Logic Studio: Music for the Masses

Logic Studio: Music for the Masses

21 November, 2007 | 11.06AM

• Written by: francispreve
• Filed under: Music News: francis preve, logic studio, technology blog

On September 12th, 2007, Apple stunned the world of music production with the announcement of Logic Studio.

In one fell swoop, they upgraded Logic Pro, threw in a bunch of related software, included five of their critically acclaimed Jam Packs, dropped the accursed dongle and get this: they lowered the price to $499 US.

Rather than expound on the political and competitive ramifications of this, let’s dig right into the details.

Logic Pro 8

A quick glance at the main image and it’s clear that one of the biggest changes in Logic Studio is a redesigned user interface.

Everything from starting a project, to adding new tracks, to staying organized is much easier.

The new single-panel interface is reminiscent of both Pro Tools and GarageBand, but long-time users can switch back to the multiple window approach, if preferred.

The main theme with Logic Studio is that everything is now much easier to find and use.

For example, the left side of the screen still contains the selected track’s channel strip, but now it also includes the currently active bus, output or effect return – depending on what’s going on in the session.

In previous versions, users had to go back and forth between the two channels, so this speeds things up greatly when busses are used.

On the right is a new media browser that keeps track of your loops, audio files and presets, with the ability to search your hard drive as well.

The search is handy, as it allows you to specify file type, size, modification date, sample rate and/or a slew of other options.

The bottom area now includes a pop-up panel that’s used for editing MIDI information, audio data, the mixer and even notation for the trained musician.

Previous versions of Logic have included professional-grade versions of nearly every effect and synthesis tool in the known universe.

This is no exaggeration.

From high-end convolution reverb to exotic physical modeling synths like Sculpture, Logic’s collection of plug-ins would cost thousands of dollars if purchased separately.

The latest revision now includes Delay Designer, a spectacular multi-tap delay with filters and panning on each of its 26 discrete delays.

In addition, synths like Ultrabeat (Logic’s 808-style drum machine) and ES2 (a powerful subtractive synth) have received notable improvements, like an improved step-sequencer and easy-to-use macro mode, respectively.

While Logic’s time-stretching approach has been greatly improved, it remains a non-real-time process – unlike that of Ableton Live and Cakewalk Sonar.

This is a pity because elastic audio would have made this package almost unbeatable.

Additionally, there are no interactive or improvisational tools like those found in Live’s Session view or Cakewalk’s Project 5.

Soundtrack Pro 2

Now included with Logic Studio is Apple’s Soundtrack Pro (pictured below), which is similar to Sony ACID and Adobe Audition, but without MIDI of any sort.

Soundtrack Pro’s strength lies in its extremely intuitive loop-based sequencing and mixing, which is handy for certain types of compositions like old school hip-hop, lounge, ambient and experimental genres.

As its name implies, Soundtrack Pro also excels at creating audio compositions for video projects like webcasts and commercials.

In addition to its multi-track compositional environment, Soundtrack Pro is also an extremely capable audio editor along the lines of Bias Peak or Adobe Soundbooth.

What’s really cool here is that you can perform most edits either non-destructively or permanently.

Better still, these edits are stored in “layers” which allow you to reorder, suspend or delete any edits you apply, not unlike Photoshop; this way, you can experiment extensively before committing to a sound.

The effect collection included with Soundtrack Pro is almost identical to the set in Logic.

Flagship processors like Delay Designer and Space Designer (a super-realistic convolution reverb) are available, as is Logic’s Compressor plug-in, with its new set of vintage compression algorithms.

In practice, Soundtrack Pro is almost more fun to use than Logic, especially if you don’t use or need MIDI instruments.

Overall, it’s fast, intuitive and quite easy to grasp — even if you’re a beginner.

In fact, Soundtrack Pro’s features make me wonder why it’s a separate application, since it neatly fills in some of the gaps in Logic Pro’s feature set.

Jam Packs

Apple’s Jam Pack libraries have earned rave reviews on both sides of the pond, thanks to their killer combination of top-notch sampled instruments and truly usable music loops.

Logic Studio comes with over 40GB (!) of sonic material to get you started on your own compositions in either Logic Studio or Soundtrack Pro.

Here’s a quick summary of some of the highlights:

Orchestral. The orchestral material is beyond gorgeous. Strings, woodwinds, brass sections and percussion — even a beautifully sampled Steinway grand piano is included in this library. Whether your tastes run toward disco extravagance or monstrous classical flourishes, orchestras can be quite powerful when used tastefully.

Rhythm Section. Speaking of disco, the Rhythm Section library includes a wide variety of electric bass grooves that can easily be edited, since many of them are MIDI sequences that play a well-recorded sampled bass guitar. In addition, there’s a truckload of guitar material ranging from 1980s alternative to grunge and metal. Breakbeat fans will dig the array of acoustic drums, as well.

World. If you’re looking for acoustic, organic textures that aren’t immediately recognizable, you’re going to be in heaven as you peruse this material. Essential instruments like Sitar and Koto are represented, as are more exotic fare like Kalimba and Hammered Dulcimer. House and tribal fans take note: there’s also a slew of African and Latin percussion available for live, acoustic grooves.

Remix. Club fans and DJs alike know how quickly fashions change in this industry, so the Remix library is a bit of a mixed bag. Some material holds up well, while other sounds are woefully dated. Even so, the included 808, 909 and 606 sampled drum kits are impeccably recorded and utterly timeless.

Waveburner Pro 1.5

Once you’ve arranged and mixed your eight-minute opus, it’s time to master it.

Apple has you covered there too, with the inclusion of the ultra-intuitive Waveburner Pro application (pictured above).

Whether you’re mastering a single track or compiling a CD, Waveburner makes light work of the entire process, with the ability to add specific effects chains to individual tracks on a CD.

If one track needs EQ and compression, whereas another just requires a touch of limiting, it’s not a problem, since Waveburner also includes the same array of effects plug-ins as Logic Pro.

DJs take note: Waveburner allows you to take a recorded mix and slice it into individual tracks (without gaps, mind you), which can then be further processed; this is an awesome feature for those times when the set itself is flawless, but the volumes are a tad shaky.

For the record, I’ve used previous versions of Waveburner to master commercially released CDs on more than one occasion, and every time, it’s done a fantastic job of making my life easier.

Main Stage

Live PA artists can now use a laptop as their primary tone generator, thanks to Main Stage, an intuitive new application that functions much like a rack of hardware with the same high-end synths, effects and mixing as Logic.

While this is undeniably cool, it would have been even more amazing if Apple had also included ReWire client support so that you could use these synths and effects in conjunction with other software sequencers.

Conclusions

Make no mistake, Logic Studio is, by far, the best value for Mac-based producers of all types, with its shortcomings minimal and its features exhaustive.

No other manufacturer offers so much for so little.

While it can’t double as a DJ rig like Ableton Live, nor does it offer improvisational composition tools like Live’s session view, it’s an extraordinary package that can handle every possible aspect of the production process.

For some users, it’s even a reason to switch to the Mac — which is certainly the incentive Apple was hoping for when it lowered Logic Studio’s price.

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