Question for Acid Pro Users, any version

[GROOVE VICTIM]

I've encountered memory issues on one of my projects.

I'm running Windows XP professional with 256 megs of RAM and a PIII 450.

I also have four hard drives running and I tried to adjust the paging files on all four to get atlest a gig of extra memory but that did not work. I shut down a ton of services, again this did not work.

I don't use that many effects but the more I add to this project, the more bogged down the system gets.

Any suggestions?

Peace

[ August 20, 2003, 10:40 AM: Message edited by: GROOVE VICTIM ]

[DeesKo]

The effects on Acid are memory HOGS. There's only so much you can do to help that. I've also noticed that sometimes the effects don't really do what you would expect when you use them in Acid... like I have a filter plug in that doesn't really filter when I try to invoke it through Acid.... if I use it through Sonar or Cubase, its fine, but through Acid, no go.

What I would suggest if you have to keep using Acid is to mixdown parts of the song (with effects) and minimize the number of tracks you're working with.

For instance, get your levels even, add your effects and mix down all of your drums/snares/high hats into one .wav track instead of 12 (or whatever you end up with). Do that throughout the song where possible and it might help. The only thing you have to be careful of is saving the original file with everything seperated, in case you discover after the fact that you don't like the mixdown.

Also, I don't know if you're laying down drum/snare/hats etc as individual hits, or if you have them saved as loops, but try sticking with loops... if you have too many individual hits with an Acid file, I've found it can slow you down, especially if you're running effects on a track that's nothing but individual hits.

peace

[ August 20, 2003, 11:00 AM: Message edited by: DeesKo ]

[GROOVE VICTIM]

I'm thinking about taking a few parts out of the project, rendering the files into one .wav file, then placing it back into the program, then adding the rest of the parts.

In theory this should eliminate some Memory issues, it will be like treating my track as an edit.

Peace

[DeesKo]

Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
I'm thinking about taking a few parts out of the project, rendering the files into one .wav file, then placing it back into the program, then adding the rest of the parts.

In theory this should eliminate some Memory issues, it will be like treating my track as an edit.

Peace You can mute tracks and "save file as.... mixed down .wav" and it won't include the muted tracks.

Again, just be sure to save the original in case you need to go back and re-master something like the snares not being loud enough....

So when do we get to hear this track ?

peace

[Tony Cano]

Groove -

Along the lines of what you suggested. Once you are happy with certain tracks, render them to wave. and re-open as a new track. make them playable "hard disc based". This should remove some of the load from the RAM.

tc

[GROOVE VICTIM]

Originally posted by DeesKo:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
I'm thinking about taking a few parts out of the project, rendering the files into one .wav file, then placing it back into the program, then adding the rest of the parts.

In theory this should eliminate some Memory issues, it will be like treating my track as an edit.

Peace You can mute tracks and "save file as.... mixed down .wav" and it won't include the muted tracks.

Again, just be sure to save the original in case you need to go back and re-master something like the snares not being loud enough....

So when do we get to hear this track ?

peace </font>[/QUOTE]Well I'm just about finished with one and I'll email you the link in about a week.

Now the other one (the one I'm having the problems with) is my little secret weapon. I've been wanting to do this remix for the longest but could not get any ideas in my head until the weekend. I'll keep you up to date though.

Peace

[GROOVE VICTIM]

OK that's the route I'll take tonight. This issue really put me at a stand still and it drove me up a wall trying to tweak the operating system. I can't make this cut no other way, I have to start with the rhythm section first or it's gonna sound like shit.


Peace

[DeesKo]

Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
I've been wanting to do this remix for the longest but could not get any ideas in my head until the weekend. I'll keep you up to date though.

Peace You ever notice all your ideas come to you about 11am, while you're at work and can't do SH*T about it ?

he he he

Word on the email, do that. I'll encode some of the new stuff we're working on and do the same.

peace

[The Donger]

MPC 4 ever!

[Barrie Moodswing]

Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
I've encountered memory issues on one of my projects.

I'm running Windows XP professional with 256 megs of RAM and a PIII 450.

I also have four hard drives running and I tried to adjust the paging files on all four to get atlest a gig of extra memory but that did not work. I shut down a ton of services, again this did not work.

I don't use that many effects but the more I add to this project, the more bogged down the system gets.

Any suggestions?

