02.05.10
Posted in Logic 8/9, What's New at 8:32 pm by Administrator
…Free Sounds!!!..in EXS24 Sampler format.
The first ones are samples of the Roland Juno 106 (courtesy of Super Engineer/King of the A Room Roy Matthews) and I’m not sure how long they will stay up,as I want to make this an ongoing project.
I chose the Logic EXS24 format because everyone who owns Logic has the EXS built in..and there are some interesting keyboards around here that I think could benefit from the sampling process, as not everyone has access to a Juno 106.
As soon as I figure out how to host the sounds, I’ll re post the “key command” post with a better explanation of WHY those commands are valuable to me and also put in a link so that you can download and import the “key command” set into your own rig if you want.
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02.03.10
Posted in Logic 8/9 at 8:33 pm by Administrator
I know quite a few people who have had Logic over the years and have never…shall we say…loved it.
Any computer program that does so much does require a learning curve..but what I’ve discovered is that most people don’t take advantage of the ability to map out the key commands in a way that makes their “workflow” (is that real word now?) go faster.
Basically,this means that you can assign a key on your QWERTY keyboard to correspond to most of the actions in Logic that require you to grab the mouse.
Obviously, assigning TOO many key commands will result in brain overload (“Now was {Option/Shift/A} the command for “Assign all notes to a random order of reverse events except on Friday” or…?)….so just keep it basic to start with.
You get to the “Key Command” area by holding down the mouse over “Logic Pro” (upper Left) and looking under “Preferences”. One of the funny things you see here is that there is a key command..for opening up the key commands (Option-K).
Most of the key commands are “pre-assigned” by Apple but you can easily overwrite them. The most important commands for me are the transport controls..if I have to grab a mouse every time that I want to get around, I’ll put a gun to my head.
Here are mine….I’ll paste the set soon so that you can “Import” to your Logic 9 if you like them.
( If you go to your Mac “System Prefs>Keyboard..and check off the box “Use all the F1 etc as standard function keys” AND disable them in the “Expose” part of System Prefs, the Function Keys are WAY faster to use as key commands..see below in the revised first section).
——– Global Commands ——–
F 1 Go to Previous Marker
F 2 Go to Next Marker
F 3 Backward by 8 Bars
F 4 Forward by 8 Bars
F5 Mute Track
F6 Solo Track
F 7 Rewind
F 9 Forward
F 11 Record OR ⌘˽ (that’s a spacebar symbol next to the Apple)
F 12 •Capture as Recording
˽ Stop or Play From Last Position (spacebar again)
⌃→ Forward by Transient
⌃← Rewind by Transient
, Rewind by Division Value
. Forward by Division Value
↩ •Play from Beginning
⌃L Go to Left Locator
⌃R Go to Right Locator
0 Go to Last Locate Position
G •Go to Position…
⌘L Set Left Locator numerically…
⌘R Set Right Locator numerically…
B •Set Rounded Locators and Cycle Play
\ Create Marker
⌃M Open Marker List
⌥T Open Marker Text
⌃C Set Locators by Marker and Enable Cycle
C Cycle Mode On/Off
⌥S •Set Solo Lock Mode
Y Sync intern/extern
⌃T •Tap Tempo
→ •Set Next Higher Division
← •Set Next Lower Division
K MIDI/Monitor Metronome Click
⇧L Lock/Unlock Current Screenset
1 Recall Screenset 1
2 Recall Screenset 2
3 Recall Screenset 3
4 Recall Screenset 4
P Region Inspector Float
⇧S Open Synchronization Project Settings…
⌥P Open Preferences…..
F Toggle Event Float
⌥O Open Tempo List…
⌥K Open Key Commands…
⌥C Open Color Palette…
⌥M Open Movie…
⌥G Toggle Group Clutch
⌘W Close Window
↑ •Select Previous Track
↓ •Select Next Track
⌘N New…
⌘S Save
⌘E Export Track as Audio File…
⌘B Bounce…
⌘Q Quit
⌘Z Undo
⇧⌘Z Redo
⌘X Cut
⌘C Copy
⌘V Paste
Delete
⌘A Select All
I Import Audio File…
= Next Plug-in Setting or EXS Instrument
- Previous Plug-in Setting or EXS Instrument
- Previous Channel Strip Setting of selected Track
⌘= Next Channel Strip or Plug-in Setting or EXS Instrument
L Learn new Controller Assignment
——– Various Windows ——–
⎋ •Set Next Tool
R Zoom Horizontal Out
T Zoom Horizontal In
⌃↑ Zoom Vertical Out
⌃↓ Zoom Vertical In
⌃⇧↑ Page Up
⌃⇧↓ Page Down
⌃⇧← Page Left
⌃⇧→ Page Right
I Hide/Show Inspector
M Mute Notes/Regions/Folders on/off
+ •Increase Last Clicked Parameter by 1
- •Decrease Last Clicked Parameter by 1
——– Arrange and Various Editors ——–
⇧⌘A Deselect All
⇧T Invert Selection
⇧F Select All Following
⇧I Select Inside Locators
⇧U Select Empty Regions
⇧← •Toggle Previous Region/Event, or Set Marquee Start to Previous Transient
⇧→ •Toggle Next Region/Event, or Set Marquee Start to Next Transient
Q Quantize Selected Events
⌥R Repeat Regions/Events…
⌘M Merge Regions/Notes
/ Split Regions/Events by Playhead Position
⌃P •Pickup Clock (Move Event to Playhead Position)
⌥→ •Nudge Region/Event Position Right by Division
⌥← •Nudge Region/Event Position Left by Division
——– Arrange Window ——–
← •Select Previous Region on Selected Track
→ •Select Next Region on Selected Track
⌥N Create Two Nodes at Region Borders
⌃↩ New Track with Same Channel Strip/Instrument
N New Tracks…
⌃N Create Trackname
⌃⌫ Delete Trackname
⌃R Convert Regions to New Regions
⌃F Convert Regions to New Audio Files
O Set Optimal Region Sizes Rounded by Bar
V Hide/Show Track Automation
⌥⇧C Color Regions by Channel Strips/Instruments
⌃⌥N Name Regions by Tracks/Channel Strips
⌥L Hide/Show Lists Area
⌥M Hide/Show Media Area
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01.20.10
Posted in Logic 8/9 at 2:28 am by Administrator
..the deafening “white noise” blast that came unexpectedly out of Logic…I hope they fix this bug soon…any musician with headphones on would have been on the floor crying.
