INSTALLATION
The first thing you notice after unboxing Logic Studio is that in addition to a slew of DVDs containing just over 46GB of programs and soundware, there’s no more USB dongle for copy protection. No more needing a USB hub if you use a laptop. No more “Where did I put that?” Ding, dong, the dongle is dead! Once you fire up the first install disk, make yourself a snack, because it’s going to take about three hours to get everything onto your hard drive. Trust us, it’s worth it.
WORKFLOW IMPROVEMENTS
When you first launch Logic Pro 8, you’re greeted with a menu containing 12 templates ranging from an empty document to a 24-track project pre-configured to work with Digidesign TDM hardware (i.e., Pro Tools HD systems). After you make a selection, Logic reveals its new default interface: a consolidated window with Apple’s “brushed metal” appearance. There are tons of new amenities that make Logic a real treat to use, with a few odd wrinkles here and there.
For starters, working with arrangements is much more efficient now, with two dynamic channel strips where version 7 had only one. “Dynamic?” Yes — by default, the channel strip on the right is that of whatever output the one on the left is sending signal to, but it switches if you click an active bus. If a soft synth has a reverb on bus 1 and a delay on bus 2, touching either of those sends on the left strip brings up the correct bus’ strip on the right. This is the kind of stuff that really speeds things up, whether you’re in the throes of song creation or final mixdown.
The once-clunky media browser is now a slick, tabbed affair that incorporates what used to be the Audio window, and includes preset selection, realtime loop browsing, and searchable file access. You can set up complex queries based on file type, date modified, size, even bit depth and sample rate, but oddly, you can’t save those queries for future use, nor bookmark folders as favorites. The loop library does have a favorites area, but the file browser simply maintains a recent searches list. So, though you still have to ascend and descend the directory structure, dedicated buttons speed this up by jumping to three most-wanted directories: the computer’s and user’s root folders, and the current project’s folder.
Logic 7 already supported Apple Loops and REX files, but working with audio loops in plain old AIFF and WAV formats was fiddly. This has improved greatly. Now, all you do is drop in a loop, then option-drag its lower-right corner to the selected bar, and Logic time-stretches the file accordingly. Logic’s time-processing algorithms do sound better than some competitors’ — though programs such as Sony Acid do it in real time, where Logic uses background processing. You can also add high-end tools like Izotope Radius or Serato Pitch ’n Time. Remember, though, that if you change your mind about tempo again later, the more times you repeat any time-stretching or compression process, the more it degrades sound quality.
ReWire support is now vastly improved. Before, it required a Ph.D. in Logic’s Environment window and the patience of a saint. Now, it’s a simple matter to create a bunch of buses and select your ReWire client from the bus menu. If, for example, you want to bring in Ableton Live’s time-processing abilities, this is a godsend. Logic functions as a ReWire host, but not as a client. The Environment is also still available and functions as before — if you want to add an arpeggiator or otherwise tinker with your MIDI processing, you’ll still rely on the Environment for these tasks.
INCLUDED SOFT SYNTHS AND EFFECTS
All of Logic Pro’s plug-ins now sport improved user interfaces: A Compare button lets you audition changes before committing, and you can step through presets rather than constantly going to a pull-down menu. Here’s what’s new or improved.
Delay Designer. There’s been a lot of buzz here, and with good reason, since Delay Designer, which is entirely new as of version 8, is probably the most advanced effect of its kind. In a nutshell, you can have up to 26 delays, each with its own resonant lowpass and highpass filters, pitch shifter, panning, level, and feedback. You can set delay times in either milliseconds or tempo-synced increments, and each tap can be muted as needed for more detailed programming. As with the rest of Logic, there are options for surround panning, making Delay Designer useful for post-production. Its factory presets run the gamut from rhythmic tools to pitch-shifted, melodic patches that evoke seminal Kraftwerk tracks. It’s no exaggeration that Delay Designer could make you rethink your approach to echo in your tracks. It’s that good.
Microphaser. Another of Logic Studio’s brand-new effects is this no-frills phaser. Only three parameters are available — rate, amount, and feedback — but the little bugger sounds great and does the trick when you’re in a hurry to get that stompbox-phaser sound on, say, electric piano or guitar tracks.
