Track Header

Timeline—Some sort of timeline is frequently a part of many multimedia programs, such as Macromedia Director or Adobe Premiere. Time increases as you progress towards the right down the timeline, allowing you to visually align events in a project. One important aspect of ACID s timeline area is the Ttack Header, located at the far left of the timeline. While not a part of the timeline proper, the Track Header contains many special controls. 

The Ihmpo and Key of the project can be adjusted just below the track header. Both the Tempo, which defines the speed of the song, and the Key, which helps to generate the harmonics, are fundamental parts of any composition. 

Individual track heights can be adjusted by dragging the bottom edge in the track header. 

Every track has a number of important controls (see Figure 2.3) on the Track Header portion of the track on the left side. Many of these controls correspond to faders and knobs typically found on a mixer board in a conventional studio. (See the Chapter 7 for more on mixers and mixing in ACID). 

Track Niunber/iype/Color/Pitch— Track number is the order of the track from the top and is located in the top-left comer of this area. The track number is simply a numerical indication of the tracks order from top to bottom. Track order, and thus track number, does not affect the mix or sound of a project. Track color can be changed by right-clicking the colored square in the Track Header, selecting Color from the context menu, and then choosing a color from the submenu. The color of the waveform of the events inserted into the timeline is determined this way as well. The color is used for your reference only. One possibility is to make all bass tracks the same color, all percussion tracks another, keyboard tracks another, and so on. 

If there is one dominant loop in your project that must be 100 percent undistorted in any way (for example, a solo vocal track), you can match the tempo of the project to that loop. This is best planned out well in advance and done as early in a project as possible. To match the project tempo to a loop s tempo, right-click the track header for the loop that you want to use the tempo from and, from the context menu, select Use Original Tempo. The tempo of the loop is also displayed as a part of the menu item (see Figure 3.12). 

Changing the fundamental key of the project can be done at any time, but it is best to plan your song out as much as possible at the start. The default key for any new project in ACID is A, but this is easily changed (see Figure 3.19). To change the key of a project, click the Key button at the bottom of the Track Header and, from the context menu, select the key you would like to use. 

The + 5 on the Track Header reveals that this track has already had its pitch shifted up five semitones. 

Obviously, it would be a bit tedious to click through the menus, one semitone at a time, until the desired pitch is achieved. An easier method of changing the pitch of a track quickly is to click on the Track Header to select it and then press the + or - keys on your keyboard s number pad repeatedly. For example, pressing the -I- key twice raises the pitch of the track a full step. 

Right-click the Track Header and, from the context list, select Duplicate. Repeat so that you have three tracks (or however many notes you need in the chord) that each use the same loop. 

In the Track Header, click the Bus Assignment button on the tracks you want to equalize as a group (one at a time) and, from the menu, select the Bus that has the equalization assigned to it... 

Now we get to the most specific and proper definition of a loop in ACID. Not only are loops audio files, they are audio files that are automatically inserted into a Loop track in ACID. Most, but not all, loops are fairly short, with durations measured in seconds and, much more rarely, tens of seconds. Loop tracks are identified by a loop icon in the track header and are designed to repeat, often seamlessly. 

Pitch shift— This sets the change in key or pitch of the entire track. You can adjust this parameter hy pressing the -I- and — keys on the numeric keypad on your keyboard after first clicking on the track header of a track. 

Figure 9.10 shows the same media file used in three different tracks. Tirack 1 uses the default Number of beats (8) for a two-measure loop file. In the duplicated Track 2 (right-click the track header and select Duplicate track), the Number of beats was changed to 4. One occurrence of the loop now occupies only one measure and the file plays back twice as fast. Track 3 is another duplicate of Track 1, but the Number of beats is 16 in this case. 

While there are a large number of ways to interpret and play back MIDI data on your computer using any number of hardware and software devices, there is only one way to use MIDI to render a project in ACID. On the Track Header for MIDI tracks, the track must be routed through the Master device, which is the DirectX SoftSynth that ACID uses internally to process MIDI data. Click the Device Selection button (the Bus Selection button on audio tracks—see Figure 10.2) to see the list of available devices. The specific device that is available is set up on the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog box (see Figure 10.2). 

The number of the external MIDI device is displayed on the Track Header. 

Pitch shift allows you to adjust the key, or pitch, of the MIDI file without setting a root note on the Voices tab. The shift is measured in semitones, or half-steps, and is limited to +/ —24. The changes made here are reflected on the Track Header. 

In the Track Header, select the MIDI device you want to use. 

MIDI tracks must be routed through the Master device ou the Track Header to use FX. Other devices are external to ACID aud cauuot be processed by ACID, but they will still work for playback. 

Delete (or mute) all of the tracks you mixed down so there is no duplication. You can select and mute (or delete) multiple tracks by holding down the Ctrl or Shift key while clicking on the track header. 

This tab controls which MIDI devices will be available on the track header for MIDI tracks for playback. More information on using this tab in conjunction with MIDI tracks is detailed in Chapter 10. 

The first item allows you to select which devices (hardware and/or software synthesizers) are used for MIDI playback and tune code generation. Selected items will show up on the device list in the track header for MIDI tracks. Although you can select from a number of devices for playback, only the default Master hus (DirectX SoftSynth) will allow you to render projects with MIDI files. 

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