Peace Sorry this reply has nothing to do with Acid Pro, but the i'm pretty sure that the recommended RAM requirements for WINXP is 256 this is maybe where your problems stem from. Just an idea!!!

[GROOVE VICTIM]

Originally posted by Barrie' Moodswing' McFarlane:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
I've encountered memory issues on one of my projects.

I'm running Windows XP professional with 256 megs of RAM and a PIII 450.

I also have four hard drives running and I tried to adjust the paging files on all four to get atlest a gig of extra memory but that did not work. I shut down a ton of services, again this did not work.

I don't use that many effects but the more I add to this project, the more bogged down the system gets.

Any suggestions?

Peace Sorry this reply has nothing to do with Acid Pro, but the i'm pretty sure that the recommended RAM requirements for WINXP is 256 this is maybe where your problems stem from. Just an idea!!! </font>[/QUOTE]It has to be software related. The OS runs rather smoothly when working with other programs or games installed on other hard drives. When I shut down non essential services within the Operating System, the computer flies.

Peace

[DeesKo]

Originally posted by The Donger:
MPC 4 ever! I love my MPC for what it is ....a drum kit.

Thats it.

Load up the sounds and pound away, but as for using it to chop, sequence and do effects, gimme a 17" monitor over that little ass commodore 64 looking screen any day of the week.


Peace

[ August 20, 2003, 11:35 AM: Message edited by: DeesKo ]

[DeesKo]

Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Barrie' Moodswing' McFarlane:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
I've encountered memory issues on one of my projects.

I'm running Windows XP professional with 256 megs of RAM and a PIII 450.

I also have four hard drives running and I tried to adjust the paging files on all four to get atlest a gig of extra memory but that did not work. I shut down a ton of services, again this did not work.

I don't use that many effects but the more I add to this project, the more bogged down the system gets.

Any suggestions?

Peace Sorry this reply has nothing to do with Acid Pro, but the i'm pretty sure that the recommended RAM requirements for WINXP is 256 this is maybe where your problems stem from. Just an idea!!! </font>[/QUOTE]It has to be software related. The OS runs rather smoothly when working with other programs or games installed on other hard drives. When I shut down non essential services within the Operating System, the computer flies.

Peace </font>[/QUOTE]Yeah, Acid is just a very very memory intensive peice of software. A lot of it has to do with how it accesses/plays files. The effects just emphasize the inefficiency of the program because they are "real time"...

I have an old beat up ass Gateway with only 128 meg of ram and if I'm working on something with say 18 tracks, I can't run more than 4, MAYBE 6 effects total before the computer starts having drop outs on playback.

Peace

[The Donger]

Originally posted by DeesKo:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by The Donger:
MPC 4 ever! I love my MPC for what it is ....a drum kit.

Thats it.

Load up the sounds and pound away, but as for using it to chop, sequence and do effects, gimme a 17" monitor over that little ass commodore 64 looking screen any day of the week.


Peace </font>[/QUOTE]Wrong! It may have been designed primarily as a drum kit, but tons of innovate and straight up phat headbanging music has been chopped and sequenced on that little bitch! I do it everyday!!! It's called being creative, it's also called Hip-Hop. You just gotta have SKILLS!

[Bold Soul]

As far as ACID goes, what types of samples/loops are you loading? ACID is designed to work with LOOPS of 8/16/32/64 notes. Are you track loading larger files i.e. for song edits? That could be the issue there.

Also, you have to terminate TSR applications (Terminate and Stay Resident) - you can identify these by what hides in the taskbar, such as WinAmp, RealPlayer, various mini-apps for your sound and video cards.

This is what makes the PC ass-funky - anyone and everyone writes code for it, and it shows.

XP is a different beast in that there is no DOS backend to kill of errant applications/programs. Try running ACID in 98 or 2000 with a very lean application load. Works great, IMO. I could load whole tracks and edit them with little to no latency on 256MB RAM. I did two this way - "Walk On By" and "Bro's Gonna Work It Out".

[GROOVE VICTIM]

For the project I'm working on, I can't use loops, it will sound too monotonous.

The largest file I'm using is the drum pattern. For now it is a high quality MP3 that I will eventually convert into a .wav file when I'm with what I need to do with it. I do go back and forth to Sound Forge 5 to edit the drum pattern when I need to. Closing out Sound Forge did not fix my problem either.


I'm using mainly midi files created in cakewalk, then importing them into Acid Pro. I do not like the Cake Walk interface, that's why I'm not creating the track with that program.


