APPLE Logic Studio (Mac)

Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Len Sasso

Sequencing, Sample Editing, and Performance Software

BONUS MATERIAL
Web Clips: Hear audio examples that demonstrate Quick Swipe Comping and step automation

Studio Effects

The big effects news is the new multitap delay, Delay Designer. It supports True Surround and features 26 independent taps. In a nice touch, you can designate some taps as repeats of other taps for quick, complex echo-style setups. Each tap has its own filter, pan, and pitch controls. The Space Designer convolution reverb also supports True Surround and includes 138 new surround impulse responses.

Not strictly part of the content but worth noting are the production-ready templates, from which you can easily build projects of various types. You get templates for exploring Logic Pro's instruments and effects, for composing in popular styles, and for accommodating different production setups. Of course, you can create and save your own templates.

Onstage

Until now, if you wanted to use Logic Pro's excellent built-in instruments and effects onstage, you had to run Logic and configure separate tracks, or possibly separate songs, for your various setups. Dongle anxiety aside, this was not a very performance-friendly solution. Enter MainStage.

MainStage gives you access to all the channel strip settings in the Studio Sound Library as well as any settings you might create using Logic Pro built-in or AU plug-ins. A complete setup (called a patch) includes multiple channel strips, performance settings such as key splits and layers, and controller mappings. You organize patches into Sets (folders) in any way that is convenient — parts of a song, songs in a Set, patches of a similar kind, and so on. Clever buffering makes for glitch-free switching between patches.

A collection of Sets is called a Concert. MainStage comes with a goodly assortment of factory Concerts to guide you, but you'll want to create your own. The process is fairly straightforward, but given the wide range of options, some work is involved.

MainStage has two setup modes: Layout for designing the GUI and mapping its knobs, sliders, and buttons to your MIDI devices, and Edit for creating patches and organizing Sets. The layout (which applies to the whole Concert) can get very complex, but the layout used in the factory Concerts is close to ideal. It houses eight knobs, a master volume slider, a keyboard with splits and layers clearly indicated, MIDI wheels and pedals, and a large patch selector (see Fig. 4). Onstage, anything more would probably be overkill.

Edit mode is where you configure channel strips, keyboard splits and layers, and the mapping of control panel controls to plug-in parameters. The keyboard zoning scheme is especially clever. As you might expect, you set both a key and a Velocity range for each virtual-instrument channel strip. Two additional key-range parameters called Floating Split determine how far, if at all, a key range will adjust as you play close to its boundary. For example, you might map drum-loop triggers, a bass, and a piano to lower, middle, and upper key ranges, and then set the upper Floating Split for the bass and the lower Floating Split for the piano to six semitones each. The range of drum-loop triggers will then remain fixed, whereas if you play up the bass or down the piano, the split will adjust a tritone to keep you from running out of notes.

Express Yourself

Logic Express 8 ($199 [MSRP]) is an option to consider if you're not already a Logic user. It is identical to Logic Pro except that it doesn't support surround, distributed audio, TDM, or high-end control surfaces. It lacks Space Designer and a few instruments and effects, but it does now include Ultrabeat, Guitar Amp Pro, ES2, and the full EXS24. Upgrading from Logic Express 8 to Logic Studio costs no more than if you'd bought the latter outright (the upgrade is $299).

The pricing and bundled content set Logic Studio apart as a low-cost, professional virtual-audio solution. For composing, live recording, postproduction, and scoring for picture, it has all the bases covered. If you already own a recent version of Logic, you can upgrade for $199. If you make music on an Apple computer and have outgrown GarageBand, Apple has made it very easy to stick with the program.

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Len Sasso is an associate editor of EM. For an earful, visit his Web site at www.swiftkick.com.

GUIDE TO EM METERS

5 = Amazing; as good as it gets with current technology

4 = Clearly above average; very desirable

3 = Good; meets expectations

2 = Somewhat disappointing but usable

1 = Unacceptably flawed

PRODUCT SUMMARY

APPLE
Logic Studio

digital audio sequencer$
499 (MSRP)

upgrade from previous versions, $199

upgrade from Logic Express, $299

FEATURES	4
EASE OF USE	4
AUDIO QUALITY	4
VALUE	5

RATING PRODUCTS FROM 1 TO 5

PROS: Bundle includes all essential audio applications. Huge library of content. Complete ergonomic redesign. No XSKey (dongle) required.

CONS: Some popular features dropped from the redesign. Much of the audio content is not new.

MANUFACTURER

Apple Inc.
www.apple.com

BONUS MATERIAL
Web Clips: Hear audio examples that demonstrate Quick Swipe Comping and step automation

Helpful Resources

Logic 7 Master Class in EM

Review of Logic Pro 7 in EM