Apple Logic Pro /LogicExpress Discussion

Hi everyone, 

I've just joined the list and I'm just saying hi. 

I'm working in Paris on Logic 7.2.2 on a MacBookPro 17" Intel Core Duo, using an M-Audio 
Firewire 1814 for i/o, a 250GB LaCie drive for backup - so far its all working great. Its a 
very portable rig I put together before leaving my home in Sydney Australia.

I've been teaching myself Logic as I go, [I started on Garageband and just open up my GB 
songs in Logic] got some advice from the LUG, which was great.

In the last 3 months I've made a CD's worth of tracks - instrumental industrial metal - with 
real rhythm guitars, sampled guitars, Logic basses, Ultrabeat drums + apple loops + 
handlaid individual snares/cymbals/kicks.

One of my most common MO's is record myself playing acoustic rhythm guitar riffs [using 
a Sennheiser 416 condenser - I work in the film business and its the mic I travel with for 
location recording] for a long jam, then sift thru the recording and find something I like, 
cut it up and loop it. Sometimes I'll edit up a riff out of individual chord strums. Then I 
write a bass line with one of Logic's basses [some sound pretty good to me, after 20 years 
of playing real basses thru amps!], play it on my little Edirol midi controller - only then do 
I start fiddling with drums. Then I lay in strings, choirs, synths, sampled distorted guitars 
etc.

I make very cinematic FX-oriented intro/outro sections in Soundtrack Pro, which has heaps 
of good Foley and general FX, bounce a stereo AIFF and drag 'em into Logic.

To be honest, I still find GB a very user friendly environment for the early stages of a track 
- recording etc. Then I move to Logic for complicated stuff, software instruments, FX, 
mixing, automation, mastering etc.

A few things I'm struggling:
Templates - I've made quite a few and they all have problems, mostly to do with setting up 
numbers of tracks for recording real audio. Anyway, I find workarounds and persevere - I 
just discovered the Environment window - seems useful for assigning i/o. 

Any simple advice of quick/easy template set up will be much appreciated!!!!!

When I open the mixer window, I spend too much time scrolling back and forward - 
there's all these midi tracks I don't want clogging things up!!

Paul

Howdy,

 First time poster here, so howdy out to everyone! I can’t help you with you
questions,  but I just wanted to chime in, as a noob, to all this recording
stuff, I plan on doing pretty much the same things that you described in
your post. But as a new Logic user, how did you you (have you) found the
learning curve, and are there any books/videos you have used to help you
along? Sounds like a great set up you have there as well, as soon as my new
Mac Pro comes in, I’ll finally be able to play along with my toys as well :D

Thanks Kindly
Dan

Hi everyone,

I've just joined the list and I'm just saying hi.

I'm working in Paris on Logic 7.2.2 on a MacBookPro 17" Intel Core Duo,
using an M-Audio
Firewire 1814 for i/o, a 250GB LaCie drive for backup - so far its all
working great. Its a
very portable rig I put together before leaving my home in Sydney Australia.

I've been teaching myself Logic as I go, [I started on Garageband and just
open up my GB
songs in Logic] got some advice from the LUG, which was great.

In the last 3 months I've made a CD's worth of tracks - instrumental
industrial metal - with
real rhythm guitars, sampled guitars, Logic basses, Ultrabeat drums + apple
loops +
handlaid individual snares/cymbals/kicks.

One of my most common MO's is record myself playing acoustic rhythm guitar
riffs [using
a Sennheiser 416 condenser - I work in the film business and its the mic I
travel with for
location recording] for a long jam, then sift thru the recording and find
something I like,
cut it up and loop it. Sometimes I'll edit up a riff out of individual chord
strums. Then I
write a bass line with one of Logic's basses [some sound pretty good to me,
after 20 years
of playing real basses thru amps!], play it on my little Edirol midi
controller - only then do
I start fiddling with drums. Then I lay in strings, choirs, synths, sampled
distorted guitars
etc.

I make very cinematic FX-oriented intro/outro sections in Soundtrack Pro,
which has heaps
of good Foley and general FX, bounce a stereo AIFF and drag 'em into Logic.

To be honest, I still find GB a very user friendly environment for the early
stages of a track
- recording etc. Then I move to Logic for complicated stuff, software
instruments, FX,
mixing, automation, mastering etc.

A few things I'm struggling:
Templates - I've made quite a few and they all have problems, mostly to do
with setting up
numbers of tracks for recording real audio. Anyway, I find workarounds and
persevere - I
just discovered the Environment window - seems useful for assigning i/o.

Any simple advice of quick/easy template set up will be much
appreciated!!!!!

When I open the mixer window, I spend too much time scrolling back and
forward -
there's all these midi tracks I don't want clogging things up!!

