Take” is used and a unique number is appended to identify it. Recorded audio is saved
as a WAV file and saves MIDI as a MID file.
Record folder
This box displays the path to the folder where recorded files are stored. If you want to specify an alternate
location, click Browse and specify the new folder.
Free space
This value indicates the amount of available free space in the current record folder.
Time recorded
This value provides you with a running summary of the length and size (in megabytes) of the audio currently
being recorded.
Record from
By default, recording begins at the cursor position when you click the Record button ( ). However, you can
use the Record from radio buttons to specify an alternate starting point for recording.
• Selecting the Start of project radio button configures the software to start recording at the beginning of the
current project.
• Selecting the Position radio button allows you to enter the recording start position in measures and beats
format.
Make new track follow project tempo

Selecting this check box configures ACID Music Studio to use its stretching features to expand/contract
your recording in relation to the project tempo. However, if you are recording your audio track at the final
project tempo, you should clear this check box to allow the recorded file to be treated as a one-shot.
Record device
This drop-down list allows you to choose the hardware device and channel that is used to record your audio.
When recording MIDI, you can choose a device from the MIDI Thru drop-down list to provide MIDI playback
as you record. For more information, see Recording MIDI tracks on page 131.
RECORDING AUDIO CHP. 5

55
Attributes and the Change button
The Attributes values display the recording sample rate and bit depth. Sample rate is the number of samples
per second, measured in Hertz (Hz), used to record audio. You can change the sample rate or bit depth by
clicking the Change button, which displays the Audio tab of the Project Properties dialog. For more
information, see Using the Audio tab on page 22.
Note: Attributes and the Change button do not apply when

recording MIDI.
Monitor
Selecting this check box turns on the record meters, which display the incoming audio level for the specified
recording device.
Setting recording levels

When recording audio, it is important to record with the highest possible signal without clipping. Clipping
occurs when the incoming signal is too high to be represented as a digital value and is indicated visually by a
red clip warning at the top of the meters. The aural result of clipping is distortion. Be assured that digital
clipping distortion is very different from analog clipping distortion. The saturation level of analog tape is
non-exact and pushing the levels into the red often create a nice overdriven effect. However, the saturation
point of digital recording is exactly 0 dB and levels surpassing that result in ugly digital distortion that can
easily ruin a project.
1. Connect the audio source to the sound card’s input and verify that the card is properly configured for the
audio source (microphone, line level, etc.).
2. Click the Record button ( ) and set the desired recording properties. For more information, see Setting
recording properties on page 54.
3. Select the Monitor check box. Incoming audio levels appear on the record meters and the peak signal level
appears (in decibels) at the top of the meters. Keep in mind that a meter reading of 0 dB is the maximum
for a digital signal and any signal that surpasses that level will distort.
4. Continue adjusting the input level of the source audio until maximum levels are achieved without
clipping.
If the meter clips, decrease the source audio level and click the numbers at the top of the meter. The peak
is reset and a new peak reading is calculated. Continue adjusting the levels and resetting the meter until
the level is maximized.
Note: Setting digital recording levels can be difficult. If you

are not familiar with the source audio and have only one
opportunity to capture the recording, allow yourself plenty of
headroom.
CHP. 5 RECORDING AUDIO

56
Using the metronome

You can use the metronome to keep time while you’re recording or playing back audio. To activate this tool,
choose Metronome from the Options menu. Doing so also automatically selects the Metronome check box on
the Record dialog.
When you start recording your project, the metronome will start playing the project tempo from the Record
from position. For example, if you start recording at measure 20 and your project tempo at that measure is 160
BPM, the metronome will play at 160 BPM.
The metronome’s sound is not mixed in the final rendering of the project.
Adjusting the volume

You can adjust the metronome’s volume using either method listed below:
• the Preview fader on the Mixer window
• the slider next to the Metronome check box on the Record dialog
Recording multiple takes

Using the Loop Playback button ( ) in conjunction with the record feature allows you to record multiple
takes into an ACID Music Studio project. All takes are recorded into the same track and saved as one WAV
file. However, each take is delineated by creating a region that is saved with the recorded media file. To view
the regions, open the recorded track’s properties.
1. Create a loop region for the part of the project you want to play while recording your take.
Loop region
2. Verify that the Loop Playback button ( ) is selected.

3. Begin recording. The specified loop region is played back while your takes are recorded on a new track.
Reviewing and saving takes

After you have recorded all your takes, you can review them and save only the best take.
1. Click Cancel to close the Record dialog.
2. Click the Solo button ( ) on the track you just recorded.
3. Click the Play From Start button ( ) and review all takes.
4. Create a time selection containing the take you want to keep.
5. From the Tools menu, choose Render to New Track. The Render to New Track dialog appears.
6. Enter a name for the new file in the File name box and click Save. The take is saved to a new file and a new
track is created for it.
7. Delete the track containing the original takes.
RECORDING AUDIO CHP. 5

57
CHAPTER
Enhancing
6 Projects
Changing tempo, time signature, and key

You can set a tempo, time signature, and key for your ACID® Music Studio™ project. You
can also make adjustments during playback.
You can add specific tempo, time signature, and key changes within a project using tempo/
key/time signature change markers. These markers appear on the marker bar above the track
view. When the cursor passes over one of these markers, the master project tempo, key, and/
or time signature changes in real time.
Set the tempo, time signature, and key for the whole project... ...or change these elements dynamically
in the timeline.
Project Key
Project Tempo Project Project Time
slider Tempo Signature
Changing project tempo

You can change the tempo of a project without affecting the project’s key.
Changing tempo using the Project Tempo slider

Drag the Project Tempo slider at the bottom of the track list. Dragging the slider to the left
slows the tempo, while dragging it to the right speeds the tempo.
Tip: Double-click the tempo value next to the Project Tempo

slider to enter an exact value. Press Enter when you are
finished.
CHP. 6 ENHANCING PROJECTS

58
As you drag the Project Tempo slider, a colored bar appears under each track’s name to
represent the amount a track is being stretched to match the project tempo. The mark in the
center of the bar represents the original tempo of a file. When the bar appears to the right of
the mark, the project tempo is faster than the original file; when the bar appears to the left
of the mark, the project tempo is slower than the original file. The amount of change also
displays as a percentage at the right end of the bar.
As you drag the slider, a colored bar appears for each track.
Project tempo is faster

than file tempo.
Project tempo is slower
than file tempo.
Project Tempo slider
Changing project tempo to match file tempo

Each track’s shortcut menu contains the option Use Original Tempo. The original tempo of
the file used on the track appears to the right of this option in the shortcut menu. To change
the project’s tempo to match the original file tempo, simply choose Use Original Tempo from
the shortcut menu.
Changing project time signature

Click the Project Time Signature control and select a time signature from the menu to adjust a
project’s time signature. Select Other from the menu to enter a custom time signature.
ENHANCING PROJECTS CHP. 6

59
Changing project key

Click the Project Key control and select a key from the menu to adjust a project’s key.
Project Key control
This feature makes it possible to use media that are in different keys in the same project:
each loop that has a specified root note is transposed to the key indicated by the Project Key
control.
For example, if three loops have root notes of A, B, and C, and your Project Key control is set
to D, the loops are pitch-shifted by five, three, and two semitones, respectively.
Note: If the root note for a track is set to Don’t Transpose in the
Track Properties window, the track does not pitch shift with the
rest of the project.
Working with tempo/key/time signature change markers

Tempo/key/time signature change markers allow you to make changes to the tempo, key,
and/or time signature at specified points in your project.
Note: Time signature changes must occur on the first beat of a

measure.

60
Adding tempo/key/time signature change markers

1. Position the cursor where you want the change to occur.
2. From the Insert menu, choose Tempo/Key/Time Signature Change. The Tempo/Key/Time
Signature Change dialog appears.
3. Select the check boxes for the types of changes
you want to occur at the cursor position.
• Key Change changes the key of all tracks until
ACID Music Studio software encounters
another tempo/key/time signature change
marker.
• Tempo Change changes the tempo of all tracks
until ACID Music Studio software
encounters another tempo/key/time signature change marker.
• Time Signature Change changes the time signature of all tracks until ACID Music Studio
software encounters another tempo/key/time signature change marker.
4. Specify the desired change information and click OK to close the dialog. A marker appears
in the marker bar at the cursor position that displays the change information.
Editing tempo/key/time signature change markers

There are several ways to edit the tempo/key/time signature change marker:
• Position the cursor on or after the marker and adjust the Project Tempo, Project Time
Signature, or Project Key controls. The marker’s text reflects the change.
• Right-click the marker, choose Edit from the shortcut menu, and enter the appropriate
change in the Tempo/Key/Time Signature Change dialog.
• Double-click the marker and enter the appropriate change in the Tempo/Key/Time
Signature Change dialog.
Adjusting tempo to match cursor to marker

Position the cursor, right-click the marker tab, and choose Adjust Tempo to Match Cursor to
Marker from the shortcut menu. The project tempo changes so that the cursor position
matches the selected marker.

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Deleting tempo/key/time signature change markers
To delete a marker, right-click the marker and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.
Changing a track’s key

You can change the key of an entire track without affecting the project’s key.
1. Right-click the track and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. The Track
Properties window becomes active.
2. On the General tab, enter the number of semitones by which to adjust the key in the Pitch
Shiftbox or use the spinner control. Use the minus (-) key for negative values. The pitch
shift displays next to the track name.
Tip: Another way to change the key of the track is to select the
track in the track list and press + or - on the numeric keypad.
Changing an event’s key

You can change the key of an individual event without affecting the pitch of the track or
project.
Right-click the event in the track view, choose Pitch Shift from the
shortcut menu, and choose Up Semitone or Down Semitone from
the submenu. The pitch shifts one semitone in the direction
specified, and the amount of shift displays on the event itself.