Echo. A new quickie is the Echo plug-in. Again, only the essential parameters are presented: note value (delay time), repeat (feedback), color (filter), and wet/dry amount. Compared to the other delays, Echo clearly fills a need in terms of simplicity.
Binaural Panner. This plug-in is for adjusting the behavior of stereo program material, and is as high-concept as it is cool. Applied to a stereo or mono signal, it makes that signal sound as though it came from a certain direction relative to the listener’s head. This isn’t “up-mixing” to surround, though, and the results are much more noticeable if you listen through headphones.
Ducker and Speech Enhancer. To provide full compatibility with last year’s GarageBand update, Logic has included ducking and speech enhancement tools since version 7.2. The ducker is basically a side-chained compressor that’s optimized for work like podcasts — when Logic detects spoken words on a designated track, it automatically reduces the volume of musical background (or anything else), on other tracks. The speech enhancer is designed to make the human voice more intelligible, and if used judiciously, also sounds cool as an “aural exciter” on all kinds of instrument and percussion material.
Compressor. While retaining all the parameters from Logic Pro 7, the compressor now has five new modes: Classic A_R, Classic A_U, VCA, FET, and Opto (optical). A “platinum” mode is on hand for backward compatibility, but it’s doubtful you’ll use it. These new algorithms are absolutely stunning in their reproduction of a variety of classic hardware compressors — in the league of high-end tools like the Waves Renaissance collection and several of PSP’s offerings.
AutoFilter. Remixers rejoice! Logic’s venerable AutoFilter now includes highpass and bandpass modes in addition to its sweet-sounding multi-pole lowpass mode. This is long overdue and brings it in line with the competition.
Multipressor. Logic’s multi-band compressor now sports a much more friendly interface along with the ability to solo or bypass individual bands, which makes editing a much more enjoyable and efficient process. Bravo.
Space Designer. The convolution reverb introduced in Logic Pro 7 gets several upgrades; these range from full surround support to over 200 new impulse response spaces, including 73 stereo and 138 surround models. This is amazing when you remember that impulse responses are samples of true acoustic venues. A separate Impulse Response Utility app is for creating your own IR spaces. While sampling your own space is a convoluted process that usually involves starter pistols and expensive microphones, Logic Pro 8 lets you do so if you’ve got the time and the tools.
ES2. Logic’s flagship virtual analog soft synth now includes a “macro” view that reduces the interface to only the most commonly used parameters: Detune, Wave, Cutoff, Resonance, Mod Depth, Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, and Volume. If you’ve ever wrestled with the full ES2 panel, you’ll know that this is a very good thing, as it lets you minimize cognitive overhead as you work. At the opposite extreme, ES2 now offers up to 16 points for the vector envelope, allowing for much more complex morphing options. You now get built-in surround modulation, too.
Ultrabeat. For some users, Ultrabeat is the holy grail of analog-style drum machines; others have complained that the interface is not especially user-friendly — clicking an unlabeled screw to route signal into the filter, for example. Gripes aside, this latest incarnation of Ultrabeat can import any instrument from the EXS24 sampler. In addition, you can now view your entire pattern in a grid, with up to 32 steps clearly visible and easily edited. You can even step-edit the values of Ultrabeat’s synth parameters. A sidechain input lets you route audio into its tone generators, allowing for some really creative rhythmic processing. This version is an order of magnitude more flexible than its predecessor, screws and all.
EXS24. Apple has completely redesigned the editor window of Logic’s soft sampler, while leaving the synth and sampling engine intact. You’ll find a complete assessment of EXS24 on page 29 of this issue, as part of our soft sampler roundup.
Sculpture. The improvements to Sculpture, Logic’s powerful materials-modeling synth, revolve around surround compatibility. New parameters like Surround Range and Surround Diversity determine how the output signal is spread across the speakers. Basically, this synth is now optimized for some serious soundtrack work.
IN USE
Having relied on Logic Pro for numerous remixes over the years, we were curious as to how the new user interface and amenities would affect the workflow. With that in mind, here’s a summary of how it felt for me, Francis Preve, to use Logic Studio for dance music production. For film/TV composer John Krogh’s point of view, see “Logic Pro 8 Under Fire” below.
