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Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Len Sasso

           

Apple Logic Pro 7.2 has features that are the envy of its competitors, but the implementation of those features is not always completely intuitive. In some cases, Logic reaches beyond the standard audio-sequencing paradigm. In others, a new process doesn't fit neatly within Logic's structure, and its implementation may be somewhat ad hoc. In this article I will attempt to demystify some of the more common stumbling blocks to mastering Logic.

Like most sequencers, Logic has settings that apply to all songs (preferences), settings that change from song to song (song settings), and user-assignable keyboard shortcuts (key commands). It's tempting to think of preferences and song settings as set-and-forget items, but you can use them interactively, and I'll mention several useful song settings as I go along.

I won't cover specific key commands except the default ones for opening the Key Commands window (Option + K) and the Preferences window (Option + P). It's a good idea to assign one to open the Record Song Settings window because you may want to change the settings on that page frequently, and you can access all other song settings from that window. You'll find key commands for just about every Logic menu item as well as for many functions not accessible in any other way. Customizing Logic's key commands is one of the best ways to improve your work flow.

The E Word

Other digital audio sequencers don't have anything resembling Logic's Environment, or better said, they keep it out of reach. You don't need to know a great deal about the Environment to use Logic, but a basic grasp is essential.

In most sequencers, a new track comes with all the attributes you need in order to use it. In Logic, a track is simply a lane in your arrangement; to make the track useful, you need to assign an object from the Environment to it (which happens automatically when you create the track). That gives you a great deal of freedom at the price of a little extra management. For example, if you want to change sounds on a virtual instrument track or change effects on an audio-playback track, you can have several Environment objects set up with alternative plug-ins and then simply switch the track assignments. That's faster and easier than loading alternative channel-strip presets, though you can take that approach in Logic as you can in other sequencers.

If you use MIDI gear outside of your computer, including MIDI instruments running on another computer, you need to know a little about the Environment's MIDI instrument objects: Instrument, Mapped Instrument, and Multi-Instrument. If you slave other applications to Logic using Propellerhead ReWire protocol, you need to know about the Internal ReWire object (MIDI out) and the Audio ReWire object (audio in). There are a variety of Audio object types, but the ones you primarily need to know about are Output, Track, Instrument, and Aux.

E for Audio

Output objects feed your audio hardware outputs and are also used for bouncing. Track objects are used to record and play back audio on arrangement tracks. Instrument objects host virtual instrument plug-ins; their arrangement tracks record and play back MIDI. Both Track and Instrument objects host effects plug-ins and have bus sends.

Aux objects take their input from send buses, Logic's external inputs, or multioutput virtual instrument plug-ins. They are primarily used to host send effects. Two other objects, Bus and Input, are not required but are useful for, respectively, isolating a single channel on a stereo bus and destructive effects processing of incoming audio.

Bear in mind that you can assign the same Environment object to several tracks — a handy feature as well as a common source of confusion in Logic. Most of the confusion is due to the Mute and Solo buttons that appear on both the object and the track. The buttons on the object mute and solo all tracks assigned to the object, whereas the buttons on the track mute and solo only that individual track.

Assigning the same Audio object to several tracks is handy for managing different takes, maintaining separate tracks for different sounds on multitimbral instruments such as drum synths, using Logic's folder hierarchy, and managing automation, among other things (see Fig. 1). Although audio regions can occupy the same time position on different tracks assigned to the same Track Audio object, only one region can play at a time, and that's the one most recently encountered by the Song Position Locator. To crossfade, put regions on the same track; to play simultaneously, put them on tracks assigned to different Track objects.

FIG. 1: Seven arrangement tracks are assigned to Logic’s Ultrabeat drum synth. The kick and snare are routed to separate outputs handled by the two Aux tracks at the bottom.

E(xceptions)

Arrangement tracks are assigned to Environment objects by clicking on the track name and selecting the Environment object from the pull-down tracklist. The bottom two choices, No Output and Folder, are not Environment objects. No Output tracks are handy for holding MIDI and audio that you want disabled but do not want to delete. They're also handy for recording “feedback” Environment processes, but that's another story.

Folders are your access to Logic's hierarchical approach to sequencing. Many sequencers allow you to group tracks and then hide the individual group elements in order to unclutter your arrangement. Logic brings a new dimension to that process by nesting whole arrangements within arrangements. Folders can hold any number of tracks along with their contents, and you can locate them anywhere on Logic's timeline. They're great for holding submixes, tracks for multitimbral instruments, and alternative arrangements. When you pack a folder, it is automatically placed on the lowest Folder track in the arrangement, and if there are no Folder tracks, a new one is created. Folder tracks are a convenient place to put folders, but a folder will actually play back on any track except one assigned to No Output.

Logic's Audio window, Sample Editor, and Project Manager all use the same Track Audio object for auditioning audio files. You can select which object is used, but the selection is global and reverts to the Track 1 Audio object whenever Logic is relaunched. So it's easiest to let the Track 1 Audio object be devoted to auditioning and to avoid using it in arrangements. Otherwise, its effects plug-ins and automation will interfere with auditioning. In a bit of particularly obscure reasoning, the highest-numbered Track Audio object rather than Track 1 is used for auditioning in the Apple Loops browser, so it's a good idea to also reserve that object for auditioning. I keep both objects assigned to arrangement tracks in order to have quick access to auditioning levels in the Arrange and Mixer windows.

Logic Does Windows

In Logic you can open multiple instances of the same window in the same Screenset. For instance, you could have several Arrange windows showing the contents of different folders, or you could have several Matrix Edit windows showing the contents of different MIDI regions.

The Link button (with the chain icon) at the top left of each window determines how the window behaves relative to the currently active (topped) open window. It has three modes: Off (no linking), Link (pink — shows objects selected in the active window), and Contents Link (gold — shows the contents of objects selected in the active window). As a simple example, if you have two Arrange windows open and both are in Contents Link mode, then whenever you select a folder in either window, the other window will reveal the contents of that folder. Linking and contents linking can seem a little counterintuitive at first, but they're a huge time-saver when using multiple windows of any kind.

The Catch button (with the running-man icon) invokes the follow-song option familiar in most sequencers. When it's used in conjunction with Contents Link mode (which is called Contents Catch mode), the contents of any region on the selected track are revealed in the contents-linked window whenever the song position passes over it (see Fig. 2). That's another big time-saver.

Logic's Arrange window and three MIDI Editor windows — Event List, Matrix Edit, and Score — are hierarchical. Clicking on the Up Level button in the upper-left corner of these windows moves you up one level in the hierarchy. For the Arrange window, that moves you up through nested folders. For the Event List window, it moves you both up through nested folders and up from showing MIDI messages to showing the regions that contain them. For the Matrix Edit and Score windows, it moves you from showing the contents of a single MIDI region to showing the contents of all MIDI regions. When viewing multiple regions in the Matrix Edit window, turn Region Colors on (in the View menu) and ensure that the regions have different colors. Then you can see which notes belong to which regions.

You can open any window as a floating window by holding the Option key when selecting it from Logic's Windows menu. Most windows have a two-dimensional Scroller to the left of the horizontal scrollbar, which you use to scroll either horizontally or vertically by dragging in the corresponding dimension. You can set up key commands to store and recall three zoom settings as well as to navigate backward and forward through recent zoom settings. Finally, you can click-and-drag an object to a new location in a window without topping that window. (Only a short click tops a window.)