62
Using snapping
Snapping helps you to align events in your project with other items. Event edges are preset
to snap to the project’s grid lines as you drag an event along the track. If snapping is enabled
and the Grid Only option is turned off, the event’s edges automatically align to these
designated snap points:
• Cursor position
• Grid lines
• Markers
• Regions start and end points
• Loop region (time selection) in and out points
You may turn on snapping for these elements in the project or limit snapping to grid lines.
Snap point examples
Choosing snapping options

If the snap function is preventing you from placing an event precisely where you want it, you
may turn snapping off. Turning off snapping prevents events from automatically aligning to
the cursor, grid lines, markers, regions, and time selections.
The Options menu allows you to toggle snap functions. The button image next to the
Enable command indicates when snapping is turned on. The button image next to the Grid
Only command indicates the type of snapping in use.
Tip: You can temporarily suspend snapping while dragging by

holding down the Shift key.

63
Turning snapping on and off
You may turn snapping on and off in one of the following ways:
• Click the Enable Snapping button ( ) on the Toolbar.
• From the Options menu, choose Snapping, and choose Enable from the submenu.
• Press F8 .
Snapping to grid lines

With snapping turned on, you may choose to snap only to grid lines. From the Options
menu, choose Snapping, and choose Grid Only from the submenu. A square surrounding the
button image next to the command indicates that it is active.
Snapping to all elements

With snapping turned on, you may choose to snap to all elements. From the Options menu,
choose Snapping, and choose Grid Only from the submenu. A square surrounding the button
image next to the Grid Only command appears deselected when snapping to all elements.
Tip: Press Ctrl + F8 to toggle between grid only and all

elements.
Using the Chopper feature

The Chopper™ feature allows you to quickly create slice-and-dice effects. Selecting a track
automatically places it in the Chopper window where it can be immediately manipulated
and inserted into the Track View.
Toolbar
Beat ruler
Time ruler
Transport bar

64
Creating selections in the Chopper window

After you place a file in the Chopper window, you can use the toolbar, transport bar, and
mouse (or their keyboard equivalents) to create and preview selections within the file.
When have made the selection you want, you can insert the selection into the track view.
Placing files in the Chopper window

To place a file in the Chopper window, do any of the following:
• Select a track in the track list.
• Select an event.
• Right-click an event and choose Select in Chopper from the shortcut menu.
Note: If you choose Select in Chopper on an event that

contains only a portion of a file, the entire contents of the file are
placed in the Chopper window. The part of the waveform
selected, however, matches the contents of the selected event.
This allows you to see the event in the context of the entire media
file.
Creating selections
To create a selection, drag the mouse, or hold Shift while pressing the arrow keys. A shaded
region appears in the Chopper window to indicate the current selection, and its start point,
end point, and length display at the bottom-right corner of the window in
measures.beats.ticks format. You can preview the selection at any time by clicking the Play
button ( ) on the Chopper window’s transport bar or pressing Space .

65
Increment
Start End Length
In addition, an increment arrow appears on the track view above the selected block. For
more information, see Inserting increments on page 66.
As you make a selection in the Chopper window, a colored block appears in the track view.
This block indicates where the selection will be placed on the track view when you insert it
from the Chopper window.
Creating selections of a specific musical length

You may want to create a selection with a length corresponding to a musical value. You can
easily do this using the Chopper window’s selection shortcut menu.
1. Create a selection or place the cursor in the Chopper window. For more information, see
Creating selections on page 64.
2. Right-click and choose the desired musical length from the shortcut menu. A selection
equal to the specified musical length is created.

66
Creating new loops

You can use the Chopper feature to create a new loop from an existing media file.
1. Place a media file in the Chopper window.
2. Create a selection containing the media you want to use.
3. Right-click the selection and choose Chop to New Track from the shortcut menu. The
Chop to New Track dialog displays.
4. From the Save in drop-down list, choose the drive and folder where the file will be saved.
5. Enter a new name for the project in the File name box.
6. From the Save as type drop-down list, choose the desired file format.
7. If the selected file type supports it, you can choose an encoding template from the
Template drop-down list, or click Custom to create a new template. For more information,
see Creating custom rendering settings on page 99.
8. Click Save. A progress dialog appears.
Inserting increments
In addition to creating selections, the Chopper feature allows you to configure the sections
of silence between selections painted on a track. When you click the Link Arrow to Selection
button ( ), the increment arrow length is linked with the selection length. This forces the
increment and selection lengths to remain equal, thereby allowing you to insert selections
seamlessly, end-to-end, in the project.
Selection and increment length Chopper selection inserted end-to-end three times
When the Link Arrow to Selection button is toggled off, the increment arrow is displayed in
black and you are able to establish a increment length that is independent of the selection
length. The increment arrow can be set by dragging either end of the arrow or by using the
increment shortcut menu.

67
When the increment length is greater than the length of the selection, an appropriate
amount of silence is inserted following the selection when you insert it in the track view.
This affects the track’s insert position and allows you to paint selections separated by the
specified increment.
Increment greater than selection Selection inserted with specified increment three times
When the increment length is less than the length of the selection, the selections are
overlapped as you insert them in the track view.
Increment less than selection Selection overlaps when inserted three times
Creating increments
1. Verify that the Link Arrow to Selection button ( ) is toggled off and the increment arrow
is displayed in black.
2. Drag the point of the arrow to configure an increment of the desired length.
Note: While dragging the increment arrow, the Chopper

window’s middle status value temporarily displays the length of
the increment.

68
Creating increments of a specific musical length

The increment shortcut menu, like the selection shortcut menu, allows you to create
increments that correspond to the specified musical length.
2. Right-click the increment arrow and choose the desired musical value from the shortcut
menu. The increment length is automatically configured to the selected value in both the
Chopper window and the track view.
Creating increments of a custom musical length

2. Right-click the increment arrow and choose Custom from the shortcut menu. The
Custom Length dialog appears.
3. Choose the desired increment format from the drop-down menu.
4. Enter an appropriate value in the adjacent box and click OK. The increment length is
automatically configured to the selected value in both the Chopper window and the track
view.
Note: It is possible to set an increment value that results in the

increment arrow extending beyond the scope of the Chopper
window. If this occurs, an accurate depiction of the increment
still appears in the track view.
Inserting selections in the track view

You can add selections from the Chopper window to your project in several ways.
Using the Insert Selection button

After you create the desired selection and increment, you can insert the selection in the
project at the track view’s cursor position by clicking the Insert Selection button ( ).
After the the audio is inserted, the cursor moves to the end of the increment.
• If the increment length is equal to the selection length, selections are painted end-to-end.
• If the increment length is greater than the selection length, an appropriate amount of
silence is painted prior to the next insert position.
• If the increment length is less than the selection length, selections overlap.

69
Using copy and paste
You can right-click the selection in the Chopper window and choose Copy from the shortcut
menu to copy the current selection to the clipboard. You can then use the Paste command
to insert the selection in the track view. After the event is pasted, the cursor advances to the
end of the pasted event.
Note: When you paste a selection from the Chopper window to

the track view, the increment setting is ignored.
Dragging selections
You can drag a Chopper selection from the Chopper window to the track view. Release the
mouse at the location where you want to insert the selection.
Moving the insert position in the track view
Click the Move Track View Cursor Left button ( ) and the Move Track View Cursor Right
button ( ) to move the current insert position in the track view left/right by the
increment length.

70

71
CHAPTER
Working with MIDI

7
ACID® Music Studio™ software allows you to record MIDI tracks and, through support for the Open Plug-
in Technology® (OPT) from Yamaha®, edit MIDI in your projects. The software provides two native OPT
plug-ins: the piano roll editor and the list editor. You can also render projects with MIDI tracks, play MIDI
from an external device, and synchronize to MIDI timecode (MTC).
Adding MIDI tracks

You can add MIDI files to your project or create new MIDI files from scratch. MIDI tracks display with the
MIDI icon ( ) in the track list. You can use MIDI tracks to record and play back data from synthesizers
and other MIDI-compliant equipment. MIDI tracks can use MID, SMF, and RMI files.
Adding MIDI files

You can add existing MIDI files to your project just as you would add other files. Simply add the file to the
project and use the Draw ( ) tool or Paint ( ) tool to add events to the track that is created for you.
Creating new MIDI files

You can insert a new blank MIDI track into your project by choosing MIDI Track from the Insert menu. Once
you’ve added the track, you can use one of the provided OPT plug-ins (such as the piano roll editor or list
editor) to create or step record MIDI.
Recording MIDI tracks

The Record dialog allows you to record audio or MIDI tracks. For more information, see Recording Audio on
page 53.
1. Click the Record button ( ) on the transport bar. The Record dialog appears.
2. Select the MIDI radio button in the line labeled Record type.
3. In the Record device drop-down list, choose the MIDI device from which you will record.
Note: If the device from which you want to record does not
appear in the list, you may need to enable the device in the
MIDI tab of the Preferences dialog.
4. From the MIDI Thru drop-down list, choose the output device or soft synth control to use for monitoring
the incoming MIDI. This allows you to hear the MIDI input as you record.
5. In the File name box, enter a name for the recorded file.
6. If necessary, click Browse and select a location to save the recorded file.
CHP. 7 WORKING WITH MIDI