I generally start my tracks with a simple drum groove, so I fired up the loop browser, selected the remix library and spent a few minutes sniffing around for a MIDI-based loop that relied on one of the sampled Roland drum machines in the Remix Tools Jam Pack. Once I had what I needed, I simplified the MIDI data in the editing window and moved on to the vocal.
Having just completed a remix of Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E,” I decided to grab the chorus vocals and slow them down a touch. Logic’s new time-stretching algorithms are a definite improvement over the previous version, with more transparency and fewer artifacts.
From there, I whipped up a straightforward bass line on the ES2 synth. Auditioning presets is considerably easier than in Logic Pro 7 — I used the menu to navigate to the Synth Bass folder, then used the new arrows to step forward through the bank until I found something that worked with the TR-909 groove. Once I had a sound I liked, I switched its interface to the Macro view to simplify tweaking. I added another couple of tracks using two of Logic’s “mini” synths, ES-FM1 and ES-P. After that, I added a pretty mallet-struck bell sound using Sculpture, which is surprisingly efficient, even with the relatively modest processing power of my black MacBook — holding down ten notes in Sculpture, along with everything else I had going on, only pushed the CPU meter to about 35%. Apple also loaned us a 17" MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM; predictably, the same project didn’t even make it breathe hard.
Mixdown was a true pleasure. Logic’s new compressor brought the drums and bass into line, adding punch, presence, and warmth thanks to their new vintage algorithms. Finding the right sound was a painless affair, as there are quite a few new presets that make use of the new modes and are labeled accordingly.
I applied a few more effects to the various tracks, including an incredible panning rhythmic delay with Delay Designer. In editing the effects, I made a few parameter changes that didn’t quite work, so I hit command-Z out of habit and was surprised to find that Logic Pro still hasn’t implemented parameter-level undo. I consider this a basic and necessary feature, and programs such as Reason, Live, and numerous other DAWs have had it for over five years now. While you can undo edits to the arrangement in Logic, most MIDI processes and quite a few audio tools, mixer, synth, and effect settings remain off limits. Two things make this more tolerable, though: the plug-ins’ Compare buttons, and the “Revert” function for channel strip settings.
After adding a touch of automation, I slapped a little compression and linear phase EQ on the master bus and rendered the results. Thanks to the speed of the new Intel Core 2 Duo processor in the MacBook Pro test computer, Logic bounced the entire mix down in less than two minutes, which was a pleasant surprise.
MAINSTAGE
There’s no question that using software instruments live has its advantages: You can choose from a buffet of the best sounds from different plug-ins, including virtual analog and modeling synths, and huge sample-based sounds with disk streaming. You still can’t get that kind of firepower from keyboard workstations, period. In the past few years, several “virtual rack” programs have emerged to fill this need, including Steinberg VStack, Brainspawn Forté, Plasq Rax, Native Instruments Kore, and for legacy Logic users, Fluqe OnStage, which calls up different Logic projects using MIDI program changes. None is as comprehensive and downright fun to use as Apple’s MainStage, which we think may be the “killer app” in the whole Logic Studio bundle.
MAINSTAGE OVERVIEW
Simply put, MainStage turns your Mac, along with Logic and AudioUnit soft synths and effects, into a flexible, easy-to-program, and visually appealing live keyboard rig (or drum kit, if you trigger sounds from MIDI drum pads). A MainStage Patch consists of a combination of instruments configured using a mixer window that looks just like the one in Logic. As with Logic, channel inputs may be either virtual instruments or external audio — so guitar players could run their axes through Logic’s effects, including the Guitar Amp Pro modeling plug-in. Unlike in Logic or Soundtrack Pro, mixer channels don’t play back track-based audio, but you could get around this by triggering long samples with EXS24 or another plug-in sampler. You can add as many mixer channels — and therefore as many soft synths and separate effects — as you like. Each has its own associated MIDI channel, split, layer and transpose settings. This means one patch can consist of numerous instruments, plus effects, mapped and zoned to multiple external keyboard controllers. Wow!
Patches are organized into a Concert, the main file that you load and save. A Concert can contain an unlimited number of Patches, selectable via the Mac keyboard’s up/down arrows or MIDI program changes. For live use, it’s especially cool that if you change patches while holding down notes, the notes will sustain until you let go of them, along with their effects, with no audible glitching across patch changes. This concept itself isn’t new — Kurzweil keyboards have done it for years, but not this transparently.
