Making The Most Of Logic

Logic Notes & Techniques
Part 2 focuses on using the magic of Flex Time for easier quantising of multitracked drums.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Part 1: Try out Logic 9’s show-stopper addition, Flex Time, which lets you manipulate audio timing as never before.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Complex tasks of all kinds can be done quickly and easily with Logic’s Transform window.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Part 2: We turn to Logic’s dynamics processing in our quest for a polished master.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Part 1: Use Logic’s EQ and SubBass plug-ins to give some mastering polish to your mixes.

Here's a collection of the most recent and previous 100 Logic Notes monthly articles from SOUND ON SOUND magazine. The most recently-published 5 workshops are locked and accessible only to subscribers, but the others are now free for all to enjoy.

(Use the SEARCH page to find even more past articles.)

Previous 100 LOGIC NOTES workshops (unlocked)

Logic Notes & Techniques
You'll be surprised at how cheap and easy it can be to enhance the usability of your Apple Logic setup with a touchscreen.
Logic Notes & Techniques
We offer a second set of tips to enhance your corrective and creative mixing skills.
Logic Notes & Techniques
A professional producer and mixer passes on his favourite Logic mixing methods, starting this month at the bottom, with tips for bass and drums.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Apple Logic 8’s mixer is endlessly configurable, and knowing how to make its flexibility work for you will result in faster and easier mixing.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Your toolkit for producing polished, contemporary-sounding vocals should include appropriate EQ techniques and subtle ambience processing. Enter the workshop...
Logic Notes & Techniques
Dynamics control without compression, tuning for dummies, and vocoding for fun and profit... There's all this and more in part one of our complete vocal production masterclass.
Performance & Maintenance Tips
Housekeeping tasks might not be as much fun as making music, but staying on top of them should ensure safely backed-up tracks and a hassle-free system performing at its best.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Logic's quantisation facilities can do lots more than just helping you to tidy up sloppy timing — although they can certainly do that. Here's a simple guide to some of the possibilities.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Logic 8's 'Takes' functionality makes comping together several different passes of the same part quick and easy. We show you how to do it.
Part 2: The Synthesizer Section
Ultrabeat has powers beyond simple drum pattern creation, offering a synthesis section that's the key to more varied percussive sounds and rhythmic effects.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Not everyone finds drum programming easy, and if you're one of the rhythmically challenged, Logic's Ultrabeat drum synth could be your ticket to more interesting and sophisticated percussive parts.
Logic Notes & Techniques
We covered the basics of score production last month; now it's time to learn more about presentation, with the aim of creating scores that really look the part.
Logic Notes & Techniques
If you want real musicians playing your composition but have no idea how scores should be presented for them, you can still make playable Logic parts with our simple guide.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Logic Pro 8 may not have new software instruments, but scratch beneath the surface and you'll discover significant improvements to what was already an impressive collection.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Logic's Hyper Editor is a powerful way of creating and manipulating MIDI data, but it's often overlooked. We give you the low-down in this advanced workshop, and suggest some ways of using the Hyper Editor in your music.
Logic Notes & Techniques
You're given a Logic project with a less than impressive drum recording, and you need to make it sparkle. Do you book another recording session, get down to some serious editing, or replace the whole lot with samples? Delay your decision until you've read this article...
Logic Notes & Techniques
Convolution is the technology du jour for creating convincing reverbs, and if you're a Logic Studio bundle owner, you already have a utility that will let you get into it yourself, by creating custom impulse responses for the Space Designer plug-in.
Logic Notes & Techniques
The newest version of Logic features powerful new effects, alongside improvements to existing ones. We explore what they have to offer.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Many Logic users have external hardware processors and effects units, which can easily be used inside projects. Read on to find out how...
Logic Notes & Techniques
Logic's built-in EXS24 sampler is a powerful tool for playing realistic instruments, but dig a little deeper and you'll also find unlimited potential for sound design.