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01.18.10
Posted in Logic 8/9 at 10:10 pm by Administrator
It’s a whole new decade…and with it, a new Mac (iMac,that is…souped up with lots of power and RAM),a Duet Audio Interface and Logic 9.
It’s pretty great..all of it..and the audio stuff that you can do is amazing. The changeover from my G5 PPC Mac Tower took some doing but the software manufacturers were all amazingly helpful..except for MOTU..still waiting to hear why “ETHNO” isn’t working.
I’ll pass along any rants and raves as soon as I get to using it a bit more..so far, it’s stable and running like a racehorse.
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06.22.09
Posted in Logic 8/9, Tech Talk at 6:00 pm by Administrator
I use Logic 8 to compose and ProTools for recording “live” things….like vocals,guitars,toy piano,etc..most of the time.There have been countless forum “flame wars” on the subject so I’m just going to say that it seems to work the best for me. Here’s how a typical “songwriting with the artist” session with me goes (technically speaking).
We establish the key and tempo in Logic with a simple click and some piano/electric piano patch (or sometimes guitar). As the song structure comes together, I’ll lay down a basic keyboard part to outline the changes. When the lyric and melody are done, we’ll double check the key and tempo and then lay a rough guide vocal into Logic (no headphones..just the track played at low volume through the speakers).
TIP:In order to get Logic to behave like Pro Tools as an audio recorder, make sure that “Destructive Record” is on and “No Overlap” is the mode in the top right drop down box…relock your screenset to remember this setting for now {Shift-L}).
We don’t worry too much about getting a great performance here..it’s just a reference for the artist to take home and work with…I also give the artist an instrumental version of what we have so far.
After the artist leaves, I start to build the track around the vocal.All midi instruments in my template are set at -5 db so I have some headroom to play with. It’s important not to overload the stereo bus.
When the track is done, I solo and do an offline bounce each track (to a new folder on a Firewire Hard Drive) from Bar 1,Beat 1 to the end of the song, making note of the tempo (and key). Even though bouncing takes a little more time than “exporting”, the audio tracks will appear at the same audio level (and with the automation,midi controllers,plug ins and effects) that I was hearing (and liking) in the song in Logic. There are some who don’t like to commit plug ins and effects to audio but I feel that if they are working within the context of the song, bounce with them.
(Try to keep your file depth and format consistent for both Logic and PT ie.24 bit .WAV…PT will make you convert and copy from Interleaved to Split but this will also force the audio files to end up in the PT Session folder..that’s a good thing..trust me.)
The next step is to make a new session in Pro Tools (or open a session template of your own) and name and save it under the new song title. Put PT in “Grid” mode and set the tempo to match the song tempo from Logic. Under “File”,choose “Import Audio to Track”, locate the Logic 8 audio and choose to import it all. PT will ask you where you want the new files but it should default to the “Audio Files” folder that it has made for the song. The Audio Files REALLY NEED TO BE IN THIS FOLDER..again..trust me.
Once all the audio shows up as waveforms on the PT “Edit” page, switch to the “Mix” page, highlight the names of the Logic Audio that you brought in and make them a group (Apple-G). Pull the faders down to -12 so that you’ll have some headroom for the singer. (Although you’ll probably make level adjustments as your song takes on it’s shape with additional vocals and instruments in PT, you can always return to your original “Logic” mix by setting those instruments at the identical level). Flip back to the “Edit” page and use the hand tool to drag your whole Logic group to Bar 1,Beat 1 (in Grid Mode…important!!). At this point,you can disengage the group and get on to the business of recording in PT. It’s a good idea to check to see that your Logic Audio files are actually in the “Audio Files” folder within the PT Session…if so, go ahead and trash the ones that you made to bring into PT.Also…check “Disk Allocation” to make sure that your new audio files in PT are going to the “Audio Files” folder within the PT Session.
Remember that you can always go back to Logic ,make changes and bounce the tracks back in to PT again.Have fun!
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07.09.08
Posted in Logic 8/9, Tech Talk at 3:23 pm by Administrator
As a composer and engineer, I spend my time shuttling between Logic 8 and ProTools. Although is is possible to do full midi and audio arrangements in both programs, I find that (still) Logic Is better fon the midi and arrangement side while ProTools is best for live instrumentation and vocals, as well as audio editing and mixing.
The Logic intruments that come with the program are quite good but I still count on some third party plug ins such as Albino, Stylus and the RMIV. I also use some freeware/shareware plugs such as the W1 Limiter,Blockfish, and Olga. Once the arrangement is ready, I bounce the tracks over to ProTools and do the audio overdubs. My Logic system is in sync with ProTools through midi clock so that I can add “live” midi overdubs while ProTools is running.
I’ve discovered quite a few shortcuts for this process…feel free to email me if you have any questions about how to do this painlessly (and quickly!).
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