72
7. Complete the remainder of the Record dialog as needed. For more information, see Setting recording
properties on page 54.
8. Click Record to begin recording.
9. When you have finished, click Stop to end recording.
The recorded MIDI file is saved with the name and location you selected and a new MIDI track is added
to the project. You can paint the recorded MIDI on the new MIDI track.
Tip: You can also record MIDI using the step recording
feature of the list editor plug-in. For more information, see
Step recording events on page 86.
Changing MIDI track properties

The General tab of the Track Properties window allows you to pitch-shift or set a root note for a MIDI file in
the same way you can with a loop or Beatmapped file. In addition, the General tab allows you to add, delete,
and work with the tracks within the MIDI file. You can mute, solo, rename, and change channel, volume or
pan settings for individual tracks in a MIDI file.
Pitch shifting MIDI tracks

You can change the pitch of all events on a MIDI track.
1. Double-click the MIDI icon ( ) on the track header to open the Track Properties window.
2. On the General tab, enter a value in the Pitch shift box (or use the spinner control) to adjust the pitch of all
events on the track.
Setting root notes for MIDI tracks

Choose a root note from the Root note drop-down list to set the base note for tracks that you want to conform
to the project key. Otherwise, choose Don’t transpose.
WORKING WITH MIDI CHP. 7

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Working with tracks in a MIDI file

Within the MIDI file, you can add new tracks or delete existing tracks. You can also mute, solo, change
settings, and rename tracks. If you want, you can save the changes you make in ACID Music Studio software
to the original MIDI file. For more information, see Saving, reloading, or replacing MIDI files on page 88.
Viewing track and channel information

The General tab of the Track Properties window displays information about the tracks and channels in a
MIDI file.
• In an SMF (standard MIDI file) type 0 file, all MIDI data is saved to a single track. Each channel within
the single track displays as a separate track in the Track Properties window.
• An SMF type 1 file can save MIDI tracks separately, and these tracks are displayed in the Track Properties
window. If a track sends data to more than one channel, the Channel column for that track displays a
dash (-). You can use the list editor to locate and view channel messages. For more information, see Filtering
the list on page 81.
Adding and deleting tracks

Click the Add New Track button ( ) in the General tab of the Track Properties window to add a new track
to the MIDI file. Select a track and click the Delete Track button ( ) to remove a track.
Renaming tracks
1. In the General tab of the Track Properties window, double-click a track name and type a new name.
2. Press Enter to rename the track.
Editing channel information (channelization)

1. In the General tab of the Track Properties window, double-click the number in the Channel column for a
track.
2. Type a new channel number in the box.
3. Press Enter . All MIDI messages are sent to the new channel.
Note: After you’ve edited the channel for a multichannel

track, channel information cannot be edited in the list editor.
To revert to the previous channelization and enable channel
editing in the list editor, enter -1 in the Channel column. For
more information, see Using the list editor on page 80.
Muting and soloing tracks

To mute or solo a track within a MIDI file, click the Mute ( ) or Solo ( ) button for the track in the
General tab of the Track Properties window.
Changing track volume and pan

Drag the volume or pan sliders in the General tab of the Track Properties window to adjust volume or
panning for a track in a MIDI file. The adjustment you make adds a bias to the original volume or pan
setting in the MIDI file. For example, if a track has a volume setting of 50 and you set the volume slider to
20, the resulting track plays at 70.

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Be aware of the following as you change track volume and panning:
• The volume slider settings are added to the track volume and any volume information in the MIDI file.
This allows you to manipulate the volume of the track and still maintain volume controller information
that may be present in the file. The overall volume of the MIDI track, however, is bound at 0 and 127.
• Volume and panning settings are not saved in the MIDI file, but are saved in the ACID Music Studio
project file. When you click the Reload button ( ) to reload the MIDI file, the volume and
panning settings do not reset but are retained. For more information, see Saving, reloading, or replacing MIDI
files on page 88.
Previewing MIDI files

You can play your MIDI file to test out your changes before leaving the General tab. Use the buttons on the
transport bar at the bottom of the window to control MIDI playback.
Tip: To control volume during playback in the General tab,

drag the Preview fader in the Mixer window.
Chasing MIDI events during playback

When playback loops or begins at a point other than the beginning of the MIDI file, ACID Music Studio
software can automatically chase (update) controller, SysEx, and patch changes to ensure correct playback.
1. Click the Chase Filter button ( ) to display the Chase Event Filter dialog.
2. Select the check box for each event type that you do not want to chase during playback. Clear a check
box to chase events of that type.
3. Click OK to close the Chase Event Filter dialog.
Filtering MIDI events during playback

You can choose to filter out certain event types when you play MIDI from the General tab.
1. Click the Playback Filter button ( ) to display the MIDI Event Filter dialog.
2. Select the check box for each event type that you want to exclude during playback. Clear a check box to
include events of that type.
3. Click OK to close the MIDI Event Filter dialog.
Using the piano roll editor

The Piano Roll Editor tab on the Track Properties window allows you to view and edit a MIDI file.
The top pane of the piano roll editor displays MIDI information in the manner of a piano roll for a player
piano. Each note is represented by a rectangular note event of a certain length and pitch. The piano keys
along the left side of the window indicate the pitch of a note event. The beat ruler across the top of the
window shows the length and location of a note event.
The lower pane of the piano roll editor displays velocity information for each note event. A transport bar for
previewing MIDI appears at the bottom of the window.

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Viewing the piano roll editor

2. Click the Piano Roll Editor tab. The piano roll editor appears.
Pitch and length
Velocity
Middle C Transport bar
Previewing MIDI
You can preview the entire MIDI file, a loop selection, or single notes using the piano roll editor.
Tip: To control volume during playback in the piano roll

editor, drag the Preview fader in the Mixer window.
Previewing the MIDI file

Use the transport bar buttons at the bottom of the piano roll editor to play your MIDI.
Tip: You can use the Solo button ( ) to solo a particular

MIDI track during preview playback.
Previewing a selection in looped playback

You can preview a selection in looped playback just as you would in the main ACID Music Studio window.
1. Drag the handles of the loop bar in the piano roll editor to create the desired loop region.
3. Click the transport bar’s Play button ( ) or press Space . The piano roll editor loops the playback of the
selected area. To stop playback, click the transport bar’s Stop button ( ) or press Space .
Selecting MIDI tracks

As you view, add, or edit MIDI note events, you must first select a track within the MIDI file to work with.
Choose a track from the Track drop-down list to work with that track.

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Adding note events
You can add note events using the Draw tool ( ) or the Paint tool ( ) in the same way you do in the
main ACID Music Studio window.
Tip: As you drag to create new events, the event edge snaps
to the divisions on the beat ruler. To snap to smaller divisions,
click the Zoom In Time button ( ) at the bottom of the
window to zoom in more tightly. Or, to turn off snapping
altogether, click the Enable Snapping button ( ) to toggle it
off.
Drawing note events

The Draw tool limits you to drawing one pitch at a time. In other words, you cannot drag up and down with
the Draw tool to draw note events across several pitches at once.
1. Click the Draw Tool button ( ). The Draw tool is selected.
2. Drag in the row for the pitch you wish to create. A new note event appears as you drag.
Painting note events

Unlike the Draw tool, the Paint tool allows you to create note events across multiple pitches with a single
drag of the mouse. The Paint tool also allows you to select the note length you want to paint.
1. Click the arrow adjacent to the Paint Tool button ( ) and choose a note length to paint from the menu.
2. Click the Paint Tool button ( ). The Paint tool is selected.
3. Drag to create new note events. The new events appear as you drag.

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Editing note events

You can change the length or pitch of a note event using the Draw tool. You can also cut, copy, and paste
events in the same way you do in the main ACID Music Studio window.
Changing pitch
With the Draw tool ( ) selected, drag a note event to a new row.
Changing length
With the Draw tool ( ) selected, drag the edge of a note event to a new location.
Tip: As you drag the edge of a note event, the event edge
snaps to the divisions on the beat ruler. To snap to smaller
divisions, click the Zoom In Time button ( ) at the bottom of
the window to zoom in more tightly. Or, to turn off snapping
altogether, click the Enable Snapping button ( ) to toggle it
off.
Specifying a velocity value for notes
To enter a specific velocity value, right-click a note event in the piano roll, choose Velocity from the
shortcut menu, and choose the appropriate command from the submenu.
Command Description
Set to Maximum Sets the velocity to 127.
Set to Default Sets the velocity to 64.
Set to Minimum Sets the velocity to 0.
Set to... Allows you to enter a custom velocity
value.
Changing velocity data

1. In the lower-left corner of the Piano Roll Editor tab, click the drop-down arrow and choose Velocity from
the menu.
2. In the area at the bottom of the Piano Roll Editor tab, drag the top of a velocity bar up or down to change
the velocity value. You can also drag across multiple bars to change their values at the same time.

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Setting pitch bend
1. In the lower-left corner of the Piano Roll Editor tab, click the drop-down arrow and choose Pitch Bend
from the menu.
2. In the area at the bottom of the Piano Roll Editor tab, drag to draw your pitch bend curve. To erase a
curve, right-click and drag.
Changing continuous controller information

1. In the lower-left corner of the Piano Roll Editor tab, click the drop-down arrow, choose All Continuous
Controllers from the menu, and choose a controller from the submenu.
2. In the area at the bottom of the Piano Roll Editor tab, drag to draw your controller information.
Selecting note events

With the Draw tool selected, you can select individual note events by clicking them. You can also use one of
several methods to select multiple events:
• With the Draw tool selected, press Ctrl or Shift while clicking note events. Pressing Shift allows you to
select the first and last note events of a range in order to select all notes in between, while pressing Ctrl
allows you to select non-contiguous note events.
• Click the Selection Tool button ( ) and drag across note events you wish to select.
• Press Ctrl + A to select all note events on a track.
Moving note events

After you select note events, you can drag them to new positions.
Tip: Press Alt while dragging note events to restrict your

movement to vertical (change pitch) or horizontal (change
location in time).
Using cut, copy, and paste

After you select note events, you can click the Cut ( ) or Copy ( ) buttons to cut or copy the events. You
can then position the cursor in a new location and click the Paste button ( ) to paste the events. Note
events are always pasted at the same pitch as the original note event.