Logic Notes & Techniques
It's now possible to carry out most of your audio editing exclusively in one Logic window. We take a look at the improved Arrange window functionality and discover how it can transform your editing experience.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Making the most of your virtual instruments in Logic can involve some complex Environment trickery, but the results are rewarding.
Logic Notes & Techniques
You might consider the REX file to be just another format on the list of audio import options, but it can actually be used to achieve some very creative results. We take a look at what's possible.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Working to moving images in Logic is now easier than ever, given its improved editing tools and Global Track functionality. We explore how these features can enhance workflow and offer some tips for making the most of your audio-visual experience.
Logic Notes & Techniques
The ES2 synthesizer within Logic is a powerful beast. We take a look at what it has to offer in this handy reference guide...
Logic Notes & Techniques
We all want our software to be fast and responsive, and there are simple things that can be done to enhance Logic's performance in this respect. Our guide shows you how.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Step sequencing is often regarded as a pastime of '80s revivalists, but it can be used effectively in Logic to produce creative results in all kinds of music.
Logic Notes & Techniques
We attempt to demystify the EVOC20 vocoder plug-in and suggest ways in which it could be useful in all kinds of music, not just as a tool to produce silly robot noises!
Logic Notes & Technique
Automatic tuning is synonymous with many things, good and bad. We take a look at Logic's Pitch Correction tool and then examine what Auto-Tune can add.
Logic Notes & Techniques
You can now update Logic's creaky old pitch and tempo manipulation routines with third-party algorithms from names such as Serato, Izotope, and Celemony. We compare the options to find out whether these upgrades are worth it.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Logic allows you to multiply the processing power of your studio system by networking multiple computers together. But how well does this actually work in practice?
Logic Notes & Techniques
Everything you need to know to create precise and original remixes using this premier MIDI+Audio sequencer!
Apple Logic Notes & Techniques
The facilities for surround sound in Logic Pro v7 are often overlooked, so here we take a peek at how to get going.
Logic Notes & Workshop
The Global Tracks can not only display chords, key/time signatures, and transpose values — they also let you edit them easily.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Markers have always been available in Logic, but the new Global Tracks feature (introduced in version 7) makes them much easier to use and manipulate than in earlier versions.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Global Tracks let you manipulate the bars and beats of your Song to match freely-played MIDI or audio recordings. Find out how to tempo-match...
Logic Notes & Techniques
Although the new version of Logic is billed just as a Universal Binary crossgrade, it does more than simply allow the sequencer to run on the new Intel-based Macs. Read on...
Logic Notes & Techniques
Some users of Steinberg's Cubase complain that Logic has no specialised drum editor. Little do they know that Logic lets you build your own.
Logic Notes & Techniques
More tips on mastering your tracks this month, specifically for those musicians who find themselves limited to using Logic's own bundled plug-ins.
Logic Notes & Techniques
We look at how to combine your hardware and the software-processing within Logic for mastering purposes.
Logic Notes & Techniques
Mixing live band recordings within Logic presents a unique set of challenges, so we show you how to get great results with the minimum hassle.
News & Tips
More tips and news from the world of Apple Logic.
Technique
Not everyone can afford to invest in a dedicated high-spec hardware controller such as Logic Control. However, you can use even the most humble of MIDI devices to control your mixer, software synths, and plug-ins instead.
News & Tips
The new Tiger AUPitch plug-in promises better pitch-shifting performance, but does it deliver in practice?
Workshop
Mixing and automating complicated projects can be made simpler if you use 'stems'. What are they and how you do it? Read on...
Logic Notes
If you need to run multiple Firewire audio interfaces, you'll want to upgrade to the latest Tiger version of Logic. Read on...
Workshop
Comprehensive automation is one of Logic's most powerful facets, allowing micro-management of all the settings in your mix.
Logic Notes
We take a look at some of the stability problems still lurking in v7.1 under Tiger, and also reveal a couple of extra plug-ins tucked away in the new OS upgrade.
Workshop
Find out how to record a great electric guitar sound into Logic, and which of the plug-ins have the most impact at the mixdown stage...
Workshop
