Recording - September 2013 - 52

BY JOE ALBANO

Apple

Logic Pro X
It’s been about four years since Logic had a major
(point-0) update, and anticipation amongst Logic users
has been at a fever pitch. Which direction would Apple
take? Would Logic continue to lead the pack in power
and complexity—”Logic Xtreme”? Or would we get a
simplified workflow that would entice newbies but leave
power users wanting—”GarageBand Pro”? Back and
forth they went... And now X is out—so which is it?
Well... both, actually!
First off, for all the Logic regulars who feared a
stripped-down, oversimplified interface, don’t worry—
everything you’re used to is still there. In fact, most users
are reporting that their Logic 9 Projects open and run just
fine in X—it seems Apple has gone to some lengths to
insure this (with one major exception, see below). Even
the venerable and terrifying Environment is still there.
But for all you GarageBand lovers (you know who you
are!), don’t worry either. Apple has divided the feature
set in Logic into standard DAW features (familiar to any
user, including many of the popular tools from GB) and
Advanced Tools (all of the truly powerful but potentially
intimidating stuff that Logic has always been known for).
These Advanced Tools can be shown or hidden (individually or all at once) via a Preference pane, allowing users
to control the level of complexity they’re presented with.
So what’s new?
The first thing you’ll notice is the new look, in line with
the new dark appearance that Apple has settled on for
its Pro software. While the basic layout is the same—the
multi-paned window—the workspace itself is chock full of
workflow enhancements. Some are seemingly minor,
many are long-requested improvements, but when you
add them all up, Logic should feel much more efficient for
day-to-day tasks.
There are a lot of new goodies, and not enough space
to describe them all in detail, so here’s just a brief mention of a few standouts.
Flex Pitch adds audio pitch adjustment to Flex Time’s
audio time-shifting. You can automatically or manually
tweak pitches in a (monophonic) audio track with simple
tweaks right in the main screen (“GarageBand Pro”), or
in the new and improved Audio Editing pane, which also
includes manual adjustment for pitch, vibrato and drift,
and can convert audio to MIDI (“Logic Xtreme”).
Another big addition is Drummer and Drum Kit
Designer. These are, respectively, an intelligent drum programmer and the virtual instrument that provides the drum
sounds. Drummer tracks let the user sculpt a drum performance via an onscreen matrix that uses sophisticated
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RECORDING September 2013

algorithms to vary the virtual performance—it’s easy to use, and sounds
surprisingly natural (“GarageBand Pro”). Of course, for those who
want to play or program their own drum parts, Drum Kit Designer can
be played on its own from MIDI data, with full control of the kit pieces,
adjustment (tuning, damping), and mixing (“Logic Xtreme”).
Track Stacks and Patches are Logic’s new tools for working with multitimbral instruments and layered sounds. Track Stacks’ “Summing”
Stack lassos together a user-defined collection of Instrument, Audio,
and Aux tracks, which are all bussed into the Stack Master (Aux). The
whole collection, including all settings, can then be saved as a Patch,
a new file format.
Another new feature is MIDI plug-ins—real-time MIDI processor inserts
on Instrument tracks. So far, these include mostly basic MIDI functions like
transposition and arpeggiation (GB Pro), but for hardcore power users,
there’s a MIDI Scripter plug-in that will let users create their own
JavaScripts for custom real-time MIDI processing (Xtreme).
There’s plenty more: a new Bass Amp plug-in, a new Sound Library
(around 35+ GB, including legacy sounds), new options for backup
and auto-save, Smart Controls (custom control panels), and much
more. There’s even Logic Remote, a free iPad app designed as a powerful remote control for Logic Pro X.
Pros & cons
Still, nothing is perfect, so what are the potential gotchas? Well,
Logic Pro X requires the latest OS, Mountain Lion 10.8.4, a major
upgrade. It’s fully 64-bit in operation, but no longer supports older 32bit plug-ins—a potential deal-breaker for some.
But the bottom Line with Logic Pro X is that it’s a complex and powerful tool that even musical technophobes should be able to get comfortable with, and that’s a pretty neat trick. At $199.99, Logic Pro X
is a no-brainer, whether you’re in the market for “Logic Xtreme” or
“GarageBand Pro”.
Naturally, there’s a heck of a lot more to be said about this new version, and we’ll all be putting it through its paces in the upcoming
weeks—look for a more in-depth review in a future issue.

Recording - September 2013

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