The patch list also contains “sets,” which are really just folders, and anyone who gigs with more than one band, or reconfigures their band’s song list to suit the client, will find them indispensable. Since you can duplicate patches from one set to another, it’s easy have the only program-changing you do all night be hitting the down arrow between songs. If you’ve ever madly pressed buttons on two or three different synths as the drummer counts off, you’ll think you’ve gone to heaven.
MAINSTAGE INTERFACE
Four main “views” are available in MainStage. The Edit view is where you create patches, and is like having a list of quickly selectable Logic mixers, pre-populated with sounds and effects. Don’t worry, you won’t see multiple mixer windows — only one mixer, i.e. patch, is active at a time. Since MainStage has all of the channel strip presets from Logic Pro 8, a vast array of ready-to-play instruments from analog synths to zithers is on hand. Like Logic, MainStage supports AudioUnit plug-ins, so as diverse as the included synths and effects are, you’re not limited to them. Even if you’ve never used Logic, MainStage’s colorful and intuitive interface will have you cooking up split and layered madness in no time. The complexity of these setups is limited only by your Mac’s horsepower. User-adjustable “floating” splits are an option; these follow your fingers within a user-adjustable maximum range, and the colorful oblong wafers that represent key zones resize themselves to show you the split point of the moment.
Layout view is the only mode where you can’t actually play and hear sounds, which reinforces its purpose: It’s where you drag hardware controls such as knobs, faders, meters, musical keyboards, pitch and mod wheels, and pedals, onto a grid in order to set up the appearance of the center pane. Apple calls these “screen controls,” and they’re distinct from the virtual knobs within plug-ins themselves: Roughly, the term refers to anything you’d still see in Full Screen mode (e.g., not channel strips or individual plug-in windows).
Getting hardware controls to affect your sound involves two relationships: the first is between your hardware and MainStage’s screen controls, and the second is between the screen controls and individual parameters of your soft synths and effects.
You deal with the first relationship in the Layout view: To assign a screen control to a hardware control, click the Learn button, move the desired gizmo, and voilà! When you see the screen control “catch” the movement, click the button once more to disengage Learn mode.
You switch to Edit view to deal with the second relationship. Open the target plug-in, click on a screen control in the center pane to highlight it, click the Map Parameter button that’ll appear in the Screen Control Inspector, then click on the thing in the plug-in window that you want to control. You can also choose parameters from a browser directly under the screen controls, but the other method is much quicker and more visual for beginners. In either case, the target parameter (e.g. “EXS24 filter cutoff”) shows up below the screen control — nice!
The hardware mapping and Layout is fixed throughout any one Concert, but the screen-control-to-parameter relationship can change with each patch. This is sensible: While you want controllers to affect different sonic aspects from tune to tune, your physical rig stays the same, and the Layout more or less represents your physical rig. Why “more or less?” Because a single screen control can only affect one plug-in parameter at a time. However, you can map a single hardware control to multiple screen controls. So, suppose you want one knob on your keyboard to sweep the filter cutoffs of three soft synths at once. Your prep work would be to drag three screen controls into your Layout, “Learn” them all to that knob, the switch to Edit view, where you’ll “Map Parameter” each screen control separately.
Why have “middleman” controls at all? Because you can switch keyboards or other hardware and quickly re-Learn the screen controls in the Layout, without the need to reinvent the wheel about what knobs tweak what plug-in settings.
In Performance view, the center pane fills the window, and though you can select and play patches from the Edit view as well, Performance is less cluttered for onstage use. It can be resized, and contains the standard MainStage menu bar. This includes buttons to select the four views, indicators for CPU and memory usage as well as MIDI activity, and a master mute. Full Screen view looks like Performance view without the menu bar or even a window frame — it fills the screen like Apple’s FrontRow.
MAINSTAGE IN USE
Mitchell Sigman and tech editor Steve Fortner put MainStage through its paces, first programming setups at home, then taking ’em to gigs. Any sample-based sounds (from Apple EXS24 or third-party soft samplers) load when you first open a Concert, and though this can take awhile initially, it means that switching Patches won’t make you wait for anything to reload, as long as you do so from the MainStage Patch List and not from within a soft sampler. Of course, there’s no load time for plug-ins that use other sound-generating methods.