Getting great recorded vocals can seem like rocket science, especially with all the complicated editing and processing tools that Logic now provides. So this month we‘ll be giving you the advice you need to produce that big commercial sound.
Logic Notes
Following on from our preview last month, we test-drive the new Logic Pro v7.1. Does it finally deliver what v7 promised?
Logic Notes
After months of speculation Apple have finally announced the release of the first major Logic 7 upgrade, but what can users expect from version 7.1?
Workshop
We explain how you can mock up a live acoustic guitar sound from a DI'd recording using Logic's built-in plug-ins.
Logic Notes
Combining Logic's Catch and Link modes can greatly increase the usefulness of multi-window Screensets, but it is not always clear, especially to new users, how the various options work.
Logic Notes
Sidechains are usually associated with effects processing, but they are also available in many of Logic's internal soft synths. So what can you do with them?
Logic Notes
Learn how you can quickly program Transformer objects to mimic Ableton Live's useful 'user scales' feature, thus keeping transposed MIDI parts in key.
Logic Notes
Although rather time-consuming, this technique for locking your sequencer to a live take is often the best.
Logic Notes
Synchronising sequences in Logic to live audio tracks can really help give your music the edge, but what's the best way of doing this? We look at the options, and weigh up their pros and cons.
Logic Notes
Have you ever coveted the real-time functions of Ableton's Live? In which case, you will be interested to know how you can simulate some aspects of Live in Logic using the Touch Tracks object?
Logic Notes
Once you find out all the things you can do with the Marquee tool, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it, so this month's column offers some advice on how to put it to work in your projects.
More hints and tips
Learn how to combine dynamics processing with delay and reverb to breathe life into your mixes.
Logic Notes
Layering hardware sound modules to create new sounds is a simple matter, but things are not nearly as easy when you are working with virtual instruments in Logic. Here are a few useful workarounds.
Logic Notes
Find out how to use the I/O plug-in within an Output Audio object, and also learn how Logic's improved plug-in delay compensation allows some powerful new mixing techniques.
Logic Notes
The Aux object might seem a little arcane, but it's the key to a variety of useful Environment workarounds.
Logic Notes
Learn how to set up Logic's Environment so that you can jam with other musicians in real time on a single system.
Logic Notes
Although beat-slicing is something more immediately associated with programs like Propellerhead Recycle or Bitshift Audio Phatmatik Pro, Logic also has facilities to automatically chop up your loops.
Logic Notes
This month we continue our advice on working to picture in Logic with tips on how to work around your visual hit points.
Logic Notes
This month we show you how best to set up Logic for working to picture.
Logic Notes
This month we help you work with Logic Control, as well as offering advice on importing REX files.
Logic Notes
This month's column shows you how to create step-sequencer effects within Logic's MIDI editing windows. Plus there's a wealth of practical tips to make your sessions more productive.
Logic Notes
Get better snare drum sounds with these nifty processing tricks.
Logic Notes
Is the sound of your kick drum letting the rest of your mix down? If so, find out how to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with this month's in-depth bass-drum processing workshop.
Logic Notes
Logic has a number of simple synths built in, and they're surprisingly useful if you know what you're doing, so here's some advice on getting the best out of each one. Plus there's a bumper crop of sequencing tips to make your sessions faster and more productive.
Logic Notes
This month we offer help for those getting to grips with Logic's much misunderstood Hyper Editor, and tell you how to reduce sibilance without using a de-esser plug-in.
Logic Notes
The Project Manager is one of Logic's most useful v6 features, and this month we show you how it can work in different ways to suit your needs.
Logic Notes
Re-live the hardware of the early synth pioneers this month, as we show you how to construct your very own matrix sequencer in the Environment.
Logic Notes
Meta Messages are some of the most powerful and arcane features in Logic. But what are they, and why are they so useful?
Logic Notes
This month's workshop shows you how to go about mastering your tracks in Logic, and there are also some useful tricks for faster audio and MIDI editing.
Driving Logic From Control Surfaces
This month we show you how to drive Logic from control surfaces with endless rotary encoders, and also investigate the powerful MIDI processing available from the Transform window. Plus, there's advice on copying plug-in setups between Songs, as well as another collection of useful tricks and workarounds.
EXS24 MkII Features