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Quantizing note events

You can use the MIDI Quantize dialog to force notes to align with musical beats based on the parameters you
specify.
1. Select the notes you want to quantize. For more information, see Selecting note events on page 78.
2. Click the Quantize button ( ). The MIDI Quantize dialog appears.
3. From the Quantize resolution drop-down list, choose the beat to which you want the selected notes to be
quantized.
4. Select the Start times check box to snap start times to the beat selected in the Quantize resolution drop-
down list.
5. Select the Note durations check box to snap note durations to the beat selected in the Quantize resolution
drop-down list.
6. Click Apply.
Deleting note events

Use the Erase tool ( ) to erase events in the piano roll. Alternately, you can select events and press Delete .
For more information, see Selecting note events on page 78.
Undoing and redoing

You can easily undo and redo actions in the piano roll editor by using keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl + Z to
undo an action, and press Ctrl + Shift + Z to redo an action.
Saving MIDI
When you create or edit MIDI in the piano roll editor, the MIDI information is saved in the project, but the
information is not saved to a MIDI file. You can save the MIDI information to a MIDI file by clicking the
Save File button ( ). For more information, see Saving, reloading, or replacing MIDI files on page 88.

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Using the list editor

The List Editor tab on the Track Properties window allows you to view and edit all MIDI data using the list
editor plug-in. The list editor displays each event in your MIDI file as a row in a table. The columns in the
table contain information on each event’s parameters.
Viewing the list editor

2. Click the List Editor tab. The list editor appears.
Toolbar
Events
Transport bar Loop boxes
Previewing MIDI
You can preview individual events or the MIDI file as a whole within the list editor.
Tip: To control volume during playback in the list editor,

drag the Preview fader in the Mixer window.
Previewing the MIDI file

Use the transport bar at the bottom of the list editor to preview your MIDI. As you preview, the list editor
highlights the current note being played.

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Previewing a selection in looped playback
You can preview a selection in looped playback just as you would in the main ACID Music Studio window.
2. Define the loop region:
• Select the event where you want the loop to start and click the Mark Loop Start button ( ).
• Select the event where you want the loop to end and click the Mark Loop End button ( ).
The loop boxes in the lower-right corner of the window display the loop start, loop end, and loop length
values.
3. Select the event where you want to begin playback and click the transport bar’s Play button ( ) or press
Space . The piano roll editor begins playback and loops the marked selection. To stop playback, click the
transport bar’s Stop button ( ) or press Space .
Previewing events
You can preview individual note events within the MIDI file.
1. Select the Enable Real-Time MIDI button ( ) at the top of the Track Properties window.
2. In the list editor, click the Monitor button ( ) to turn on the event monitor.
3. Click anywhere in an event row to play the event.
Filtering the list

A MIDI file can contain a dizzying number of individual events. You can speed the task of locating events in
the list editor by applying a filter. You can filter what the list editor displays either by track or by event type.
Filtering the list by track

Choose a track from the Track drop-down list to view only the events for that track.
Filtering the list by event type

1. Click the Filter button ( ). The MIDI Event Filter dialog appears.
2. Select the check box for an event type to hide that type, or clear the check box to display that event type.
3. Click OK. The list is filtered according to the criteria you selected.

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Editing events
Once you have located a particular event, you can edit the parameters of the event as needed.
1. Click in the event row you want to edit.
2. Click the Edit Event button ( ). The Edit MIDI Event dialog appears.
Tip: You can also double-click an event’s Message

parameter to open the Edit Event dialog.
3. Edit the values in the dialog. For more information, see Event parameters on page 83.
4. Click OK. The event updates to the new values.
Tip: You can edit individual parameters in columns other

than Message by double-clicking the parameter and entering
a new value.

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Event parameters
The table below describes the editable event parameters for different event types.
Event type Editable parameter Description

After Touch Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
Channel MIDI channel (1-16) where you want to send the event.
Pressure Amount of vibrato (0-127) you want to apply to each voice on the channel.
Control Change Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
Controller Change Number Displays the number of the current controller change type. Choose a
controller change type from the drop-down list to the right of the Event
type drop-down.
Controller Change Value Controller value.
Meta Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
Meta Event Type Type of meta event that you want to add. Choose a meta event type from the
drop-down list to the right of the Event type drop-down.
Meta Event Parameter Value that you want to send for the meta event. The parameter type varies
depending on the selected meta event type.
For example, when you choose Text Event from the Meta Event Type
drop-down list, a Meta text box displays for you to enter your parameter.
Note Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
Note Numeric value of the note you want to play. For more information, see MIDI
notes and frequencies on page 85.
On Velocity Speed of the note’s attack (0-127). Low values produce a soft attack; high
values produce a strong attack.
Off Velocity Speed of the note's release (0-127). Low values produce a soft release; high
values produce a staccato release.
Duration Length of the note’s sustain in measures.beats.ticks.
Packed NRPN* Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
NRP MSB Parameter’s most significant byte.
NRP LSB Parameter’s least significant byte.
Data MSB Value for the most significant byte.
Data LSB Value for the least significant byte.
Packed RPN** Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
NRP MSB Parameter’s most significant byte.
NRP LSB Parameter’s least significant byte.
Data MSB Value for the most significant byte.
Data LSB Value for the least significant byte.
Patch Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
Bank LSB Least significant byte value for the bank.
Bank MSB Most significant byte value for the bank.
Patch Number of the patch you want to play.
Pitch Bend Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
Pitch +/- Number of cents by which you want to bend the pitch.
Poly Pressure Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
Note Note to which you want to apply pressure.
Pressure Pressure (0-127) you want to apply to the note. Most devices will apply more
vibrato to a note as the pressure increases.

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Event type Editable parameter Description
Program Change Start Time Time (in measures.beats.ticks) where you want the event to begin.
Patch Number of the new patch you want to play.
* Packed nonregistered parameter numbers (NRPN) are used to adjust settings such as vibrato and filtering, but are not part of the
General MIDI specification. Refer to your MIDI device’s documentation for more information about the required parameters.
** Packed registered parameter numbers (RPN) are used to adjust common settings such as pitch wheel range.

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MIDI notes and frequencies
The following table shows the musical pitch and frequency associated with each MIDI note.
A5 is 440 Hz, and middle C is C5 at 261.63 Hz. These values can differ, often by one octave, from values
used by other manufacturers. The following frequencies are based on equal temperament tuning.
Pitch MIDI Key Frequency Pitch MIDI Key Frequency Pitch MIDI Key Frequency
C 0 0 8.176 G 3 43 97.998 D 7 86 1174.7
C#-0 1 8.662 G#3 44 103.82 D#7 87 1244.5
D 0 2 9.177 A 3 45 110.00 E 7 88 1318.5
D#0 3 9.723 A#3 46 116.54 F 7 89 1396.9
E 0 4 10.301 B 3 47 123.47 F# 7 90 1480.0
F 0 5 10.913 C 4 48 130.81 G 7 91 1568.0
F# 0 6 11.562 C#4 49 138.59 G#7 92 1661.2
G 0 7 12.250 D 4 50 146.83 A 7 93 1760.0
G#0 8 12.978 D#4 51 155.56 A#7 94 1864.7
A 0 9 13.750 E 4 52 164.81 B 7 95 1975.5
A#0 10 14.568 F 4 53 174.61 C 8 96 2093.0
B 0 11 15.434 F# 4 54 184.99 C#8 97 2217.5
C 1 12 16.352 G 4 55 195.99 D 8 98 2349.3
C#1 13 17.324 G#4 56 207.65 D#8 99 2489.0
D 1 14 18.354 A 4 57 220.00 E 8 100 2637.0
D#1 15 19.445 A#4 58 233.08 F 8 101 2793.8
E 1 16 20.601 B 4 59 246.94 F# 8 102 2960.0
F 1 17 21.826 C 5 60 261.63 G 8 103 3136.0
F# 1 18 23.124 C#5 61 277.18 G#8 104 3322.4
G 1 19 24.499 D 5 62 293.66 A 8 105 3520.0
G#1 20 25.956 D#5 63 311.13 A#8 106 3729.3
A 1 21 27.500 E 5 64 329.63 B 8 107 3951.1
A#1 22 29.135 F 5 65 349.23 C 9 108 4186.0
B 1 23 30.867 F# 5 66 369.99 C#9 109 4434.9
C 2 24 32.703 G 5 67 391.99 D 9 110 4698.6
C#2 25 34.648 G#5 68 415.31 D#9 111 4978.0
D 2 26 36.708 A 5 69 440.00 E 9 112 5274.0
D#2 27 38.890 A#5 70 466.16 F 9 113 5587.7
E 2 28 41.203 B 5 71 439.88 F# 9 114 5919.9
F 2 29 43.653 C 6 72 523.25 G 9 115 6271.9
F# 2 30 46.249 C#6 73 554.37 G#9 116 6644.9
G 2 31 48.999 D 6 74 587.33 A 9 117 7040.0
G#2 32 51.913 D#6 75 622.25 A#9 118 7458.6
A 2 33 55.000 E 6 76 659.26 B 9 119 7902.1
A#2 34 58.270 F 6 77 698.46 C 10 120 8372.0
B 2 35 61.735 F# 6 78 739.99 C#10 121 8869.8
C 3 36 65.406 G 6 79 783.99 D 10 122 9397.3
C#3 37 69.295 G#6 80 830.61 D#10 123 9956.1
D 3 38 73.416 A 6 81 880.00 E 10 124 10548.1
D#3 39 77.781 A#6 82 932.32 F 10 125 11175.3
E 3 40 82.406 B 6 83 987.77 F# 10 126 11839.8
F 3 41 87.307 C 7 84 1046.5 G 10 127 12543.9
F# 3 42 92.499 C#7 85 1108.7

