Logic Pro: Difference between revisions

Logic Pro is a MIDI sequencer and Digital Audio Workstation software application that runs on the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer C-Lab, then Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought out Emagic in 2002. A cut-down version, Logic Express, is also available from Apple, and their Soundtrack Pro product can also use Logic plugins. GarageBand also uses Logic's audio engine.

Logic started life as the MIDI sequencer C-Lab Creator on the Atari ST platform in the 1980s (the ST was an early favorite among MIDI users during the mid-80s. As the program advanced, and music notation was added, it was named C-Lab Notator. Sometime in the late 80s(?) due to massive growth in popularity of Cubase, Creator/Notator was given a complete rewrite and became Logic. With increasingly powerful computing hardware becoming available to users throughout the 1990s, succeeding generations of the Logic software were released with ever more powerful inbuilt audio processing tools. New versions of Logic do much more than simply send and receive MIDI messages, and Logic's Audio Unit based effects and synthesiser plugins have become well-respected tools for composers and producers worldwide.

Notator first arrived in the USA from Germany in the fall of 1988 with version 1.12. This was a tremendous event for those who were trying to do electronic music on computers. Digidesign was their early US distributor. Up till this point, sequencers were crude and clumsy, or were esoteric and difficult to navigate and had few if any graphics and didn't use the mouse. Notator was like a dream come true in terms of ease of use. It had a clean "hi res." paperwhite display, like the Mac, but larger, and its complex midi crunching functions were non-destructive and a mere mouse click away. It was also relatively expensive. Notator 1.12 had a suggested list price of $649.

Over its history, the program evolved through a few version upgrades and was offered for both Mac and Windows; after the Apple acquisition, however, support for the Windows version was dropped and Apple now treats Logic Pro as one of its flagship software 'pro' applications for the Macintosh platform.

Logic Pro was the first of Apple's professional applications to be released as a Universal Binary, in February 2006. This was version 7.2, which also added a number of new features, such as compatibility with version 7 of Pro Tools HD (a DAW product that competes with Logic in a number of areas).

Logic Pro provides software instruments, synthesisers, audio effects and recording facilities for music synthesis. It also supports Apple Loops - professionally-recorded instrument loops that can be used as beats and are royalty-free. Audio effects include distortions, dynamics processors, equalization filters and delays. The Space Designer plugin, for example, simulates the acoustics of audio played in different environments, such as rooms of varying size, or producing the echoes that might be present on high mountains. Logic can work with MIDI keyboards and control surfaces for input and processing. It also features real-time scoring in musical notation, supporting guitar tablature, chord abbreviations and drum notation.

Logic Pro and Express share much functionality and virtually the same interface. Logic Express is limited to two-channel stereo mixdown, while Logic Pro can handle multichannel surround sound. Both can handle up to 255 audio tracks, depending on system performance (CPU, Hard disk Throughput and Seek time). A Logic Pro/Express feature comparison table can be found on Apple's site.

The application also features distributed processing abilities, which can function across an Ethernet LAN. One machine runs the Logic Pro app, while the other machines on the network run the Logic node app. Logic will then offload the effects and synth processing to the other machines on the network. If the network is fast enough (i.e. gigabit Ethernet) this works in real time. This allows a user to use machines that are not powerful enough to be used as the main DAW but still able to make a significant contribution to the digital signal processing.

• Network-distributed Realtime audio processing to expand power for software instruments and effects
• Track Freeze to extend processing capability for a single computer
• High-end POW-r dithering algorithm
• Audio resolution up to 24-bit/192kHz
• Shuffle and Auto-Crossfade Arrange Edit modes
• 34 software instruments, including Sculpture; Ultrabeat; EVP88, EVB3, EVD6, ES1, ES2, EFM1, ESM, ESP, and ESE
• EXS24 mk II sampler with comprehensive sampler instrument library
• Over 70 effect plug-ins, including Guitar Amp Pro, Ringshifter, Linear Phase EQ, Match EQ,Vocal Transformer, EVOC20 Vocoder, Space Designer convolution reverb, and Pitch Correction
• Adaptive track mixer for display of selected channels
• Save/Load channel strip instrument and plug-in configurations
• Sample-accurate, track-based 32-bit automation
• Extensive Channel group functions (mix and edit)
• Up to 255 stereo tracks
• 128 software instrument tracks
• 64 buses, 64 auxiliary channels
• 15 inserts, 8 sends per channel
• Support for multiple surround formats, including 5.1 and 7.1
• Comprehensive hardware controller support
• Matrix, Event List, Hyper, Score, and Transform MIDI edit windows
• Layout and printing of complete professional scores
• Caps Lock conversion of computer keys into musical keyboard
• More than 800 definable key and MIDI commands
• 90 recallable screen configurations with interactive edit windows
• Project Manager for powerful control of assets
• Setup Assistant for easy system configuration
• Fast, offline bouncing of single or multiple tracks
• Tempo, Signature, Chord,Transpose, Beat-Mapping, and Video Tracks
• Support for Apple Loops (over 1000 Apple Loops included)
• Audio Units plug-in support
• GarageBand song file import
• Final Cut/XML, AAF, OMF, and Open TL file import and export
• AAC and MP3 import and export
• Support for Pro Tools HD hardware and TDM plug-ins
• Simultaneous use of host and TDM-based audio engines
• Full integration with Reason, Live, and other Rewire-compatible applications
• Optimized for PowerPC G4, G5 and Intel Core Duo processors