The big news in the latest v5.5 update is a completely overhauled EXS24 MkII, so what new features are there?
Setting up Logic to replace a tape-based system
This month's workshop shows you how to get Logic to fill the shoes of a multitrack tape machine. Plus a handy way to display multiple automation passes side by side, and the usual bucketload of tricks, tips and workarounds.
Automation
This month we explore the two main types of automation available within Logic, and explain how to use any MIDI fader box to control them. Plus some wise words on EXS24 sample organisation and a bumper crop of tips to increase your productivity.
v5.3 update; Sample Organisation for EXS24
Logic has finally made the transition to Mac OS X, but does the overall improvement in performance make up for the dropping of VST support? Plus, there's a look at the new v5.3 update, some advice on sample organisation for EXS24 users, and more of those handy tips.
Tempo Operations
More advice on writing music to picture, and some useful pointers for users of EXS24. Plus another fine crop of tips from the pros.
Performance Score Symbols
Essential info on performance score symbols, details on making efficient backups of your work, and our usual haul of Logic hints and tips.
Guide To Setting Up Logic For Writing Music To Picture
There's a simple guide to setting up Logic for writing music to picture this month, as well as advice on speeding up your work in the Score Edit window. Plus, there's news of the latest improvements in Logic v5.1.3 and, of course, the usual fistful of useful tips.
Customising your Environment
More practical advice on customising your Environment and setting up multiple Autoload Songs, plus our usual selection of helpful Logic tips.
Multi Instrument Objects
A crash course for new users on creating your own basic Environment setup, plus another bundle of tips to fine-tune your working methods.
Scorewriting Functions, Virtual Sample Memory
Demystifying Logic's scorewriting functions, as well as advice on activating Virtual Sample Memory and implementing Recycle-style loop manipulation. And, of course, more of those handy tips and tricksÉ
Logic Notes
This month we show you how to sync your MIDI sequences to audio tracks you've already recorded. Also, there's a trick for replacing live drum parts with samples, plus a cluster of practical tips to get Logic working better for you.
Monitor with Effects While Recording
A power-user trick for configuring the Environment so that you can monitor with effects while recording, as well as some guidance on incorporating external effects hardware into your Logic system. Plus a selection of tasty tips, including a way to get better hi-hat parts using a drum controller.
Custom Groove Templates
A step-by-step guide to generating custom Groove Templates from your drum loops, plus advice on notating note clusters. And, of course, the usual power-user tips.
Screensets
A customised setup can make sequencing in Logic much easier, so here's some help with tailoring the default Song to your needs. Plus, there's advice on mixing and suggestions for arranging your Screensets, as well as another bunch of handy tips and tricks from the pros.
Groove Templates
There's a step-by-step guide to creating Groove Templates this month, plus the usual collection of handy tips, including some pointers on making the most of Aliases.
Time & Pitch machine; Protecting finished tracks
A workshop on using Logic's off-line pitch-shifting, as well as advice on how to protect your finished tracks from accidental damage. Plus more tips, tricks and problem-solversÉ
How to match your song's tempo automatically to that of a sampled loop
Tweak the levels of individual sounds in a stereo mix, and learn how to match your song's tempo automatically to that of a sampled loop. Plus, the usual fistful of handy tips, including some ways to make your life easier using Logic's colouring options.
Automate Plug-in parameters
Advice on how to best automate your plug-in parameters, as well as tips for lightening-fast comping and a power-user trick for simulating double-tracking using Autotune.
Hyper Draw Function; Diagnose and Solve MIDI Routing Problems
Environment tricks and techniques to help diagnose and solve MIDI routing problems, plus tips on splitting stereo audio files and getting started with Logic's powerful Hyper Draw function that allows you to graphically enter and manipulate control data.
Compression Techniques
This month, we show you a powerful compression technique available in Logic, as well as describing a workaround which increases the bank range of your Multi Instruments. Also, there are instructions on how to control a large range of Logic's parameters in real time from your MIDI master keyboard's mod wheel.
How to correct the timing of multitrack drum recordings
This month we show you, step by step, how to correct the timing of multitrack drum recordings using the powerful editing capabilities of Logic, as well as showing you how to make the most of your audio storage space.

 

Friday 20th November 2009
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December 2009
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