Recording - November 2013 - 24

&
MIDI magic
Up to now, Logic’s big and scary Environment was the only
place to implement customized MIDI processing, but Logic Pro X
introduces MIDI plug-ins, which can be inserted in Instrument
Channel Strips. They take either live MIDI data from the player
or recorded MIDI data from MIDI regions and process it in real
time, making this kind of tweaking accessible to anyone, without needing a cram course in computer programming.
For Environment gurus, they offer the types of processes that would
(and still can) be done with the Transform function, but since they’re
saved with a Patch, they can be tied to a particular instrument independent of the Project, a level of convenience absent when using
Environment or Transform patches. Apple supplies several useful presets, including Velocity Curves, Modifiers, a Chord Trigger/ReMapper, a MIDI Randomizer, and the most requested, a full-featured
MIDI Arpeggiator. I’ve already utilized the Chord Memorizer and

Velocity presets to remap some MIDI drum recordings, originally made for a kit with different note assignments and
velocity response, to play properly using the new Drum Kit
Designer kits—this would have been far more tedious to do
by editing, or cabling up Transformers in the Environment.
Of course, as Logic users have come to expect, hardcore tweakers haven’t been forgotten. In addition to the
supplied MIDI Presets, there is one called Scripter, which
allows users to create their own MIDI processors with
JavaScript. JavaScript (which is not the same as Java, by the
way) is a scripting language used heavily in web page design,
adapted here for MIDI processing. User scripts won’t have the
fancy graphics of the Presets, but they can be written to provide
any type of realtime MIDI tweakery one could want. And as part
of a saved instrument Patch, they’ll make using such customized
instruments in different Projects a breeze!
Smart Controls
Smart Controls are another new performance-oriented feature
in Logic Pro X. Each track has a panel of up to 12 Smart Control
knobs/switches, each of which can be assigned to any control
either on the Channel Strip itself or in any plug-in slot in that
strip. Furthermore, individual knobs can be assigned to more
than one control, with offsets, so a single Smart Control could
simultaneously control several aspects of a sound.
For performance, each Smart Control can be assigned to
respond to an external MIDI message, so a player could make
adjustments on the fly, by moving an assigned MIDI pedal or
wheel during performance. Best of all, Smart Control assignments, like MIDI plug-ins and signal routing, are saved in
Patches, making for a complete customized instrument or effect
setup that can be called up in any Project via the Patch Library.
Tickling the (virtual) ivories
Besides Drum Kit Designer, there are some new and updated instruments for keyboard players. Logic’s three modeled vintage keyboard
plug-ins have been tweaked and renamed—EVP88 is now Vintage
24

RECORDING November 2013

Electric Piano, EVD6 is now Vintage Clav, and EVB3 is now Vintage
B3. These new versions are fully compatible with presets from the originals. The front panels have been redone with snazzier-looking graphics, and each instrument has been enhanced sonically as well.
There’s also a completely new instrument called Retro Synth, which
fits in nicely between Logic’s small, simple synth plug-ins (ES1, ES E,
etc) and its massive ES2 kitchen-sink synthesizer. Retro Synth offers 4
different synths in one—Analog (à la Minimoog), Sync (hard-sync’d
oscillators), Table (a wavetable synth, à la PPG), and FM. It’s clearly
not intended to supplant the ES2—instead it seems to be laid out to
allow a player to quickly dial up a variety of classic sounds, without
having to slog through too many complex settings or routings... kind
of the philosophy that made the Minimoog so popular.
Four-string & six-string fun
Keyboardists aren’t the only ones with new toys—Logic Pro X
adds Bass Amp Designer, with three bass amp models (including
Ampeg SVT and B-15) and a DI simulation, plus eq, compressor,
several speaker cabinets, and virtual mics. It was easy to quickly
dial up good sounds with either real or sampled basses, and having the amp-DI blend right in the plug-in is a nice convenience.
Guitarists also got a little joy. There are several new effects for
Logic’s PedalBoard plug-in: Tube Burner and Grit add new overdrive and distortion tones, respectively; Flange Factory and Tie-Dye
Delay go for psychedelic effects; Wham is a whammy-bar style
effect for dramatic pitch shifts. My personal favorite is Dr. Octave,