I have the drum pattern as an MP3 because the file loads much faster compared to a wave file. Once I'm finshed with the mp3, I'm going to convert it to a wave, then (if this does work) render that file along a few midi files to wave. Hopefully I'll be able to use this wave file along with the remaining midi files to finish the song.

The use of large files is not the issue because this is how I was able to make my remix of Kim English's "Missing You" and Jocelyn Brown's "Love's gonna get you". The accapellas were pretty large and compressed at a good rate for an mp3.


Peace

[DeesKo]

Originally posted by The Donger:
Wrong! It may have been designed primarily as a drum kit, but tons of innovate and straight up phat headbanging music has been chopped and sequenced on that little bitch! I do it everyday!!! It's called being creative, it's also called Hip-Hop. You just gotta have SKILLS! I never said it COULDN'T be done, I just said I prefer to use other tools for convenience reasons.

Sure the MPC has a lot of usefulness, and yes it has some nice modules, and yes, you can make a hit record off of nothing but an MPC, but its just like everything else in a studio, there are 100 different paths to take that will all get you to the same destination.

Aside from having the ability to squint for long periods of time and not minding having your rods and cones burned out from staring at a 2 color LCD screen that was outdated 15 years ago, using the MPC is no more or less creative than using any other sequencer/sound program.

Its all creative, its manifested in different manners.

Peace

[Bold Soul]

Originally posted by DeesKo:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by The Donger:
Wrong! It may have been designed primarily as a drum kit, but tons of innovate and straight up phat headbanging music has been chopped and sequenced on that little bitch! I do it everyday!!! It's called being creative, it's also called Hip-Hop. You just gotta have SKILLS! I never said it COULDN'T be done, I just said I prefer to use other tools for convenience reasons.

Sure the MPC has a lot of usefulness, and yes it has some nice modules, and yes, you can make a hit record off of nothing but an MPC, but its just like everything else in a studio, there are 100 different paths to take that will all get you to the same destination.

Aside from having the ability to squint for long periods of time and not minding having your rods and cones burned out from staring at a 2 color LCD screen that was outdated 15 years ago, using the MPC is no more or less creative than using any other sequencer/sound program.

Its all creative, its manifested in different manners.

Peace </font>[/QUOTE]One manifestation is Propellerhead Reason! Nice manifestation, if I can say so. smile.gif

[beaniboy67]

Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Barrie' Moodswing' McFarlane:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
I've encountered memory issues on one of my projects.

I'm running Windows XP professional with 256 megs of RAM and a PIII 450.

I also have four hard drives running and I tried to adjust the paging files on all four to get atlest a gig of extra memory but that did not work. I shut down a ton of services, again this did not work.

I don't use that many effects but the more I add to this project, the more bogged down the system gets.

Any suggestions?

Peace Sorry this reply has nothing to do with Acid Pro, but the i'm pretty sure that the recommended RAM requirements for WINXP is 256 this is maybe where your problems stem from. Just an idea!!! </font>[/QUOTE]It has to be software related. The OS runs rather smoothly when working with other programs or games installed on other hard drives. When I shut down non essential services within the Operating System, the computer flies.

Peace </font>[/QUOTE]I agree with Barry too.Ive just finished an Honours degree in audio technology and Multimedia systems.Sure you will get away with it but to be honest i wouldnt even start to make music without at least 512RAm.

On the advice that everyone else has gave you about mixing the drum trax down and stuff i think thats a good idea defo.One thing id say to tho is always save youre drum tracks individually too.and also youre brass ,strings ect.

The funny thing is thosometimes you can mute part of a arrangement and it will sound better by accident.maybe like snares or or certain loops so once uve mixed down it can stopp this happening.Its a case of suck it and see i suppose!
But saving all youre drum parts or even ure brass as a one and then adding is a good idea.

Good luck ! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[GROOVE VICTIM]

last year it was 256, two years ago it was 128, three years ago it was 64.

I never followed this progression because I think it's a load of crap.

I blame most of the problems with applications on the programmers of these applications and the programmers who develope the operating systems.

If I still had Windows 2000 professional on my PC, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in this fix that I'm in today.

Next payday, I'm thinking about takin a trip to Best Buy.

[beaniboy67]

Yup and another thing Windows (8 is far more stable and stuff!My friend uses Reason and cuebase togther and his system is a purpose built!It works far better with 98 than XP!!

