Adobe® Audition™ 1.5 Loopology Read Me
Welcome to the Adobe Loopology CD! This CD contains thousands of loops you can use in Adobe Audition™ to enhance your musical creations. Before you begin browsing through the loop material and using them in your productions, you should read the following information to find out about some of the unique features and cool things about the CD.
All loops on this CD are 100% original and are provided royalty-free (see LoopLicense.pdf for complete terms). Each performance is just that– a live, human interpretation of a musical style. Because of that, we offer many variations in beat articulation and tempo. These include, but are not limited to, behind the beat (as in the Shuffle Funk loops), on top of the beat (as in the FeeFoFusion and Mod Rock loops), and straight ahead, in the pocket (as in the Thick & Vintage Rock loops). You’ll find that nearly all of our loops are left dry, without processing of any kind. Because they were all recorded at 32-bit resolution, many of the loops take advantage of the enormous dynamic range that working in 32-bit resolution offers. Many of the drum loops exhibit extreme jumps in dynamics. This gives you the freedom to add the effects that YOU want, and makes using multiple loops easy and seamless.
For further information on using loops in Adobe Audition, see the Audition User Guide, online Help, or visit Adobe on the World Wide Web at www.adobe.com. The Help menu in Audition contains the entire User Guide. For your convenience, a PDF version of the User Guide is located in the Audition documentation folder on your Adobe Audition CD.
This Read Me is divided into the following sections:
• Navigating through the loop folders
• What are those funny markers/cue lines?
• How can I add my own beat markers in Adobe Audition?
• Credits
NAVIGATING THROUGH THE LOOP FOLDERS
Each folder in the Loopology collection uses a similar naming convention. The name of the collection is followed by the BPM of the loops contained in that folder. The files in each loop collection also use a similar naming convention:
…\Funk1_SlickFunk_104BPM\Amped_Slick_Bass\AmpedSlickBass26-C.wav
This indicates that the #26 file is in the key of C at 104BPM
Now, in some cases you’ll see the same file number with a lowercase letter following it:
…\Funk2_SmackFunk_95BPM\Smack_Funk_Fretless_Bass\SmackFunkFretless09-E.wav
…\Funk2_SmackFunk_95BPM\Smack_Funk_Fretless_Bass\SmackFunkFretless09a-E.wav
This indicates that there is a variation on the original file. Often, these variations will be added effects such as delays, compression or reverb. As most of the loops on the CD are completely effects-free, whenever you see *a, you’ll know that we’ve given you a little something extra!
You may notice that the loop file numbers are not always consistent, for example, "Loop1" may be followed by "Loop3", followed by "Loop 5", instead of 1, 2, 3. The reason for this is that all of these loops were recorded live as one performance. Upon creating this CD, we took the best bits from each performance and added them to the library. Sometimes, we found a groove or lick that just wasn’t up to our standards, so we dropped it. After all, we’re really trying to give you "the best of the best," so if the performance on one particular loop didn’t cut it, it didn’t make the CD. We kept the original numbers for our internal references, however.
WHAT ARE THOSE FUNNY MARKERS/CUE LINES?
A feature that we’re exploiting on the loops is the use of Beat Markers. These red vertical lines resemble regular cues, except that they were specifically placed to indicate the position of beats. This was critical for certain loops, particularly in Funk, where the musicians are playing what’s known as "behind the beat". If you take an average "behind the beat" file and try to stretch it (using the standard Beat-Splice method), the program won’t always know where to put those "beats that are behind." That’s where the Beat Markers shine. You’ll find them on nearly ALL of the drum and bass files on the CD. With Beat-Marked/Beat Splice files, you also have a greater degree of stretch ability (20, 30, 40, even 50 BPM in some cases) without any noticeable stretch artifacts. Because of this, these fab loops are HIGHLY OPTIMIZED for use in Adobe Audition.
HOW CAN I ADD MY OWN BEAT MARKERS in Adobe Audition?
Actually, it’s quite easy. If you go to Edit > AutoCue > Find Beats & Mark, you’ll be prompted with a window asking about "Decibel Rise___dB" and "Rise Time___ms". Essentially, Audition (or, the beat marking process, in general) is looking for "attacks" or "sharp transients." These come in the form of short bursts in amplitude. The default settings (of 10dB/9ms) are good for most straight-time applications. For busier, on-top music, like Fusion or fast Metal, you might use settings of 10dB/4ms or sometimes 8dB/4ms. Slower grooves may require less aggressive detection settings to avoid over-marking a file. In that case, settings of 10dB/40ms or 12dB/50ms might be something to try. Normalizing a file can often assist the beat-detector in improving its accuracy. In general, try sticking with the defaults, and modify as needed.
Once you click OK, the vertical red markers will appear. To enable them, press CTRL+P (Waveform Properties) and select the Loop tab. Click the Loop button. Under Stretch Method, select Beat Splice and check the radio button labeled Use File’s Beat Markers. Insert the file into the multitrack and you’re ready to roll. If you find that you’re experiencing clicks or pops at the beat-marked boundaries, this probably means that your markers were not placed at zero crossings (see User Guide for details). This can occasionally occur with complex stereo material. If you right-click on the time display and select Snapping > Snap to Zero Crossings, this will enable you to place the markers in Zero-Crossed areas, which will improve the stretched performance.
On the other hand, if you notice that a particular beat was not marked, make sure Snap to Zero-Crossings is enabled, click the mouse to place the yellow cursor at the appropriate position (you can also drag the yellow triangle for more precise positioning), and press F8. This creates a "basic" cue. To turn that into a Beat Marker, simply right-click on the new cue and select Change Cue Type > Beat. You can make these Cue Type adjustments in the Cue List, as well.
Note: when changing the Cue Type in Edit View, you will want to move the yellow cursor away from the new cue, then right-click on the cue handle (the red triangle).
Engineered, Produced & Edited by: Jason Levine
Musicians:
Steve Fazio: Fender Telecaster, JET Earlewood Electric, Ransom Electric Custom, Taylor 814-C Acoustic Guitar
Fred Fung: 1960s Gretsch Maple Drums, 1970 Ludwig Drums, Yamaha Studio Custom Drums
Peter Green: Bach Stradivarius 37 trumpet w/reversed 25 leadpipe, Bob Reeves alignment, Bob Reeves 42SV69 Mouthpiece.
Jason Levine: Akai S1000, Kurzweil K2600s, Moog Rogue/Prodigy, Rickenbacker 4003, Warwick Masterman Fretless
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