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Creating events
In addition to editing existing events, you can also create new events.
1. Click the Insert Event button ( ). The Insert MIDI Event dialog appears.
2. Choose a track from the Track drop-down list.
3. Choose an event type from the Event type drop-down list.
4. Enter a start time in the Start time box.
5. Enter values for the remaining event parameters.
6. Click Insert. The new event is inserted at the designated start time.
Step recording events

In step recording, you can record MIDI without worrying about tempo or rhythm. Simply record the MIDI
note by note, entering event parameter values as you go.
If you have a MIDI keyboard or other device connected to your system, you can input notes using the device.
For more information, see Adding external devices as MIDI inputs on page 89.
1. Click the Step Recording button ( ) on the transport bar at the bottom of the window. The MIDI Step
Recording dialog appears.
2. Choose a track from the Track drop-down list.
3. If you will input MIDI from an external device, choose a device from the Input drop-down list.
Note: You must make a MIDI port available as an input

device in the Preferences dialog in order to use it for step
recording.
4. Choose the total duration from the start of one note to the start of the next from the Step size drop-down
list.
5. Choose the length of an individual note from the Duration drop-down list.
Note: When you choose a duration longer than the step size,
the note is overlapped with the note in the next step.
6. Input the MIDI using an external device, or specify settings for each note you want to record:
• In the Start time box, enter the point at which you want to start recording.
• Select the Auto advance on insert and record check box if you want to automatically increase the Start time
setting by the current step size each time you click Insert or play a note on a MIDI input device. Clear
the check box to adjust the Start time manually (when creating chords, for example).
• In the Channel box, enter the MIDI channel you want to play the note.
• In the Note box, enter the note you want to play. You can enter the note as a numeric value (69) or as a
pitch (A5).
• In the On velocity box, specify the speed of the note's attack (0-127). Low values produce a soft attack;
high values produce a strong attack.
• In the Off velocity box, specify the speed of the note's release (0-127). Low values produce a soft release;
high values produce a staccato release.
• In the Duration box, specify the length of the note's sustain in measures.beats.ticks.
• Click Insert to record the note.

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7. Repeat step six as needed to record each note.
8. Click Add to add the notes to the MIDI and continue step recording, or click OK to close the MIDI Step
Recording dialog and add the notes to the MIDI in the list editor.
Quantizing events
You can use the MIDI Quantize dialog to force events to align with musical beats based on the parameters
you specify.
1. To quantize only specific events, select the events you want to quantize.
Tip: Hold Shift or Ctrl while clicking event rows to select

multiple events.
2. Click the Quantize button ( ). The MIDI Quantize dialog appears.

3. From the Quantize resolution drop-down list, choose the beat to which you want the selected events to be
quantized.
4. Choose the appropriate options for quantizing:
• Select the Start times check box to snap event start times to the beat selected in the Quantize resolution
drop-down list.
• Select the Note durations check box to snap note durations to the beat selected in the Quantize resolution
drop-down list.
• Select the Notes only check box to quantize note events alone. When you select this check box, the list
editor does not quantize after touch, control change, meta, NRPN, RPN, pitch bend, poly pressure, and
program change events.
• Select the Apply to current selection only check box to quantize only the selected events. Clear the check
box to quantize all events within the list.
5. Click Apply.
Deleting events
Click an event row and click the Delete button ( ).
Undoing and redoing

You can easily undo and redo actions in the list editor by using keyboard shortcuts. Press Ctrl + Z to undo an
action, and press Ctrl + Shift + Z to redo an action.
Saving MIDI
When you create or edit MIDI in the list editor, the MIDI information is saved in the project, but the
information is not saved to a MIDI file. You can save the MIDI information to a MIDI file by clicking the
Save File button ( ). For more information, see Saving, reloading, or replacing MIDI files on page 88.

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Saving, reloading, or replacing MIDI files

When you alter a MIDI file using any of the tabs in the Track Properties window, the changes are saved in
the project file alone; the original MIDI file is not altered. To save your changes to the MIDI file, click the
Save File button ( ) in the Track Properties window.
Tip: To save MIDI to a different file, click the Save File As

button ( ).
You also have the option of reloading the original (unmodified) MIDI file or replacing the MIDI file with
another file.
Volume and pan changes made in the General tab of the Track Properties window are not saved to the file
when you click the Save File button. The MIDI file retains its original volume and pan settings; however, the
volume and pan changes made in the General tab are retained in the ACID Music Studio project file. This
means that when you reload a MIDI file, the volume and pan changes are not reset but are retained. For more
information, see Changing track volume and pan on page 73.
Routing MIDI tracks to MIDI devices or soft synth controls

You can assign a soft synth control in the Mixer window to any DLS set on your computer. You can then
route a MIDI track to the soft synth control. Alternately, you can route a track directly to an external MIDI
device through a MIDI port.
Tip: You can use Shift or Ctrl to select multiple MIDI

tracks and change their soft synth routing all at once.
1. Click the Device Selection button (

) on the MIDI track in the Track List. A menu displays available
MIDI devices and soft synth controls.
• If a soft synth for a particular DLS set does not appear in the menu, choose Insert Soft Synth to add a soft
synth control to the project and route it to a DLS set.
• If a MIDI device does not appear in the menu, choose External MIDI Device Preferences to make MIDI
devices available on the MIDI tab of the Preferences dialog.
2. Choose a device or soft synth control from the menu to send the current track to that control.
The Device Selection button indicates whether the track is routed to a soft synth ( ) or MIDI device ( ).
Resetting MIDI ports

When a MIDI port is stuck playing a sustaining sound, a quick method to turn off MIDI ports is provided
(much like the panic button on MIDI hardware devices). From the Tools menu, choose Reset All MIDI Ports
to send a global Note Off command to all MIDI ports.
Tip: Press Ctrl + Alt + F7 to reset all MIDI ports.

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Rendering projects with MIDI tracks

To render projects that contain MIDI tracks, route the MIDI tracks to soft synths (DLS sets) rather than to
external MIDI devices; MIDI tracks that are routed to external MIDI devices are not included in the
rendered file. For more information, see Rendering projects on page 97.
Playing MIDI from external devices

You can receive MIDI input from an external device such as a MIDI keyboard. You can then use a soft synth
control (with its DLS set) or external MIDI device to output the sound from the external device.
Adding external devices as MIDI inputs

1. Verify that the Enable Real-Time MIDI command is selected in the Options menu.
2. From the Options menu, choose Preferences. The Preferences dialog appears.
3. Click the MIDI tab.
4. Select a device in the Make these devices available for MIDI input pane.
5. To enable MIDI thru for the selected input, right-click the entry in the MIDI Thru column and choose a
MIDI thru device from the shortcut menu.
Note: The MIDI thru device must be selected in the Make

these devices available for MIDI track playback pane in order
to appear in the menu. You can choose more than one MIDI
device for MIDI thru output, if desired.
6. Click OK.
Assigning MIDI inputs to soft synth controls

You can route MIDI input from an external device to any soft synth control in your project.
You can assign both individual tracks and external MIDI

devices to a single soft synth.
1. In the Mixer window, double-click the soft synth icon on a control ( ). The Soft Synth Properties
window appears.
2. Click the External MIDI Input Port button ( ) and select the MIDI input device from the menu.
Soloing MIDI device inputs

External MIDI devices can be routed to multiple soft synths or MIDI thru devices. Soloing a MIDI device
input prevents your device from playing through other soft synths and MIDI thru devices, soloing the input
through the selected soft synth control. You can solo MIDI input on more than one soft synth control, if
desired.
1. Double-click the soft synth icon on a control ( ). The Soft Synth Properties window appears.
2. Click the Solo Listen to MIDI Input button ( ).