[beaniboy67]

Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
last year it was 256, two years ago it was 128, three years ago it was 64.

I never followed this progression because I think it's a load of crap.

I blame most of the problems with applications on the programmers of these applications and the programmers who develope the operating systems.

If I still had Windows 2000 professional on my PC, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in this fix that I'm in today.

Next payday, I'm thinking about takin a trip to Best Buy. The Ram lets you access stuff that youve been currently working on but the proccesser also has a lot to do with it.Pentiums get pissed all over by Athalons due to the architecture.But then again you could say the same for the type of hard drive you are using!!Computer systems are sold by what shop owners tell you but having a hard drive with good seek time and switch time is the key to faster playback and seek times on high speed large hard drive transfers!

I would bag extra bit of Ram in tho when u got spare cash.It might help u a bit and at the end of the day the cost of hardware nowadays is heehaw compared to what it was.

I agree with you tho on everybody wanting bigger and better but i dont believe what shops or manufactures say i just think if youre working with media and large data density file you should have as big as you can get!!

Peace

[GROOVE VICTIM]

Originally posted by beaniboy67:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
last year it was 256, two years ago it was 128, three years ago it was 64.

I never followed this progression because I think it's a load of crap.

I blame most of the problems with applications on the programmers of these applications and the programmers who develope the operating systems.

If I still had Windows 2000 professional on my PC, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in this fix that I'm in today.

Next payday, I'm thinking about takin a trip to Best Buy. The Ram lets you access stuff that youve been currently working on but the proccesser also has a lot to do with it.Pentiums get pissed all over by Athalons due to the architecture.But then again you could say the same for the type of hard drive you are using!!Computer systems are sold by what shop owners tell you but having a hard drive with good seek time and switch time is the key to faster playback and seek times on high speed large hard drive transfers!

I would bag extra bit of Ram in tho when u got spare cash.It might help u a bit and at the end of the day the cost of hardware nowadays is heehaw compared to what it was.

I agree with you tho on everybody wanting bigger and better but i dont believe what shops or manufactures say i just think if youre working with media and large data density file you should have as big as you can get!!

Peace </font>[/QUOTE]Well in about 2 weeks I will have payed off my car, and one of my projects that I want to accomplish other than paying of the rest of my debt is building a new PC.

Then of course there's that home theater system I have yet to finsh, but that's another thread.

Peace

[beaniboy67]

Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by beaniboy67:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by GROOVE VICTIM:
last year it was 256, two years ago it was 128, three years ago it was 64.

I never followed this progression because I think it's a load of crap.

I blame most of the problems with applications on the programmers of these applications and the programmers who develope the operating systems.

If I still had Windows 2000 professional on my PC, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in this fix that I'm in today.

Next payday, I'm thinking about takin a trip to Best Buy. The Ram lets you access stuff that youve been currently working on but the proccesser also has a lot to do with it.Pentiums get pissed all over by Athalons due to the architecture.But then again you could say the same for the type of hard drive you are using!!Computer systems are sold by what shop owners tell you but having a hard drive with good seek time and switch time is the key to faster playback and seek times on high speed large hard drive transfers!

I would bag extra bit of Ram in tho when u got spare cash.It might help u a bit and at the end of the day the cost of hardware nowadays is heehaw compared to what it was.

I agree with you tho on everybody wanting bigger and better but i dont believe what shops or manufactures say i just think if youre working with media and large data density file you should have as big as you can get!!

Peace </font>[/QUOTE]Well in about 2 weeks I will have payed off my car, and one of my projects that I want to accomplish other than paying of the rest of my debt is building a new PC.

Then of course there's that home theater system I have yet to finsh, but that's another thread.

Peace </font>[/QUOTE]lol yah man!!

i bought a pc for university 2 years ago and its not gonna do the job i dont think!I m just chillin before i look for a job but im gonna get my stuff on once im on my feet!

