TECHNOLOGY REVIEW Logic Pro X DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATION UPDATE
Four years in the making, Stephen Bennett explores the changes and new additions to Apple’s flagship DAW.
WITH THE usual lack of fanfare, Apple’s Logic Pro X has been eagerly anticipated after an almost four-year hiatus. Though version 9.1 introduced 64-bit processing, most of the upgrades since have been bug fixes. So is the latest version of Logic Pro as X-tra special as the name implies? The first thing to make
clear is that there has been no repeat of the controversy surrounding the release of Final Cut Pro X – Logic Pro X is all about evolution, not revolution (the Logic Pro 9 review in Audio Media September 2009 is worth reading if you’re new to the program). On booting – and after downloading the extra 20GB of content – you are presented with the familiar single window layout, albeit now in Apple’s corporate drab greys. Unless you immediately turn on the Advanced Tools feature, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the program had mutated into the long- dreaded ‘Garageband Pro’. The space between the
on-screen controls is wider, which could cause problems on smaller monitors, while the Transport bar has migrated to the top of the screen. Some default key commands have changed – the most confusing for me being that the ESC key no longer opens the Toolbox (it’s now ‘T’). These changes, along with the removal of some minor and major features – the Chord Global Track seems to be gone as is the ability to send Video over Firewire – could cause annoyance among seasoned Logic users. The Mixer now features a gain reduction meter and plug-ins can be moved just by dragging – in
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fact, the method of instancing and bypassing plug-ins has been improved. The minor updates to the Score editor are welcome, but the program still lacks a dedicated Drum editor – although the Step editor (née Hyper Edit) can be bodged to the task. New plug-ins include an excellent sounding Retro synth featuring Analog, Sync, Wavetable, and FM synthesis, and this, along with the likes of the Bass Designer plug-in, further removes the need for third-party additions. Some plug-ins, notably the ESX24 sampler, look and sound exactly like their pre-‘X’ versions and the new program does sometimes resemble a re-skinned version 9. Sensibly, all of the ‘legacy’ plug-ins are still available and Logic Pro X can load Projects from version 5 onwards. The bad news for some is that Logic Pro X is a 64-bit only program, so your 32-bit plug-ins won’t work – though there are various ways to run them externally.
THE NEW SOUND Logic Pro X features a new Drum Kit Designer plug-in consisting of a library of well-recorded editable drum kits, somewhat in the style of FXPansion’s BFD. However, this plug-in becomes really interesting when you use it in conjunction with the new Drummer track.
displaying only the most useful parameters, mappable to external controllers. For those needing to
If you define sections of
your Project via the new Arrangement Track, adding a Drummer track generates a variable automatic MIDI- based performance that follows these sections. You can specify which drummer style to use (via slightly annoying drummer names) and adjust various performance characteristics
“Logic Pro X is all about evolution, not revolution.” Stephen Bennett
using the dedicated Drummer editor. Because you have control over fills and dynamics, extremely realistic performances can be generated. You can also use the
Arrangement Track to easily drag around whole sections of a Project to try out different arrangements. The collapsible Track Stacks are similar to Folders in OSX, allowing Tracks to be grouped and routed together – they also are used to improve Logic Pro’s handling of Multi- Channel Virtual Instruments. Although Logic Pro’s
Environment – still mostly intact for those concerned – can be used to create some nifty MIDI processing, version X features the long- awaited MIDI plug-ins that can be instanced directly on a MIDI or Instrument track. These include transformers and a nifty Arpeggiator. New MIDI plug-ins can be
created using Javascript and I expect to see a collection of novel ones appearing soon. Although Logic Pro 9
introduced Flex Time, allowing users to modify the tempo of recorded audio, the program’s pitch adjustment tools have been around since the digital dark ages. The new Flex Pitch displays audio as the now familiar on-screen ‘blobs’ allowing you to finely edit the pitch and temporal position of monophonic audio directly in the Audio window. Like most of these tools, the results are dependant on the original recording, but Flex Pitch allows you to split and merge notes, adjust pitch, formant, and vibrato, and create harmonies.
control Logic from afar, Apple has developed a fully functioning iPad app that connects over WiFi and is a neat and useful addition – especially for the drummers among us.
CONCLUSION For seasoned Logic Pro users, the upgrade to X is a ‘no brainer’ as our American chums say, especially as it leaves version 9 unscathed. It has caught up with the competition in some important ways while adding a few new novel features that some will find extremely useful. It’s still the most bang-for-your-buck you’re going to get in the DAW world and now easier than ever to record, compose, and mix solely with Apple’s flagship program.
Often, when opening a plug-in, the sheer amount of virtual controls presented can be overwhelming, so the new Smart Control feature allows you to create simple, bespoke interfaces for plug-ins,
INFORMATION Feature Set
THE REVIEWER STEPHEN BENNETT has been involved in music production for over 25 years. Now based in Norwich he splits his time between writing books and articles on music technology, running his own Chaos Studios and working in the Electroacoustic Studios in the School of Music at the University of East Anglia. He’s also a filmmaker with several music videos and short films to his credit.
www.stephenjamesbennett.co.uk
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• Logic Remote lets you control the program via iPad • New ‘Drummer’ virtual session player • Flex Pitch integrated pitch editing • Nine new MIDI plug-ins, including Arpeggiator and Retro Synth
• Updated Sound Library with 1,500 instruments •£142
www.apple.co.uk www.audiomedia.com
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