Paul



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Before I got Logic, I was a bit nervous and I researched software/hardware extensively, 
then I just got the gear and plunged in, opening up songs I had sketched out in 
GarageBand on my Intel iMa. GB is really easy to learn, with a visually clear GUI - Logic is 
gloomy and its hard to read the tiny fonts, which I can't seem to make any bigger on my 
laptop, unfortunately.

 Also I used the Logic "Getting Started"  mini manual. It was pretty clear. I chatted to guys 
in music hardware stores for tips about getting the software instruments up and running 
in tracks and inserting FX - pretty key to get that basic stuff clear.

I don't think Logic is particularly user-friendly - it seems to presume you have used Logic 
before!!! and understand the jargon - I read Sound on Sound mag - they have a Logic 
column that's useful.

Paul


--- In Logic_Cafe@yahoogroups.com, Cowinacape <cowinacape@...> wrote:

>
> Howdy,
> 
>  First time poster here, so howdy out to everyone! I can't help you with you
> questions,  but I just wanted to chime in, as a noob, to all this recording
> stuff, I plan on doing pretty much the same things that you described in
> your post. But as a new Logic user, how did you you (have you) found the
> learning curve, and are there any books/videos you have used to help you
> along? Sounds like a great set up you have there as well, as soon as my new
> Mac Pro comes in, I'll finally be able to play along with my toys as well :D
> 
> Thanks Kindly
> Dan

Thanks kindly for the reply! Greatly appreciate the heads up!

Dan


Before I got Logic, I was a bit nervous and I researched software/hardware
extensively,
then I just got the gear and plunged in, opening up songs I had sketched out
in
GarageBand on my Intel iMa. GB is really easy to learn, with a visually
clear GUI - Logic is
gloomy and its hard to read the tiny fonts, which I can't seem to make any
bigger on my
laptop, unfortunately.

Also I used the Logic "Getting Started" mini manual. It was pretty clear. I
chatted to guys
in music hardware stores for tips about getting the software instruments up
and running
in tracks and inserting FX - pretty key to get that basic stuff clear.

I don't think Logic is particularly user-friendly - it seems to presume you
have used Logic
before!!! and understand the jargon - I read Sound on Sound mag - they have
a Logic
column that's useful.

Paul




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> I read Sound on Sound mag - they have a Logic
> column that's useful.
> 
> 

If you get an online subscription, which is fairly cheap (Sweetwater and 
Audiomidi.com seem to have specials on the subscriptions too)... you have access 
to all of their Logic articles over the years. I think there are over 100 
really good tutorials with screenshots. You can download the PDF's and then print 
them.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> I'm working in Paris on Logic 7.2.2 on a MacBookPro 17" Intel Core Duo, 
> using an M-Audio
> Firewire 1814 for i/o, a 250GB LaCie drive for backup - so far its all 
> working great. Its a
> very portable rig I put together before leaving my home in Sydney Australia.
> 
Whats it like working in Paris on music? I was in Paris and it was really 
hard to find music stores.

In the last 3 months I've made a CD's worth of tracks - instrumental 
industrial metal -

Sounds interesting. How do you integrate acoustic guitars and industrial? You 
can post some MP3's to the file section if you want! I often start songs on 
guitar, record them, add the other tracks, then dump the guitar and use the 
other tracks - unless the guitar is extremely integral.


> One of my most common MO's is record myself playing acoustic rhythm guitar 
> riffs ... for a long jam, then sift thru the recording and find something I 
> like,
> cut it up and loop it. Sometimes I'll edit up a riff out of individual chord 
> strums. 
> 
> 
Do you record to a click track? Otherwise what about the tempo? Abelton live 
is really good for adjusting loops. You can tweak the audio with markers, 
export it back to audio, then put it into Logic. 


> 
> When I open the mixer window, I spend too much time scrolling back and 
> forward -
> there's all these midi tracks I don't want clogging things up!!
> 
You must be opening the track mixer? You can set up a screenset that only 
shows audio faders, output fader, busss, etc.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In Logic_Cafe@yahoogroups.com, GAmoore@... wrote:
> Whats it like working in Paris on music? I was in Paris and it was really 
> hard to find music stores.

The best thing about being in Paris is being away from the distraction of my normal life, 
so I can concentrate for periods of solid work - then jump on my bike and explore this 
great city for inspiration. My music is inspired by the [often bloody] history of the streets 
of Paris.  

I was lcky to be here for the "Fete de la Musique" - an all night festival where hundreds of 
bands - from classical to hiphop to indie/folkie stuff - all came out of their bedrooms/
rehearsal rooms and performed free on the streets, in front of cafes and bars and squares 
- a bloody ripper of an idea!! Which could be started in any city. I was interested to see 
how many young musos were using accordions, cellos, tin whistles and other traditional/
classical instruments and how much was "unplugged" and free of the tyranny of guitar/
bass/drums.