We’ve created lots of songs that use soft synths in Logic, so we wanted to turn their channel strip data into MainStage concerts. The initial plan was to use Logic’s channel strip copy/paste function to paste into a MainStage channel, but MainStage only lets you copy and paste its own channel strip. Then we discovered how Apple intends you to do this — if you save individual channel strips for each synth in Logic, those strips will then pop up among MainStage’s channel strip presets.
Once we had a lot of patches with sounds and effects, we torture-tested MainStage with mad program changes and dense playing to see if we could make it choke. There were a couple of crashes, but these only occurred while madly clicking between the Edit and Layout views and adjusting parameters. No crashes happened while actually playing in Performance or Full Screen modes.
Tech editor Stephen Fortner used MainStage over the course of several gigs with pop, R&B, and funk bands, and quickly became confident enough to replace an entire hardware gig rig — Yamaha Motif ES7, Kurzweil K2661, and Nord Electro 2 — with his MacBook Pro and a pair of lightweight MIDI controllers.
What if you want to use two (or more) keyboard controllers, or even a MIDI pedalboard for organ or synth bass? All you need to do is set your keyboards to transmit on different MIDI channels, and once you create representations of them in your Layout window, you can make them “Learn” the channels. After that, screen controls will “Learn” anything that moves on any device.
Limitations? While Logic Pro 8 works as a ReWire host, MainStage itself has no ReWire support at this time. Other means exist for syncing MainStage with Logic or other programs. With the features in OS X, you can send MIDI clock over the inter-application bus in the Mac’s Audio/MIDI Setup utility, then use the AUNetSend and AUNetReceive plug-ins to route audio between programs. Third-party audio routers such as Cycling ’74 Soundflower are another option. Also, MainStage is such a great “MIDI brain” that it would be nice if it had MIDI out capability for using your favorite hardware in its splits and layers. We’ve heard from several top touring pros who want this feature. Honestly, though, it makes gigging with the benefits of soft instruments so fun and worry-free that “favorite hardware” may become an oxymoron.
If you’re about to grouse that you can’t get MainStage separately from the $499 Logic Studio package, here’s some perspective: You’d spend a lot more to (legally) acquire a stable of soft instruments that begins to approach the diversity and sound quality of what comes with Logic Studio, and that’s with no DAW, no gig-friendly host program, no nothin’. Even if you’re strictly a live keyboard player who will never launch Logic Pro 8, MainStage is well worth the price.
SOUNDTRACK PRO 2
Apple bills Soundtrack Pro (STP from here on) as an audio application for film and video post-production. So what’s it doing in Logic Studio? The idea, according to STP’s user manual, is that you’ll “use Logic Pro to create, compose, and score your music, and Soundtrack Pro to edit and restore dialogue, create and edit sound effects and backgrounds, and mix a full soundtrack.” Great, but what if you’re not a post-production engineer? What if you’re just a musician? Would you even launch STP? The truth is, STP is a powerful music and sound design tool in its own right, and it has some interesting tools and features for music-only folks that you won’t find in Logic. Plus, if you create any music for picture, using STP could come in handy for, say, editing and delivering your music for a video that your buddy is doing in Apple’s Final Cut Studio (which also includes Soundtrack Pro).
Before you can get anything done in STP, be prepared to rethink your approach to using a DAW. When you look at the transport, for example, you won’t see a place to set the tempo of your session, nor will you find a metronome. When time-stretching audio, you can change its duration by frames, hours/minutes/seconds, and samples — but not by subdivisions of a beat. Thankfully, you can make STP more music oriented by changing the time ruler to Beats, for example.
You won’t find support for external MIDI or software instruments, but I don’t think this is a negative. In fact, I find that it sometimes helps me to move a session into STP when I get to the final mixdown stage of a music-for-picture project. There’s less distraction, due to the fact that I’m dealing solely with rendered audio tracks and a set of tools that are specifically designed for the work at hand.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to working in STP is the way audio can be processed. One of the coolest features is that you can apply effects non-destructively to clips of audio — and I’m not talking about just entire regions of audio, but any portion of audio you select. Effects can be easily rearranged and bypassed, and you can copy one clip’s effects chain to other clips. This is a feature I and many other Logic users would kill to have in Logic.
