 |
 |
The January/February 2009 issue of Performing Songwriter magazine includes a review of ACID™ Pro 7 software, praising its superb DAW technology. Read review (PDF) 
New! ACID Pro training videos 
IT Partners 
For technical support or product questions visit: 
Update your email address, control email preferences, lookup serial numbers, download updates, and more in our "My Account" area. Register or Login 
Back issues of Sony Creative Software News are archived on our website. Click here to view archives |
|
CES 'Survival' tips and NAMM accolades January is a big month for technology shows. International CES® (Consumer Electronics Show) kicked off the new year, with The NAMM® Show (National Association of Music Merchants) close behind. At CES 2009 the Sony booth was a main attraction, with heavy traffic every day. Sony Creative Software representatives were on-hand giving software demos and answering questions about our applications. Sony Creative Software also hosted a presentation on the Sony main stage by Les Stroud, creator of Discovery Channel's "Survivorman" television series. Les's presentation, "Sony: The Secret to My Survival," drew a capacity crowd. Les shared tips on efficient video shooting and editing using Sony hardware and software, and later appeared in the Sony Creative Software booth for a post-presentation Q&A and autograph signing. 
As always, The NAMM Show was all about music so ACID Pro 7 software was the focus for Sony Creative Software, as well as the newest additions to the Sony Sound Series Loops and Samples collection.  Sony Creative Software sound development manager Richard Thomas and Richard Devine with the Technology Award from Remix magazine. At the show, Remix technology editor Markkus Rovito presented Sony Creative Software with its Technology Award for our Premium Collection loop library title, The Electronic Music Manuscript: A Richard Devine Collection.   Chart-topping producer credits ACID, Sound Forge Having more than one Billboard hit at the same time definitely equates to bragging rights in the music industry. But for record producer, label owner and remixer Rod Carrillo, it's a simple reward for the hard work he puts into everything he does. His natural talents, combined with 10 years of working in radio, have indeed paid off. And he's managed to break his tracks onto the airwaves—with only a few years of experience doing professional remixing. "About five years ago, I decided that—because of my love of music—I would like to start doing remix production again," says Carrillo. "I also wanted to work to expose new artists, so I started Dancemusiclabel.com—which is an independent dance music label, based out of Phoenix, Arizona. I take homegrown artists and give them international exposure." Beyond that, he's been doing remixes for the last five years for various labels in and outside of the US. Remixing Judy Torres, Donna Summer, Martha Wash & Crystal Waters His remixes for dance artists range from work on music like Judy Torres' "Hell No," to Donna Summer's "I Am A Fire," Martha Wash's "Keep Your Body Working" and Crystal Waters' "Dance Floor." He also does production under his own name, and with works with famed house producer Eddie Amador under the name "Carrillo and Amador." The duo presently has three Billboard hits: "Spotlight," "I Wish You Well," and "Save Me." And behind every mix, remix and other production, Carrillo relies on audio software from Sony Creative Software. "I use ACID, Sound Forge, and CD Architect," says Carrillo. "I've been using Sony Creative Software products for about 10 years. Before that, I dabbled a little in Pro Tools, Cakewalk and Cubase." The turning point for Carrillo was when did a remix back in '94-'95 for Jimmy Ray. Bill Madsen, who he was working with, introduced him to ACID. "I instantly fell in love with ACID," he says. "The projects that would normally take me two-three hours to create a sound, or a plug-in feature in Pro Tools, would take me 15-20 minutes in ACID." Click here for full story Easy noise-nuking with Sound Forge 9 by Craig Anderton  A major reason why I use Sony Sound Forge™ 9 software for audio editing is the excellent set of noise reduction tools. Whether you're dealing with hiss, hum, computer fan noise, or any other constant background sound, Sound Forge 9 software can often reduce it and sometimes, eliminate it—the audio equivalent of removing a layer of dust from a painting.The process works by taking a sample of "pure" noise (i.e., just the sound you want to remove). It then analyzes this noise to create a "noiseprint;" digital processing removes signals matching this noiseprint from the file. That's an oversimplification, but it gets across the basic idea. A section of pure noise from the soundtrack of an AVI video has been selected, and the noise reduction tool is being set up to do its magic. To remove noise from a file, first locate a section of the file that contains only the constant noise you want to remove, and select a bit of the pure noise signal. The selection should be at least a hundred milliseconds. With narration, it's usually easy to find a space between phrases that contains only noise, but music is more difficult; look for pure noise at the beginning of a file, before the music starts, or at the end, after the music stops. Click here to continue  Craig Anderton is Editor in Chief of www.harmony-central.com, and Executive Editor for EQ magazine. He's given lectures on technology and the arts in 37 states, 10 countries, and 3 languages.  Get connected on ACIDplanet The recently redesigned ACIDplanet.com® has even more features to help get your music discovered. Build your fan base with social networking features including your own blog and personal music station. Interact with fans through onsite messaging, music reviews, fan lists, and favorites. Compete in remix contests and "The Duel," a head-to-head music battle with other independent musicians. You can even share your music with the podcast community. Music fans can also enjoy the new listener-focused features on ACIDplanet.com. Create a playlist with just one click. Save your favorites and organize your own music station with easy drag-and-drop playlist management. Search for music by keywords or tags to create on-the-fly playlists directly from the results. Best of all, ACIDplanet™ radio is 100% commercial-free. Explore ACIDplanet.com today! New free ACID Xpress 7 software Exclusively available to citizens of ACIDplanet.com, ACID Xpress is a free, 10-track version of ACID software for music recording, editing, and mixing. New features in version 7 include multiple events per track, a video scoring track, inline MIDI editing, and ACIDplanet.com news and profile access. Download ACIDXpress 7 now!. Tech Tip: HD workflow in Vegas Pro 8 by Gary Rebholz  In this article I want to continue to explore the workflow for different types of cameras and formats that we began last month with a discussion of the XDCAM EX™ line of cameras. While the EX format is a great option for a wide variety of shooting situations, it's obviously not the only game in town when it comes to shooting affordable hi-definition footage.The HDV format offers another great hi-def route and Sony has a comprehensive lineup of fantastic HDV cameras. Several things make HDV a great choice for your high-definition video projects. It's a stable, robust, convenient format that gives you high-definition footage with file sizes no larger than DV files of the same length. You can shoot in either the 720p format favored by some manufacturers or the higher-resolution 1080i and 1080p formats used by Sony and others. It's also quite affordable. All of these formats work seamlessly and natively inside Vegas™ Pro software. Let's explore the HDV workflow in Vegas Pro software and learn how you can make the best of the HDV gear you've purchased (or are looking to purchase). We'll start with a discussion of the native, tape-based workflow. The HDV format uses standard mini DV tapes as its storage medium and you can use Vegas Pro software to easily transfer the footage from the tape to your computer drives so that you can start editing. First, connect your HDV camera or deck to your computer via an IEEE 1394 (more commonly known as Firewire or i.LINK) cable. It's always a good precaution to turn your camera or deck off before you make this connection in order to avoid potential damage to your gear. If you connected a camera, turn it on in VTR or VCR mode. If Windows asks you what you want to do with the new device it's found, just cancel the dialog box without taking any action—you'll let Vegas Pro software do all the work. Click here to continue  Gary Rebholz is the training manager for Sony Creative Software. Gary produces the popular Seminar Series training packages for Vegas Pro, ACID Pro, and Sound Forge software. He is also co-author of the book Digital Video & Audio Production. Gary has conducted countless hands-on classes in the Sony Creative Software training center, as well as at tradeshows such as the National Association of Broadcasters show. |