> Sounds interesting. How do you integrate acoustic guitars and industrial? You 
> can post some MP3's to the file section if you want! I often start songs on 
> guitar, record them, add the other tracks, then dump the guitar and use the 
> other tracks - unless the guitar is extremely integral.

I'll post up a file so you can see if my integration works. I have Lite Live 5, I haven't delved 
deeply into it, looks fantastic, but I'm trying to get my head around Logic still - a new 
program might cause meltdown!!!


> Do you record to a click track? Otherwise what about the tempo? Abelton live 
> is really good for adjusting loops. You can tweak the audio with markers, 
> export it back to audio, then put it into Logic. 

I used to spend time making a cutup of BPM compatible drum loops as a click track 
originally, but more and more I've been experimenting with no click track, going for a 
looser non-machine rhythm. Because of my film soundtrack background, I love hand-
syncing up stuff, so I'm happy to hand lay and adjust the beats to fit the tempo of my 
guitar playing.

> --- In Logic_Cafe@yahoogroups.com, GAmoore@ wrote:
> The best thing about being in Paris is being away from the distraction of my normal life, 
> so I can concentrate for periods of solid work - then jump on my bike and explore this 
> great city for inspiration. 

Yeah, its a great city for inspiration. So you stay in Paris temporarily? Its pretty expensive 
isn't it?

>My music is inspired by the [often bloody] history of the streets 
> of Paris.  

the guilotine deal?

> I was lcky to be here for the "Fete de la Musique" - an all night festival where hundreds 

Sounds great. when is that?

> I used to spend time making a cutup of BPM compatible drum loops as a click track 
> originally, but more and more I've been experimenting with no click track, going for a 
> looser non-machine rhythm. Because of my film soundtrack background, I love hand-
> syncing up stuff, so I'm happy to hand lay and adjust the beats to fit the tempo of my 
> guitar playing.

sounds like you are doing all audio. you can play a midi note on each beat after your 
guitar is recorded, then mess around with logic's tempo functions to get those quarter 
notes on each beat by having it adjust the tempo. then you can use the scissor tool to cut 
your audio into beats or bars by using the option key.

--- In Logic_Cafe@yahoogroups.com, "gregory_a_moore" <GAmoore@...> wrote:

> Yeah, its a great city for inspiration. So you stay in Paris temporarily? Its pretty 
expensive isn't it?

Actually, almost cheaper than my home in Sydney - sublet an apartment, buy food at the 
street markets, ride bikes, don't have too many coffees at cafes . . . . Only staying three 
months, almost ready to move on [next stop Mumbai, for work, hopefully . . . .] I'm just 
backing up stuff @ the moment.
 
> the guilotine deal?
Thr Revolution doesn't do much for me, actually. I'm more interested in the Paris 
Commune of 1871 [where 3 times as many died as in the more famous revolution, mostly 
loyal citizens murdered by their treacherous government], the Paris Police massacre of 200 
Algerians in 1961, the 1968 uprising . . . . grassroots stuff.

 "Fete de la Musique" - an all night free music festival  
> Sounds great. when is that?

Mid June, I think.

I'll post an mp3 file up soon of a track that features - no click track, real and software 
guitars - and let others judge if its integrated OK......

Fete de la Musique 21 June exactly

On Aug 30, 2006, at 7:21 PM, blackfeather801 wrote:

> --- In Logic_Cafe@yahoogroups.com, "gregory_a_moore" <GAmoore@...>  
> wrote:
>
> > Yeah, its a great city for inspiration. So you stay in Paris  
> temporarily? Its pretty
> expensive isn't it?
>
> Actually, almost cheaper than my home in Sydney - sublet an  
> apartment, buy food at the
> street markets, ride bikes, don't have too many coffees at  
> cafes . . . . Only staying three
> months, almost ready to move on [next stop Mumbai, for work,  
> hopefully . . . .] I'm just
> backing up stuff @ the moment.
>
> > the guilotine deal?
> Thr Revolution doesn't do much for me, actually. I'm more  
> interested in the Paris
> Commune of 1871 [where 3 times as many died as in the more famous  
> revolution, mostly
> loyal citizens murdered by their treacherous government], the Paris  
> Police massacre of 200
> Algerians in 1961, the 1968 uprising . . . . grassroots stuff.
>
> "Fete de la Musique" - an all night free music festival
> > Sounds great. when is that?
>
> Mid June, I think.
>
> I'll post an mp3 file up soon of a track that features - no click  
> track, real and software
> guitars - and let others judge if its integrated OK......
>
>
> 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]