I just packed in a long term musical project that i was doing with indie guitar music!We had done a lot of stuff but my heart wasnt in it.So nexxt step is too get my shiet together and start doing house stuff.i got about £25,000 of software a friend gace me.Shame its all cracks lol but who cares ill get it sorted!So hopefuylly ill be doing some decent stuff soon. :D

[dennis f]

GV 256 meg of ram is simply not enough!

the xp environment is a ram hog even with all the services turned off! I think it puts aside 100+ if I remember correctly. We hated this when I was a programmer. Well you start adding all the plug ins your using which depending on which ones, especially the freeware ones, have memory holes and leaks, even the early versions of TC works stuff caused this..hence people would get a stack overflow error, and your reources take a beating. In all actuality I'd be surprised if you can get more than 3 waves plug ins to work without stuttering as they are notorious mem hogs. Add in your audio tracks. And if your not using loops but actual sounds that are being triggered by a midi sequence then your basically asking for it. I don't know if Acid does direct reading off the hard drive but even if it does it still uses the ram for paging but remember so does Acid, your video card redraws and your audio card. This is essential and would add more strain. The only choices you really have is to go to msconfig and disable all startup programs that run in the background. This will help some but it's still no sub for more mem. What you also have to take into consideration is whether your running any anti-virus software. Especially Norton. For some reason alot of the audio apps can't stand this thing....Another big memory hog is your video card. Most of the time we stay away from any fancy cards for this reason. But the only real way to have a machine running for production is to dedicate for this sole reason. That means no unneeded apps(word, games, internet and etc.... here is a link that is pretty helpful
http://www.musicxp.net/

ps. what kind of audio card do you have and are you running in direct monitoring, the sound cards driver or asio? Asio is the better choice.

peace
dee

[GROOVE VICTIM]

I have a 32 meg Nvidia Riva TNT Mach 64 AGP Graphics card.

I have a Sound Blaster Live MP3 sound Card. (not the 5.1 version).

256 megs of SDRAM

I also have 2 20 gig 7200 rpm drives, a 6 gig drive and the operating system is just running on a 4 gig drive. There are no apps on this 4 gig drive other than Acid, Sound Forge, Real Audio and Real Producer.


From what I can remember the last track I did had about 5 pieces (both wave and midi) running simultaneously with no glitches.

I have a Western Digital 20 gig drive that I store all my files on. This is the fastest out of all of my drives. It kicks ass when I make Mix CDs, loads files much faster and it's quiet.


All of my drives are defragged monthly.

Like I stated before I'm going to eventually build a new PC and probably use this one as a server just to store data.


Peace

[Tony Cano]

GV - I recommended ACID sometime ago, but you may need to transition to something like Logic, Digital Performer, or Cubase. Acid is a good entry level program.

tc

[GROOVE VICTIM]

Originally posted by Tony Cano:
GV - I recommended ACID sometime ago, but you may need to transition to something like Logic, Digital Performer, or Cubase. Acid is a good entry level program.

tc I think you're right on the money because I truly am working with limited recourses.

What I really need is a damn keyboard.

It's not fun making keyboard solos using "qwerty" and "asdf" and "jkl;"


Peace

[suenomartino]

Also check out Ableton Live too - similar to Acid and (IMO) more powerful.

[Tony Cano]

i didn't say this but somebody suggested you go on kazaa and download logic. it has softsynth and the whole nice yards. the learning curve is a bitch, but well worth it.

tc

[GrantB]

Originally posted by suenomartino:
Also check out Ableton Live too - similar to Acid and (IMO) more powerful. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

[Number Two]

I have ACID 4.0 and recently did a project that was 8 minutes and used tons of effects. I found if you get rid of some of the loaded sound files that you don't use it will run a lot better. I tryed to render this 8 minute project and found that the pitch control was dragging my computer down so much that it would either lock it up or shut it down. My computer crashed a lot before I knew what was going on. And as an external MIDI controller,it SUCKS! But yet I have been working with ACID for 5 years now and love it.

Peace.

[suenomartino]

Not only is Acid sluggish, but I swear it affects the sound quality of the final mixdown once you render it.

Hence my Live suggestion. graemlins/cool_shades.gif

[The Donger]

Daily Hip-Hop News:
Pharrell and Neptunes Accused Of 'Cloning' Beats
written by Jego R. Armstrong
Tuesday - August 19, 2003
--------------------------------------------------Neptunes
"They phoned me up with a courtesy call, more like a threat, basically [telling me] to shut the f#@$ up..." - Joseph Zakoni

As the Neptunes' Pharrell Williams and partner Chad Hugo launch their new album, Star Trak presents...Clones today in stores nationwide, they must do so amidst allegations from a young Canadian man who claims that Williams and his Star Trak Entertainment ripped off beats that he posted on their Web site.