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Since Apple's acquisition of Emagic (and Logic) in July of 2002, the direction and priorities of developing the Logic program have shifted. Whereas it was previously possible to contact Emagic engineers directly with documented bugs - and get fast turn around time through (free) point releases in 6-8 months, by contrast Apple's bug reporting mechanism gives no indication of a bug's priority, frequency, or if a particular bug will indeed ever be fixed. (Apple also charges more for point release/upgrades compared to Emagic).

Apple has concentrated more on adding plugins, virtual instruments, and features oriented towards those (non-professional audio) users working with capturing and manipulating MIDI and/or audio based music for the purposes of (pre)production and composition. Unfortunately, much this work has been at the expense of pro-audio users who are (still) looking to manipulate, render, and master audio with the highest possible quality (some pro-audio users were the first to adopt Logic as a Mac based digital audio workstation solution).

Hence, as s a purely (professional) audio based host program, Logic has not kept up with more modern and/or more lightweight product offerings, e.g., (http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/index.php).

Logic is overdue for an upgrade to (even basic) audio functionality (which many free and far less expensive programs perform better). For example,

• plugin delay compensation is still not implemented for some mixer audio objects
• the sample rate conversion algorithm is among the worst in the industry as documented by verifiable Matlab tests (http://www.bias-inc.com/products/peakPro5/resampling/)
• Logic cannot open from disk or save to disk files written in 32 bit floating point format
• the AU plugin architecture does not yet support 64 bit floating point precision (even as documented in pre-releases of Leopard) - yet 64 bit floating point mix precision is already available from PC based DAW software
• the sample/audio editing window GUI/design is antiquated compared to more modern programs; WaveBurner does not work with any format of high resolution audio

Thus while Logic remains a formidable tool, expanding its functionality in other areas of MIDI and audio with each new release, (and Apple is apparently growing Logic's user base with this strategy) - it is clear that Apple is neglecting the priority of updating/upgrading core audio features and functionality (because of a "kitchen sink" approach to software development).

The official discussion forum is operated by Apple.

The Logic User's Group, or LUG, is a 10+ year old community of 20,000+ professionals and newbies that started life as Emagic's official Logic forum and has today grown into the biggest Logic community on the net. The LUG launched new custom forums in September 2005 as an alternative to the advertisement-filled YahooGroups forums: http://logic-users.org/forums

Logic Pro Help is an online Logic Pro community, offering a forum with file sharing functionalities where users can ask questions and exchange templates, icons, impulse responses, plug-in and channel strip presets, as well as browse through a collection of professional tips and tricks on Logic.

Logic Pro Files Started in February 2003, it's the most comprehensive file sharing portal dedicated to Logic Pro. Members may freely download and upload thousands of Logic icons made expressively for Apple's Logic Pro. They may share Logic Templates, Channel Strips, Environments too. The free Logiconizer helps Logic users build their own icons sets, install them and bring them along in the studios in order to use the same icons anywhere.

Sonikmatter, created in 1995 by former Kurzweil Mailing List refugees as a place to discuss a more broad digital music technologies topic, is a long time Logic website. Topics are very well organized, and the focus is on the use within the most professional music realm. Newbies are welcome but are often told to search the vast archives before asking the same thing over. Moderators include Apple staff members, current and former Logic employees and members of the former Rocket Network staff.

LogicUser.net was started in 2002 as an English language variant of the older, German language, LogicUser.de and now has over 4,000 registered users. Questions and discussions are invited on all aspects of using Logic D.A.W in any legal version, and its interaction with other programmes and hardware.

Some notable users include: Brian Eno, The Chemical Brothers, Deep Dish, Christina Aguilera, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke from Erasure, 'N Sync, Linkin Park, Mike Oldfield, Roger Waters, Nine Inch Nails, Peter Gabriel, John McLaughlin and Gwen Stefani.

A more complete and regularly updated list of Celebrity users can be found at http://logicprohelp.com/vip_users.php.

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Logic Pro" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (Learn how and when to remove this message)

• Logic Express
• Logic Control
• Audio Units
• Core Audio

• Official Logic Pro home page