STP’s Getting Started manual (included with Logic Studio) does an exceptional job of walking you through the concepts and procedures involved in working with multitrack sessions as well as stereo files. (STP is a remarkably capable stereo editor, and I find it more useful than Logic’s own sampler editor, in fact.) Sadly, there aren’t any included tutorial sessions to work with, so you’ll have to start from scratch or import a session from Logic.
Speaking of which, you can shuttle projects back and forth between Logic and STP, which is handy. Two non-native formats — OMF (Open Media Framework) and AAF (Advanced Authoring Format) — are supported, as is XML, which is Apple’s native session format supported by Final Cut Pro, and also by Logic. If you plan to move an existing Logic session into STP for final mixing, the preferred method (one would think) is to use XML. Turns out, though, that the XML data Logic exports isn’t compatible with STP. Considering that STP is billed as part of an integrated package with Logic Pro, I was shocked to discover that XML compatibility between the two programs is broken.
So, what if you have a client running Final Cut Pro (FCP) and they want you to deliver music for them to approve or work with on their system? (This is a more likely scenario than using STP as a “middleman” between Logic and FCP.) AAF transfer between Logic and STP does work, so you could go that route. Apple is aware of and working on the problem, so expect a fix soon.
In my tests, all of the audio tracks from a Soundtrak Pro mixdown session for a short-format documentary (which included narration, sound effects, music stems, and a movie file) imported into FCP with no problems. However, FCP didn’t find the corresponding movie file — I kept getting an XML error message about this. The audio from stereo tracks in Logic imported as mono left and right splits, with all tracks panned hard left. Also, none of the automation data or bused effects were rendered when audio tracks were exported directly from Logic. Currently, this is expected behavior with XML, but I’m hoping this will change in the future.
CONCLUSIONS
Make no mistake, even with a few feature omissions, the Logic Studio package is far and away the biggest bang-for-buck in the industry. Logic Pro 8 eclipses its predecessor by leaps and bounds, and MainStage sets a new standard for what playing virtual instruments live should feel like. It’s almost terrifying how much you get for 500 bucks — if you’re a competitor, delete the “almost.” In fact, we’re a little worried that Logic Studio gives you so much for so little that it’ll have a chilling effect on other developers. Companies like Ableton have little to fear, since nothing in Logic Studio is really geared to be an improvisational performance tool or DJ rig. Whatever happens in the industry, this is a clear case of the consumer winning, hands-down. “Big Brother” jokes aside, we’ll borrow a different word from Orwell: Logic Studio wins a doubleplus Key Buy!
LOGIC PRO 8 UNDER FIRE
In my musical life outside of Keyboard, I compose and mix for a variety of TV, film, and multimedia projects, which means I can get called for just about any style of music on any given day. In this world, deadlines are stupid-tight, so it’s important to work quickly from initial idea to finished mix, using tools and instruments that help, not hinder, the creative process. To that end, Apple made numerous changes to Logic’s interface that have made (and as I learn the program more, will continue to make) a significant positive impact on my productivity.
From first launch, you’re presented with a new look and feel — essentially, Apple has brought Logic’s appearance into line with the rest of their Pro Apps. In general, I find the way the new user interface is arranged more intuitive, inviting, and encouraging. Encouraging? For example, the instant Logic opens, you have immediate access to the enhanced file browser, loop browser, and audio window (renamed the Audio Bin). It’s one of many ways in which the program sort of “pushes” you into doing something — grab a loop, audition some instrument presets, choose a style of music to begin working in, and so on. Along these lines, I love the way instrument presets automatically load when you select them, which makes it much quicker to audition sounds. It’s similar to the way Propellerhead Reason’s Browser lets you quickly try out instruments before loading them into the rack — very cool.
I’m sure everyone will have their favorite enhancements and new features, but for me it’s the little things that ultimately get me excited about making music in Logic Pro 8. Making my list, in no particular order:
- ReWire implementation. It used to be a major pain to work with Propellerhead Reason instruments in Logic Pro, but in version 8 it’s easy to do — select an external MIDI track, click on the Library tab, and double-click the name of the instrument you want to play. You still have to manually assign an Aux track to accept audio from a ReWired client, but you no longer need to create “ReWire objects” in the environment.