In an exclusive interview with SOHH.com, 18-year old Joseph Zakoni accused Pharrell and Star Trak President and long-time Neptunes's manager Rob Walker of copying and manufacturing his beats - without consent - that were posted on the label's message board last April. Zakoni insists that Star Trak Entertainment strung him along into believing that he would eventually become a part of the Star Trak production team, including future plans to work with the likes of Super Cat, only to be duped while they manipulated his productions.

Hugo and Williams started Star Trak Entertainment with Walker after establishing a relationship with Arista Records and its President, Antonio "L.A." Reid. The deal entails that The Neptunes produce, develop and sign new artists to Star Trak, and Arista Records handle all marketing, promotion, sales and distribution responsibilities for the new label. Zakoni says he was initially contacted by the label after he posted some of his beats on their website under the username, "knukurru."

"They [Walker and Williams] discovered me online last April on their message board," said Zakoni via e-mail from Canada. "They basically flew out to meet me [in Canada], and promised to give me money to buy equipment, since all I used [to create beats] is this sh!tty software stuff."

It was from that meeting, which took place at Canada's Much Music Studios, that Zakoni realized that Walker and Williams were really interested in his style of production - which coincidently took Zakoni by surprise. "I was reluctant from the start, because like, I didn't really give a sh!t about it much," Zakoni says, who insists that making beats up until then was strictly a hobby. "But they kept getting all excited about having me on their team or whatever."

In August, Joseph Zakoni says he met up again with Williams and his group, N.E.R.D. (No One Ever Really Dies) at the Warped Tour. He received V.I.P. tickets from Rob Walker to attend the event, and it was there that he turned over more beats to Pharrell to pass on to Walker. Since that last meeting, Zakoni insists he has heard nothing more from Williams, Walker or anyone at Star Trak. However, months after he noticed that Pharrell and The Neptunes had begun to incorporate his productions into theirs.

"They flew me out to New York once," Zakoni recalls of a previous encounter, "and I walked into the studio and was like, 'Oh awesome! They're playing my beat...wait a minute...', and [then I realized] it was that 'ni99a Please,' Jay-Z bullsh!t." Zakoni has gone so far as to present to SOHH.com what he calls proof of the theft -- an MP3 that displays the shocking similarities between his original production and Neptune-produced Jay-Z track. Other tracks that Zakoni alleges The Neptunes stole from his collection are tracks by Canadian/Jamaican-descent rapper Kardinall Offishall ("Belly Dancer") and Nas ("Flyest Angel") - which is currently receiving modest play on radio, and sits at #29 on New York's Hot 97's (WQHT) play list.

Zakoni said he's sought legal advice on the matter, and although he has a strong suit against the Neptunes and Star Trak, the case would have to be prosecuted in New York City and he does not have the funds to go ahead with any legal actions. His attempts to rectify the situation with Star Trak Entertainment, Rob Walker and Pharrell Williams have gone stale, and he's received unpleasant phone calls from Walker and company requesting that the allegations cease. "Yeah, they phoned me up with a courtesy call, more like a threat, basically [telling me] to shut the f#@$ up," said Zakoni. All calls made by SOHH.com to Rob Walker and Star Trak Entertainment regarding the allegations were not returned.

While The Neptunes continue to blaze their path of success with their unique, and unorthodox-style beats, Zakoni can only sulk with his belief that part of their reputation is based on his hard work. "I got really angry one day after I heard Pharrell say [in one of his rhymes] 'I hand out styles like ice cream cones' in that 'Hot Damn Remix'. I was like, 'yeah, [and] one of those styles is mine, you f#@$.' He's said some other underhanded stuff [pertaining to me] in his lyrics, like in the hook for the 'Belly Dancer' remix."

Clones will no doubt raise the bar that has already exceeded rock-star status for The Neptunes. The LP will include tracks from Busta Rhymes, Kelis, Clipse, Ludacris, Nelly, N.O.R.E, and many more top-notch artists in hip-hop and R&B. But all Joseph Zakoni wants is retribution, and a bit of respect for the art that he created - the art he alleges Williams and Star Trak Entertainment took away from him.

As for his story, Zakoni says he could really "give a sh!t less if people believe it or not." "There's nothing concrete that you can judge about an idea, an intention, a situation," says Zakoni. "Anyone who understands the situation believes me. Anyone who visits their forums believes me, because they saw the whole [thing] play out. It's that simple. I'm presenting the alternative, so people can do whatever they want with it...I don't give a f#@$. It [the story] is out there."