90

91
CHAPTER
Working with Video

8
By adding a video track to your project, you can use ACID® Music Studio™ software as a scoring tool.
Video is always added to the top track in the track list. Depending on your horizontal zoom level, each frame
displayed in the video track may represent multiple frames from the source video. As you zoom in, marks
display to represent each frame, and you can zoom further to view individual frames.
Managing video
ACID Music Studio software makes it easy to add video to a project and work with the video track.
Adding or replacing video files

Use the Explorer window to find the file you want to use, and then add it to the project by double-clicking it
or dragging it into the track view. The video file is placed in the top track, and if the file has an audio stream,
it is placed as a separate, one-shot track in the track view.
If your project already contains a video track, you are prompted to replace the existing video if you open
another video file.
Tip: You can also add a still image (such as a BMP, JPEG,
PSD, GIF, PNG, or TGA file) to the video track.
Removing the video track

Right-click anywhere in the video track and choose Remove Video from the shortcut menu.
Hiding and showing the video track

By default, video displays in the track view when you add it to a project. You can hide or show the video
track at any time by choosing Show Video Track from the View menu. A check mark next to the command
indicates that the video track displays.
Synchronizing audio and video

Editing the audio associated with a video file can cause it to become out of sync with the video. To
resynchronize the audio and video, right-click the audio file and choose Synchronize with Video from the
shortcut menu.
Note: This does not work if you have changed the audio
track to a loop.
CHP. 8 WORKING WITH VIDEO

92
Removing the video’s audio
Right-click the audio track in the track list and choose Delete from the shortcut menu. The audio track is
removed, but the video remains.
Editing video events

ACID provides several video editing options to help you score your video.
Moving video events

Drag the event to a new location along the video track.
Trimming video events

Drag either end of the video event. The video event stays in place, but the beginning or end of the video
moves.
You cannot trim the beginning or end of the event past the event’s original end. You cannot trim an event
earlier than its starting point unless the event has been trimmed previously.
Slipping and sliding video events

To help you picture what happens when you slip and slide events, think of an event as a window to a media
file. The window can display the entire media file or a small section. When the window displays only a
portion of the media file, you can move either the window or the underlying media to adjust the media
played by an event:
• When you slip an event, your event maintains its place on the timeline, but the media file moves in the
direction you drag.
• When you slide an event, the media file maintains its place on the timeline, but the event moves in the
direction you drag.
Shifting the contents of video events (slipping)

Hold Alt while dragging the video event to move the position of the video within the event. The event itself
does not move.
Slip-trimming video events

Hold Alt while dragging the beginning or end of a video event. The video moves with the event edge, and
the opposite edge of the event remains fixed.
Sliding video events

Hold Ctrl + Alt while dragging the video event to move the event while leaving the video in place. The
relative position of the video changes as when you slip an event.
WORKING WITH VIDEO CHP. 8

93
Using the Video window

The Video window is used to view the video as it plays or to view the frame at the cursor position. To display
the Video window, choose Video from the View menu, or press Alt + 4 .
Shortcut menu
Background
Status bar
Copying a frame to the clipboard

The Copy Frame toolbar button in the Video window allows you to copy the current frame to the Windows®
clipboard.
Using the shortcut menu

Right-click anywhere in the Video window to display a shortcut menu with Video window options.
Item Description
Copy Frame Copies the current frame to the Windows clipboard.
Default Background Sets the background color of the Video window to the default color.
Black Background Sets the background color of the Video window to black.
White Background Sets the background color of the Video window to white.
Display Square Pixels Compensates for any spatial distortions due to non-square pixel aspect ratios.
Display at Media Size Displays video at the native resolution, clipping if necessary.
Show Toolbar Toggles the display of the Video window toolbar.
Show Status Bar Toggles the display of the Video window status bar.
Viewing the status bar

Right-click the Video window and choose Show Status Bar from the shortcut menu to view the status bar.
The status bar shows the video’s frame size, frame rate, and display size.
Scoring video with ACID

ACID provides tools that allow you to adjust the tempo of a project to easily synchronize audio with specific
video frames.
1. Add your audio track(s) and video to your project.
2. If the Video window is not displayed, choose Video from the View menu.
3. Click the Play button ( ) to begin playback.
CHP. 8 WORKING WITH VIDEO

94
4. Press H each time you want to place a time marker at a frame you want to emphasize (where an explosion
is heard, for example).
5. Click the Stop button ( ) to stop playback.
6. Return to the leftmost time marker and fine tune its placement so it coincides exactly with the desired
video frame.
Tip: Holding Alt while pressing the right or left arrow keys
allows you to step the cursor through your video by individual
frames. You may need to drag your time marker to the cursor
to get it on the desired frame.
7. Place the cursor at the point to which you want to synchronize your time marker. For example, you might
want the frame that you marked in step six to coincide with a downbeat.
8. Right-click the time marker and select Adjust Tempo to Match Marker to Cursor from the shortcut menu.
The new tempo appears in the track list.
9. PressT to insert a tempo change marker. ACID detects the adjusted tempo and inserts it in the tempo
marker’s box. The tempo change marker preserves synchronization between the time marker and location
on the beat ruler as you perform editing further down the timeline. For more information, see Working with
tempo/key/time signature change markers on page 59.
10.Repeat steps six through nine to synchronize the rest of your video.
WORKING WITH VIDEO CHP. 8

95
CHAPTER
Saving and
9 Rendering
Projects
Saving a project
Though ACID® Music Studio™ software provides you with the tools to quickly build
impressive musical projects, you may find yourself building elaborate projects over a period
of weeks or even months. While you are working on a project, you should save it in the
software’s native format, the ACID Music Studio project file (.acd).
Important: If you use this version of ACID Music Studio

software to save a project originally created in an earlier version
of ACID software, it will be unusable in earlier versions of
ACID software. Use the Save As dialog to save the project with
a new name after editing it in ACID Music Studio 5.0 software.
When you are finished building a project, you can render projects in a variety of formats.
You should determine the project’s final format (or formats) based on how you will deliver
the media. For example, you would render to a streaming media format if you plan to publish
your project to the Internet.
Note: Be aware that projects containing MIDI files that are

routed to external MIDI ports must be rerouted to internal DLS
soft synths to be included in the rendered mix.
CHP. 9 SAVING AND RENDERING PROJECTS

96
An ACID Music Studio project file (.acd) is the default file format for saving a new project
and should be used for saving unfinished projects. There are two ACID Music Studio project
file types.
Format Extension Description

ACID Project File .acd Contains all information regarding the project including
track layout, envelope settings, and effects parameters.
However, this type of file does not contain actual audio,
only references to the audio files.
ACID Project with .acd-zip Contains all information regarding the project including
Embedded Media track layout, envelope settings, and effects parameters. In
addition, all audio files used in the project are embedded
into the project file.
If you save a project in .acd-zip format, the project file and
all media files are copied to a temporary files folder. If you
continue to work on your project after saving the .acd-zip
file, your changes are saved to the files in this temporary
folder.
1. To save a file, display the Save As dialog using any of the following options:
• Click the Save button ( ) on the toolbar.
• From the File menu, choose Save.
• Press Ctrl + S .
2. From the Save in drop-down list, choose the drive and directory where the file will be
saved.
3. Enter a name for the project in the File name box.
4. From the Save as type drop-down list, choose the desired ACID Music Studio project file
type.
5. If you want to save a copy of each of the project’s media files to the same location as your
project file, select the Copy all media with project check box. This is available when saving
as an ACID Music Studio project file.
6. Click Save. The project is saved.
Note: Once the project is saved, you can use the Save As
command from the File menu to create a copy of the project with
a new name or save to a different ACID Music Studio project
file format.
SAVING AND RENDERING PROJECTS CHP. 9

97
Specifying locations for saved media files

You can use the Folders tab on the Preferences dialog to specify locations for saving your
project media files, such as MIDI or extracted CD data. Once you set these locations, ACID
Music Studio software automatically defaults to the specified folders when saving project
media. To set folder preferences, choose Preferences from the File menu and click the Folder
tab.
Rendering projects
Rendering refers to the process of converting the ACID Music Studio project into a file that
is formatted for a specific playback method. Possible playback methods include media player
applications, Internet streaming media, CD-ROM, and CD audio. When an ACID Music
Studio project is rendered, it is not overwritten, deleted, or altered, and you are able to
return to the original project to make changes and re-render.
1. From the File menu, choose Render
As. The Render As dialog appears.
2. From the Save in drop-down list,
choose the drive and folder where
the file will be saved.
3. Enter a new name for the project in
the File name box.
4. From the Save as type drop-down list,
choose the desired file format.
5. If the selected file type supports it,
you can choose an encoding
template from the Template drop-
down list, or click Custom to create a
new template. For more information,
see Creating custom rendering settings
on page 99.
6. Select or clear the following check boxes as needed:
• Select the Render loop region only check box if you want to save only the portion of the
project that is contained within the loop region. The loop region does not need to be
active for this option to work.
• If the selected file type supports it, you can select the Save project markers with media file
check box to include markers and regions in the rendered media file.

98
7. Click Save. A progress dialog appears.

When rendering is complete, you can choose one of the following options:
• Click Open to start the associated media player and play the newly rendered file.
• Click Open Folder to open Windows Explorer and display the location of the newly
rendered file.
• Click Close to close the progress dialog and return to the ACID Music Studio window.
Supported formats for rendering

The following table briefly describes the file formats available for rendering a project.
Format Extension Description

AIFF File .aif The standard audio file format for audio used on Macintosh com-
puters.
MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 .mpg MPEG files are a format used when burning audio and video to a
Video CD, Super Video CD, or DVD. MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 file cre-
ation is supported through the use of the MainConcept MPEG
plug-in.
MPEG-1 Layer 3 .mp3 A highly compressed format used for portable digital players and
Internet sharing of media. You are provided with 20 free MP3
encodes. After you have used the free encodes, you must register
the plug-in to continue rendering MP3s.
Ogg Vorbis .ogg A patent-free audio encoding and streaming technology.
QuickTime .mov QuickTime® for Microsoft Windows.
RealMedia .rm The RealNetworks® standard for streaming media via the Web.
This option renders both audio and video into one file.
Sony Perfect Clarity .pca A Sony proprietary lossless audio compression format.
Audio
Sony Wave64 .w64 A Sony proprietary wave format that does not have a restricted
file size (unlike Windows standard WAV format which is limited to
~2GB).
Video for Windows .avi The standard video file format used on Windows-based comput-
ers.
Wave .wav The standard audio file format used on Windows-based comput-
ers.
Windows Media Audio .wma The Microsoft® audio format used to create files for streaming or
downloading via the Web.
Windows Media Video .wmv The Microsoft audio and video format used to create files for
streaming or downloading via the Web.
Note: Some plug-ins, such as MP3, may require registration.