- Multitimbral MIDI automation support for software instruments. Previously, with mutlitimbral software instruments it was impossible to channelize continuous controller and automation data (i.e., all channels responded to the same data, regardless of whether you recorded volume or expression data for a single channel). This was a huge limitation, but not anymore. Finally!
- Compare button. Plug-ins now benefit from a Compare button, so when you change a parameter, you can easily switch between the original setting and the one you’ve just changed. It’s yet another little thing that simplifies the process of searching for — and tweaking — the right sound or effect for your project.
- Snap-to-Transient selection. If you’ve worked with Digidesign Pro Tools’ Tab-to-Transient feature, you already know what Logic’s new Snap-to-Transient command does, but for the uninitiated, I’ll boil it down: Snap-to-Transient automatically extends a marquee tool selection to the next or previous transient. For anyone who’s ever edited stereo or multitrack dums, this is a boon. On a related note, it’s now possible to graphically time stretch/compress audio regions by click-and-drag in the Arrange window. This is another big time-saver.
- Quick Swipe. Users have long observed that, compared to some other DAWs, Logic can be labor-intensive when it comes to audio editing, especially comping — assembling an ideal vocal or solo track from the best bits of several takes. Version 8 addresses this by first automatically organizing multiple takes of the same track in a take folder. More importantly, the feature called “Quick Swipe” now lets you select non-contiguous parts of audio regions on multiple tracks at once. As you’re swiping, the top “take” region dynamically updates to reflect whatever you’ve selected. You can then choose to render or the results into a final track. It’s a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get affair” — I found myself going to Logic’s more tried-and-true editing tools to perfect the timing. Still, this is a major step in the right direction.
Ultimately, existing Logic users such as myself will find plenty of small features and enhancements that amount to a big improvement in workflow and ease of use. - John Krogh
GORY DETAILS
INCLUDED SOFT INSTRUMENTS
EFM1 FM synth, ES-E ensemble synth, ES-M monophonic synth, ES-P polyphonic synth, ES1 single-oscillator virtual analog synth, ES2 three-oscillator virtual analog synth, EVB3 tonewheel organ, EVD6 Clav, EVP88 electric piano, EVOC-20PS vocoder, EXS24 soft sampler, Sculpture physical modeling synth, Ultrabeat drum machine, 24 GarageBand instruments.
INCLUDED EFFECTS
80 total, including 2 amp models, 5 delays, 6 distortion/overdrive, 10 dynamics, 6 EQs, 5 filters, 2 stereo imagers, 3 metering plug-ins, 11 modulation effects, and 6 reverbs.
SUPPORTED AUDIO/SAMPLE FORMATS
Apple Loops, AIFF, WAV, SD-II, REX (1 and 2), MP3, M4A, AAC, Apple Lossless, CAF, QuickTime, Akai S-series, SoundFont, SampleCell, DLS, GigaStudio.
JAM PACKS
In addition to the original collection of Apple loops and Logic instruments, Logic Studio includes the entire first five Jam Packs — everything except the new and very R&B-oriented Voices collection. However, the inclusion of the previous releases is nothing short of amazing since the first, a variety pack simply titled Jam Pack 1, is no longer available separately, and the other four are absolutely world-class. These are Remix Tools, Rhythm Section, Symphony Orchestra, and World Music (reviewed Jan. ‘05, Feb. ‘05, June ‘05, and May ‘06, respectively).
CLAIM CHECK
“From the fun and intuitive GarageBand to the all new Logic Studio, there’s never been a better time to be a musician on the Mac,” said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice president of Applications Product Marketing, “For less than $500, Logic Studio transforms the Mac into the most powerful musical instrument in the world. At the heart of Logic Studio is Logic Pro 8, now with an intuitive single-window interface for instant access to powerful music creation and production functions. New audio production tools such as Quick Swipe comping and dynamic channel strip creation speed up common tasks. MainStage, an innovative new live performance application, turns the Mac into a powerful gig rig that produces reliable, consistent sound. Soundtrack Pro 2 is the musician’s bridge to sound-for-picture. Logic Studio also includes Studio Instruments, Studio Effects, and a vast Studio Sound Library.”