Apple Logic Pro /LogicExpress Discussion

On Thursday, May 5, 2005, at 10:37 AM, Kamm Schreiner wrote:

>> When you say you gave it a serious try, what did this entail?
>
> I did the same as I did with Logic and Cubase. I decided I was going to
> rough it through the remaking of one of my old songs (written back in 
> the
> late 70's). What I found was that - to my amazement - DP does not have 
> the
> equivalent of Regions for MIDI - only for Audio. Both Sonar and Cubase 
> do,
> but all you get with DP is a computer generated (cannot be modified by 
> the
> user) grouping of midi notes that it "thinks" are related. It is only
> available in the Tracks view and there is very little you can do with 
> them.
>


> For instance, I was using an external sound module and decided I 
> wanted to
> use EWQLSO instead. Creating the soft synth track was painless, (much 
> easier
> than Logic), but you can't copy the midi events from a midi track to a 
> soft
> synth track because DP will only allow you to copy events among 
> identical
> track types.


This is not true- I do this all the time. It's extremely easy as a 
matter of fact, as easy as Logic (which I also use and love)


> So I was going to have to replay and re-edit the entire track?
> I don't think so... ;) Oh yea, and the tracks view is *tiny* and I 
> could
> find no way to zoom the size of the a track vertically.

This is also easy- did you read the manual?


>
> In addition, although DP has a rather complete set of midi editing 
> features,
> they are cumbersome compared to Logic. Example:
>
> To change all selected note lengths to be equal in Logic, just hold 
> down
> Ctrl+Option while dragging. You have to open a dialog in DP and set 
> the note
> length and then click OK.

There is an equivalent key command as well in DP.


> Selecting midi notes is different too. In Logic,
> if a rubberband selection touches a note it will be selected,

I found this method to be a pain too- notes that I don't want to select 
get selected- took me a while to get used to this...




> in DP you must
> encompass the entire note for it to be selected.



> Or wait, I think that it is
> that you must select the "start" of the note. At any rate, it is pain.
>
> DP has an info line in the titlebar of the midi editor window, but if 
> you
> drag a value up or down with the mouse to increase or decrease it, it 
> gets
> focus (becomes selected) and you must press enter or click on another
> control to finish the action. If you select more than one note, the 
> info
> line disappears. If I could have edited the info line with multiple 
> notes
> selected (i.e. to change the length of all selected notes it would 
> have been
> very useful, but no.
>
> Want to create legato with DP? It's a real pain. Just Shift+Tab in 
> Logic.

Logic is excellent for this.



>
> I really hate DP's method of drawing/editing automation too. It is just
> clunky compared to Logic. Which by-the-way is simply untouchable by any
> other DAW I've used.

I happen to think drawing automation is much more superior in DP, but 
that's me personally. The ability to make smooth, scalable  Bezier 
curves is incredible.


>
> Finally, DP insists on defaulting to zoom sizes that are far too small 
> for
> my personal taste. If I change the settings in the arrange window for 
> the
> size of notes, the next time I open the song, they've reverted back to 
> the
> default size.

You can use the Mac OS stationary feature or make a template to get 
around this.



>
> Anyway, you get the picture. The lack of the equivalent of a region 
> for midi
> events was a show stopper right away, but I still kept going trying to
> convince myself there must be some other redeeming feature that would 
> take
> its place. There wasn't.

i find NOT having regions to be a plus, I like using regions in Logic 
when I'm doing dance oriented stuff, but for genres that are looser, DP 
has this more open and free way of composing.



>
> I wish that Logic had the equivalent of the consolidated window in DP, 
> but
> I'll put up with Logic's separate Windows any day to have its power and
> flexibility.





>
> I will say this though, DPs manual and index are light years better 
> than
> Logic's.


I find both manuals are comprehensive enough for me, I wish DP had it 
in 'pdf' format too.


>
> Have you tried DP? If so, what was your take on it compared to Logic?

see above ; )


>
> Kamm
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
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