99
Creating custom rendering settings

The Custom Settings dialog appears when you click Custom in the Save As dialog. You can
use the Custom Settings dialog to create custom encoding templates for many of the
available ACID Music Studio file formats.
1. From the File menu, choose Render As. The Render As dialog appears.
2. Choose your preferred file format from the Save as type drop-down list. If the format
allows you to create custom settings, the Custom button becomes active.
3. Click Custom. The Custom Settings dialog appears.
4. Make the appropriate setting changes for the chosen file format. For help on individual
settings, click the What’sThis? Help button ( ) and click a setting.
Tip: To save the custom settings for future use, enter a name for
the template in the Template box and click the Save Template
button ( ).
5. Click OK. The Custom Settings dialog closes.
Specifying a location for rendered files

You can use the Folders tab on the Preferences dialog to specify a location for your rendered
project files. Once you set the location, ACID Music Studio software automatically defaults
to the specified folder when rendering your projects. To set folder preferences, choose
Preferences from the File menu and click the Folder tab.
Publishing to the Internet

When your project is finished, you have the option of publishing it to the Internet. The
most common place to publish your project is ACIDplanet.com, a virtual community of
ACID software users. ACIDplanet.com allows you to do the following:
• Share your music.
• Listen to projects built by other ACID software enthusiasts.
• Download free loops.
• Enter remix contests co-sponsored by Sony Pictures Digital and major record labels.
Publishing your project to the Internet involves two distinct procedures: creating a personal
account and uploading the project.

100
Creating a personal account

You can create accounts at Web sites where you can publish your song files. Each Web site
that offers publishing directly through ACID Music Studio software will guide you through
its own account creation process. If you haven’t created an account and you attempt to
publish a song, you will be directed to complete the Publish Setup utility.
1. From the File menu, choose Publish.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your account.
At any time, you can go back and create another account at a different Web site. The Web
site you are currently logged into in the Publish Setup utility is where your song is published
when you choose Publish from the File menu.
Uploading a project
Publishing a project file copies your media to the Web so you can share it with other Web
users. The following procedure assumes you already have an account set up with a publish
provider. If not, you will first be redirected to set up an account. After successfully creating
an account, you will be directed back to the Publish feature.
1. From the File menu, choose Publish. The Publish dialog appears.
2. Select the appropriate radio button to specify whether the song to be published is the
current ACID Music Studio song or a different song.
• To publish your current ACID Music Studio song, choose a streaming format and bit
rate.
• To publish a different song, enter the path to the song or click Browse to locate the file.
This song must already be in a streaming format.
3. Click Next. If you are publishing the current ACID Music Studio song, it is rendered in
the format and bit rate you specified. A window appears from the publish provider with
directions for completing the publishing process.
4. Follow the instructions provided by the publish provider. The file begins uploading to the
provider. A progress dialog informs you when the upload is finished.
5. Click OK. The publish provider provides a link to the song on their Web site; however,
this may vary depending on provider.

101
Exporting to Net MD devices

You can export your ACID Music Studio audio files to your Sony® Net MD™ device.
1. From the File menu, choose Export to Net MD.
2. In the Name of track on device box, type the name you want to use to identify your audio
file on your Net MD device.
3. Click the Export button. Your project is converted to the appropriate format for your
device and begins transferring when the conversion is complete.
Writing to CD
You can burn your projects to CD using supported CD-R/CD-RW drives. You can burn CDs
for multiple- or single-track projects and build audio CD layouts automatically or manually.
You can also create video CDs that can be played in many home DVD players and on
computers with a CD-ROM drive and VCD player software, and multimedia CDs that can
be played in any computer with the appropriate player.
Understanding track-at-once and disc-at-once

ACID Music Studio provides two ways to record audio to a CD-R disc: track-at-once and
disc-at-once.
Track-at-once
Track-at-once writing records individual tracks to the disc and results in a partially recorded
disc. However, the CD-R disc remains unplayable on most systems until you close the disc.
The advantage of track-at-once writing is that you can record tracks onto the disc as you
finish them versus waiting until you have finished your whole album. Track-at-once writing
burns the entire project as a single track.
Disc-at-once (Single Session or Red Book)

Disc-at-once writing is the most common burning method in the music industry. This
writing mode is used when creating a master disc to be sent to a disc manufacturer for mass
replication. Disc-at-once works just as it sounds. Multiple tracks of audio are written to the
CD in one recording session.

102
Burning single tracks (track-at-once)
Note: The entire project length is written to a CD track. If your

project has events on muted tracks that extend beyond the end of
the audible material, the muted events burn as silence at the end
of your CD track. To burn just a portion of a project, create a
loop region and select the Burn loop region only check box.
1. Insert a blank CD in a supported CD-R/CD-RW drive.

2. From the Tools menu, choose Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD.
Notice that the Burn Track-at-Once Audio CD dialog indicates the amount of time that
the current project will fill on the CD as well as the total amount of time remaining on
the CD. If the Time needed for audio value exceeds the Time available on disc value, you are
not allowed to write the track to the CD.
Note: If there is no CD in the CD-R/CD-RW drive, only

the Cancel button is available in this dialog.
3. Choose a setting from the Action drop-down list:

• Choose Burn audio to begin recording audio to your CD when you click Start. You must
close the disc before it can be played in an audio CD player.
• Choose Test, then burn audio to test whether your files can be written to the CD
without encountering buffer underruns. Recording begins after the test if it is successful.
• Choose Test only to test whether your files can be written to the CD without
encountering buffer underruns. No audio is recorded to the CD.
• Choose Close disc to close your disc without adding any audio when you click Start.
Closing a disc allows your files to be played on an audio CD player. You cannot add
tracks to a CD once it has been closed.
• Choose Erase RW disc to erase a rewritable CD when you click Start.

103
4. Select your burning options:
• Select the Erase RW disc before burning check box to erase a rewritable CD before you
begin burning.
• Select the Close disc when done burning check box to close the CD after burning. Closing
a disc allows your files to be played on an audio CD player. You cannot add tracks to a
CD once it has been closed.
• Select the Eject disc when done check box to eject the CD automatically when burning is
complete.
• Select the Burn selection only check box to burn only the selected region. Clear the
check box to burn the entire project.
• Select the Render temporary image before burning check box if you want to render your
CD project to a temporary file before recording. Prerendering can prevent buffer
underruns if you have a complex project that cannot be rendered and burned in real
time.
Note: The rendered temporary file will remain until you

modify your project or exit. If an image file exists when you
Open the Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD dialog, the check
box is displayed as Use existing rendered temporary image.
5. From the Drive drop-down list, choose the drive for burning CDs.
6. From the Speed drop-down list, choose the speed at which you want to burn. Choosing
Max uses your drive’s fastest possible speed; decrease the setting if you have difficulty
burning because of buffer underruns.
7. Click Start.
Important: Once the CD writing begins, cancelling the write

operation renders the CD unusable.

104
Disc-at-once (DAO) CD burning

The DAO burning process involves arranging your media on the timeline, adding pauses
between tracks as necessary, inserting track markers, and burning your CD.
Adding pauses
Each CD track in your project should have a two-second pause following it. This default
setting is based on the Red Book specification for audio CDs. The exception to this standard
is a continuous recording, such as a live concert CD. For a continuous recording, you can
omit the pauses after tracks for continuous playback. You can manually insert silence
between your audio files to create a pause.
Note: The Red Book specification also requires a two-second

pause at the beginning of an audio CD. This pause is
automatically added when you burn your CD.
1. Position your audio files on the timeline in the order in which you want them to play on
your CD.
2. Position the cursor where you want to insert the pause between files.
3. From the Insert menu, choose Time. The Insert Time dialog appears.
4. Enter two seconds in the Amount of time to insert box.
5. Click OK. Two seconds are inserted in the timeline at the cursor position.
Inserting CD track markers

You can use CD track markers in your project to indicate to the CD-R device where to mark
the beginning and ending of a track during the writing process. A Red Book CD can contain
up to 99 tracks.
1. Position your audio files and add pauses between them as necessary. For more information,
see Adding pauses on page 104.
2. Position the cursor at the start of an audio file.
3. From the Insert menu, choose CD Track Marker. The marker appears in the marker bar
and is automatically numbered.
Important: You must place your first CD track marker at

the beginning of your project. Audio placed before the first
marker will not be burned to CD.

105
Tip: Once you have inserted a marker, you can move or

delete them as needed.
4. Repeat step 3 until you have marked all CD tracks.
Burning a disc (disc-at-once)

1. Insert a blank CD in a supported CD-R/CD-RW drive.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD. The Burn Disc-at-Once Audio
CD dialog appears.
3. From the Drive drop-down list, use the CD drive that you want to use to burn your CD.
4. From the Speed drop-down list, choose the speed at which you want to burn. Max will use
your drive’s fastest possible speed; decrease the setting to prevent the possibility of buffer
underruns.
5. Select the Buffer underrun protection check box if your CD recorder supports buffer
underrun protection.
Buffer underrun protection allows a CD recorder to stop and resume burning.
Note: Buffer underrun protection can create a disc that can

be played in CD players, but may contain a bit error where
burning stopped and restarted. Consider clearing this check
box when creating a premaster disc.
6. Choose a radio button in the Burn mode box:

• Burn CDs begins recording audio to your CD immediately.
• Test first, then burn CDs performs a test to determine whether your files can be written to
the CD recorder without encountering buffer underruns. No audio is recorded to the
CD during the test, and recording begins after the test if it is successful.
• Test only (do not burn CDs) performs a test to determine whether your files can be written
to the CD recorder without encountering buffer underruns. No audio is recorded to the
CD.

