Sony Acid Music Studio 9 Manual

LEARNING THE ACID WINDOW | 5
Chapter 2Learning the ACID Window
Overview of ACID Music Studio software
ACID® Music Studio™ music creation software is designed to be powerful and flexible, yet easy to use. Many of the 
ACID Music Studio operations, commands, and shortcut keys are common to other Sony Creative Software Inc. 
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...

6 | CHAPTER 2
Toolbar
The toolbar allows you to quickly access commonly used functions and features in ACID Music Studio software.
New Opens a new project. You will be 
prompted to save any changes to the 
current project.Automatic Crossfades Allows you to 
automatically create crossfades when you 
overlap two events.
Open Displays the Open dialog. From this 
dialog, you can browse all of the available 
drives to select an ACID project or audio 
file to open.Lock Envelopes to Events Locks envelope...

LEARNING THE ACID WINDOW | 7
Trac k  l i st
This list identifies the track order in your project and contains the track’s controls.
Audio tracks
MIDI tracks
Timeline
In the timeline, you can view and edit the events in a track.
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 is not...

8 | CHAPTER 2
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, because the number of beats and beats per second of real time changes with tempo.
Tra n sp or t  ba r
The transport bar contains the playback and cursor positioning buttons frequently used while working on your project.
Zoom controls
To the right of the horizontal scroll bar are the time zoom controls. Clicking the Zoom In Time button ()...

LEARNING THE ACID WINDOW | 9
Explorer
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. 
For more 
information, see Getting media files on page 13.
Chopper
The Chopper™ isolates audio events...

10 | CHAPTER 2 

STARTING PROJECTS | 11
Chapter 3Starting Projects
Now that you have a basic 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 project using the application’s default project properties. However, 
you may prefer to customize the project properties prior to beginning the project.
Setting...

12 | CHAPTER 3
Using the Audio tab
This tab allows you to set the sample rate, bit depth, and recording folder for your project’s audio.
Opening existing projects
1.From the File menu, choose Open. The Open dialog is displayed.
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...

STARTING PROJECTS | 13
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...

14 | CHAPTER 3
Adding media files from the Explorer window
You can use the Explorer window, which operates similarly to the Windows® Explorer, to locate media files for use 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 timeline or track list. Dragging a file from the Explorer to the track name of an...