which doubles the guitar (or bass) an octave or two below, for that
classic effect (“Fool In The Rain”). Additionally, Amp Designer has
several new virtual mics available.
Still on the drawing board
So, there’s a lot to absorb in Logic Pro X, but what features or
fixes didn’t make it into this latest update? Well, Logic Pro X still utilizes only one CPU core for live-played virtual instruments, which
means you could potentially suffer CPU spikes or overloads even
with several other cores idling unused. After the long wait, many
users were hoping this would be addressed. Also, recording multiple MIDI tracks from multiple players simultaneously remains a bit
tweaky—it still requires channelizing, rather than a more straightforward MIDI input assignment per track, as with audio.
Apple does seem to be aggressively maintaining the new
release, a good sign. As with any point-0 release, there have
been a steady stream of (mostly small) bugs, but the majority
have been addressed in three very quick maintenance updates
within the first month and a half (at the time of this article’s submission, Logic Pro X was on version 10.0.3). An end-user
Feedback link within the program seems worthwhile.
Wrap-up
Overall, Logic Pro X is a major step forward in both features and
user-accessibility. For current Logic users, it brings many features
and enhancements we’d been hoping for, with a minimum of disruption to our familiar workflows. For new users, especially
GarageBand users, it may finally be the time to make the jump.



Recording - November 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - November 2013

Recording - November 2013
Fade In
Contents
Talkback
Fast Forward
Creativity And Community: A Chat With Kristian Bush
Reviewed & Revisited: Apple Logic Pro X
Write—Record—Release—ROCK!
Yamaha HS7 Monitors And HS8S Subwoofer
The Windup... And The Pitch
DPA Microphones d:facto II Handheld Vocal Microphone
Focal Spirit Professional Headphones
Songwriter’s Intervention
Millennia Media NSEQ-2 EQ For The Universal Audio UAD-2 and Apollo
Be Ready!
Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 23: Compression—Part 2
Readers’ Tapes
Advertiser Index
Fade Out
Recording - November 2013 - Intro
Recording - November 2013 - Recording - November 2013
Recording - November 2013 - Cover2
Recording - November 2013 - 1
Recording - November 2013 - 2
Recording - November 2013 - 3
Recording - November 2013 - Fade In
Recording - November 2013 - 5
Recording - November 2013 - Contents
Recording - November 2013 - 7
Recording - November 2013 - Talkback
Recording - November 2013 - 9
Recording - November 2013 - Fast Forward
Recording - November 2013 - 11
Recording - November 2013 - 12
Recording - November 2013 - 13
Recording - November 2013 - Creativity And Community: A Chat With Kristian Bush
Recording - November 2013 - 15
Recording - November 2013 - 16
Recording - November 2013 - 17
Recording - November 2013 - 18
Recording - November 2013 - 19
Recording - November 2013 - Reviewed & Revisited: Apple Logic Pro X
Recording - November 2013 - 21
Recording - November 2013 - 22
Recording - November 2013 - 23
Recording - November 2013 - 24
Recording - November 2013 - 25
Recording - November 2013 - Write—Record—Release—ROCK!
Recording - November 2013 - 27
Recording - November 2013 - 28
Recording - November 2013 - 29
Recording - November 2013 - 30
Recording - November 2013 - 31
Recording - November 2013 - 32
Recording - November 2013 - 33
Recording - November 2013 - 34
Recording - November 2013 - 35
Recording - November 2013 - Yamaha HS7 Monitors And HS8S Subwoofer
Recording - November 2013 - 37
Recording - November 2013 - The Windup... And The Pitch
Recording - November 2013 - 39
Recording - November 2013 - 40
Recording - November 2013 - 41
Recording - November 2013 - DPA Microphones d:facto II Handheld Vocal Microphone
Recording - November 2013 - 43
Recording - November 2013 - Focal Spirit Professional Headphones
Recording - November 2013 - 45
Recording - November 2013 - Songwriter’s Intervention
Recording - November 2013 - 47
Recording - November 2013 - Millennia Media NSEQ-2 EQ For The Universal Audio UAD-2 and Apollo
Recording - November 2013 - 49
Recording - November 2013 - 50
Recording - November 2013 - 51
Recording - November 2013 - 52
Recording - November 2013 - 53
Recording - November 2013 - 54
Recording - November 2013 - 55
Recording - November 2013 - Be Ready!
Recording - November 2013 - 57
Recording - November 2013 - 58
Recording - November 2013 - 59
Recording - November 2013 - Recording Fundamentals. Chapter 23: Compression—Part 2
Recording - November 2013 - 61
Recording - November 2013 - 62
Recording - November 2013 - 63
Recording - November 2013 - Readers’ Tapes
Recording - November 2013 - Advertiser Index
Recording - November 2013 - 66
Recording - November 2013 - 67
Recording - November 2013 - 68
Recording - November 2013 - 69
Recording - November 2013 - 70
Recording - November 2013 - 71
Recording - November 2013 - Fade Out
Recording - November 2013 - Cover3
Recording - November 2013 - Cover4
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