106
7. Select the Render temporary image before burning check box if you want to render your CD
project to a temporary file before recording. Prerendering can prevent buffer underruns if
you have a complex project that cannot be rendered and burned in real time.
Note: The rendered temporary file will remain until you

modify your project or exit. If an image file exists when you
Open the Burn Disc-at-Once Audio CD dialog, the check
box is displayed as Use existing rendered temporary image.
8. Select the Automatically erase rewritable discs check box if you’re burning to rewritable
media and want to erase the disc before burning.
9. Select the Eject when done check box if you want the CD to eject automatically when
burning has completed.
10.Click OK to start burning.
Proper use of software

ACID Music Studio software is not intended and should not be used for illegal or infringing
purposes, such as the illegal copying or sharing of copyrighted materials. Using ACID Music
Studio software for such purposes is, among other things, against United States and
international copyright laws and contrary to the terms and conditions of the End User
License Agreement. Such activity may be punishable by law and may also subject you to the
breach remedies set forth in the End User License Agreement.

i
Index
A Copying
Events, 36
ACID FX window, 19 Tracks, 43
Adding Cutting
Events, 29 Events, 38
Media to projects, 25 Tracks, 43
MIDI tracks, 71
Video, 91 D
Adjusting the mix, 44
Deleting
Audio properties tab, 22 Audio from a video, 92
Events, 31, 38
B Tracks, 43
Video, 91
Beat ruler, 16
DLS sets
Beatmapped tracks, 41 Routing tracks to, 88
Bit depth, 22 Downloading media from the Web, 28
Burning CDs, 101 Drawing events, 29
Bus tracks, 46 Duplicating tracks, 43
C E
CD Editing events, 36
Extracting media, 26
Writing media, 101 Erasing events, 31
Changing the track color, 42
Channelization in MIDI files, 73
Chopper, 18, ??–69
Inserting selections from, 68
Selecting audio, 64
Clipping, 52
INDEX
ii
Events I
Changing length, 31
Changing pitch, 61 Installation, 8
Copying, 36
Cutting, 38 J
Deleting, 38
Joining events, 40
Editing, 36
Erasing, 31
Joining, 40
K
Moving, 32 Key changes
Painting, 29 Event, 61
Pasting, 36 Marker, 59
reversing, 34 Project, 59
Selecting, 32–35 Track, 61
Snapping, 62
Splitting, 39 L
Trimming, 39
List editor, 80–87
Explorer window, 23–26
Creating MIDI events, 86
External devices Deleting MIDI events, 87
Playing MIDI from, 89 Editing MIDI events, 82
Routing MIDI tracks to, 88 Filtering MIDI events, 81
MIDI event parameters, 83
Extracting media from CD, 26
MIDI notes and frequencies, 85
Previewing MIDI events, 80
F Quantizing note events, 87
Faders, mixer, 51 Step recording MIDI, 86
Undoing and redoing, 87
Filtering MIDI events
During playback, 74 Looped playback, 49
In the list editor, 81 Loops, 41
G M
Getting media from the Web, 28 Main window, 11
H Markers
Marker bar, 16
Hardware Tempo/key/time signature markers, 59
Playing MIDI from, 89
Media files
Routing MIDI tracks to, 88
Adding to projects, 25
Help, 9–10 Downloading from the Web, 28
Extracting from CD, 26
Hiding/showing
Previewing in Explorer, 23
Video tracks, 91
Metronome
during playback, 50
INDEX
iii
MIDI, 41, 71 Pasting
Adding tracks, 71 Events, 36
DLS sets, 88 Tracks, 43
List editor, 80–87
Piano roll editor, 74–79
Notes and frequencies, 85
Adding note events, 76
Panic button, 88
continuous controller information, 78
Piano roll editor, 74–79
Deleting note events, 79
Playback devices, 88
Editing note events, 77
Playing from external devices, 89
Previewing MIDI, 75
Quantizing, 79, 87
Quantizing note events, 79
Recording, 71
Selecting MIDI tracks, 75
Rendering, 89
Selecting note events, 78
Resetting ports, 88
Undoing and redoing, 79
Routing to hardware, 88
Step recording, 86 Pitch shifting
Track properties, 72–73 Events, 61
MIDI tracks, 72
MIDI tracks
Projects, 59
device selection, 15
Tracks, 61
Mixer window, 50–52
Playing projects, 48
Moving
Previewing media
Events, 32
Adjusting preview volume, 51
Tracks, 42
Explorer window, 23
Multipurpose slider, 15, 44
Projects
Muting Adding media, 25
Tracks in MIDI files, 73 Key, 59
Opening, 23
Muting tracks, 15, 45
Playing, 48
Properties, 21
O Publishing to the Internet, 99
One-shots, 41 Rendering, 97
Saving, 96
Online help, 9 Starting, 21
Opening Tempo, 57
Media files, 25 Time signature, 58
Projects, 23 Properties, 21
MIDI track, 72–73
P Recording, 54
Painting events, 29, 30 Publishing projects, 99
Panic button, 88
Panning
Tracks in MIDI files, 73
Panning tracks, 15, 44
INDEX
iv
Q Saving projects, 96
Quantizing MIDI Scoring video, 93

In the list editor, 87 Selecting events, 32–35
In the piano roll editor, 79
Sliding
Video events, 92
R
Slipping
Recording, 53–56 Video events, 92
MIDI step recording, 86
MIDI tracks, 71 Slip-trimming
Multiple takes, 56 Video events, 92
Properties, 54 Snapping, 62
Setting levels, 55
Soft Synth Properties window, 19
Redo, 47
Soloing
Reloading Tracks in MIDI files, 73
MIDI files, 88
Soloing tracks, 15, 45
Removing
Audio from a video, 92 Splitting events, 39
Video tracks, 91 Step recording MIDI, 86
Renaming Summary properties tab, 22
Mixer controls, 51
Tracks, 43 Synchronizing audio and video, 91
Tracks in MIDI files, 73 System requirements, 7
Rendering
MIDI projects, 89 T
Projects, 97 Takes, recording multiple, 56
Supported formats, 98
Using custom settings, 99 Tempo changes
Marker, 59
Reordering tracks, 42 Project, 57
Replacing Temporary files, 25
MIDI files, 88
Time ruler, 16
Resetting MIDI ports, 88
Time signature changes
Resizing tracks, 42 Marker, 59
Reversing events, 34 Project, 58
Ripping tracks from CD, 26 Toolbar, 13
Track list, 14
S
Track Properties window, 19, 72–73
Sample rate, 22
Track view, 16
Saving
Changes to MIDI files, 88
INDEX
v
Tracks Volume
Adjusting mix, 44 Project, 50
Adjusting several simultaneously, 45 Recording, 55
bus, 46 Track, 15, 44
Changing color, 42 Tracks in MIDI files, 73
Changing pitch, 61
Copying, cutting, pasting, 43 W
Deleting, 43
Duplicating, 43 What’sThis? help, 10
Muting, 15, 45 Window docking area, 18
Panning, 15, 44
Properties, 72–73 Windows
Renaming, 43 ACID FX, 19
Reordering, 42 Chopper, 18
Resizing, 42 Explorer, 18, 23–26
Soloing, 15, 45 Main, 11
Types, 41 Mixer, 18, 50–52
Volume, 15, 44 Soft Synth Properties, 19
Track Properties, 19, 72–73
Transport bar, 17 Video, 18
Transposing Writing to CD, 101
Keys within a project, 59
MIDI tracks to the project key, 72 Z
Project keys, 59
Zoom controls, 17
Trimming events, 39
U
Undo, 47
Undo history, 48
V
Video, 91–94
Adding, 91
Editing events, 92
Hiding/showing, 91
Removing, 91
Removing associated audio, 92
Scoring, 93
Synchronizing with audio, 91
Video window, 18, 93
INDEX
vi
INDEX

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After the ACID® Music Studio™ software is installed and you start it for the first time, the

Sony Pictures Digital Inc.

Learning the ACID Music Studio Window . . . . . . . . . . .11

Starting Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Working with Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Recording Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Enhancing Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Working with MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Working with Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Saving and Rendering Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Installing ACID Music Studio software

Note: Windows Installer is used for all versions of the Windows

Using online help

Note: To view online help, Internet Explorer 4.0 or later must

Help on the Web

About your rights in ACID Music Studio software

About Your Privacy

Proper Use of Software

CHP. 2 LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW

LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW CHP. 2

CHP. 2 LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW

Track number/type Track FX

Track name Mute

Multipurpose slider mode

Track number and type

Track type icons

LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW CHP. 2

CHP. 2 LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW

Loop bar Marker bar

Transport Time ruler

LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW CHP. 2

Record new track Pause/resume project playback

Loop playback Stop playback

Play from beginning of project Move cursor to start of project

Play project from cursor position Move cursor to end of project

Note: Double-clicking the horizontal or vertical scroll bars

Note: Double-clicking the Zoom tool adjusts both the horizontal

CHP. 2 LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW

Window docking area

Tip: You can quickly hide or show the window docking

LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW CHP. 2

Soft Synth Properties

CHP. 2 LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW

LEARNING THE ACID MUSIC STUDIO WINDOW CHP. 2

Setting project properties

Note: You can edit project audio properties and summary

CHP. 3 STARTING PROJECTS

Using the Summary tab

Using the Audio tab

STARTING PROJECTS CHP. 3

Opening existing projects

Opening ACID Music Studio projects with embedded media

Getting media files

Previewing media from the Explorer window

CHP. 3 STARTING PROJECTS

Previewing a media file

Previewing multiple media files

Tip: To add the currently previewing file to your project,

Using Auto Preview