Ebook

Introduction
to
Logic Pro
Contents
1. What is Logic?
( How to use logic on a Mac )
2. Getting Started/How to make a re work
( Basic Introduction & The creation of a track )
3. Sound Waves/Acoustics
( Knowledge Section )
4. What is MIDI?
5.Evaluation
What is Logic Pro
When rst encountering logic it can be daunting as there is so much to learn and trial. With the step by step
guide I have created below I will show carefully step by step how to open and begin producing with logic. To
make it easier I will be talking you through the steps to create tracks and explore in depths how to use features
such as automation, panning, EQ'ing and much more. The rst section will be on opening logic itself and
getting to know the basics. This features the walk through of software instruments, audio and how to record
simple melodies. The middle section will be the core of the E book itself. This will feature using effects such as
automation, panning and EQ'ing rearranging the effects to create individual sounds. The last section will include
the mixing of the track. This is where the levels are adjusted to make the track sound clean and make sure there
are no imperfections of timing issues.
Logic Pro allows you to record and edit both audio and MIDI, add high-quality effects,
and mix your music in stereo or Surround. The nal mix can be exported to one or more
standard audio les, or burned to an audio CD or DVD that can be played on any computer,
home stereo, or imported into other applications and devices.
Some of the things you can do with Logic Pro include:
Record MIDI information via connected MIDI input devices, such as keyboards, and
play back this information via any connected MIDI device (such as a synthesizer keyboard
or module) or through the Logic Pro software instruments.
Create, arrange, and edit MIDI projects, make use of the powerful Score Editor, then
print musical notation via a printer connected to your computer.
Edit the timing of audio lesFlex time editingby shortening or expanding the
distance between transients in the audio.
Digitally record acoustic and electric instruments or vocal performances into your
projects, and process these audio recordings with a huge array of built-in real-time
effects.
Make use of the integrated software instruments, including Sculpture, Ultrabeat, ES1,
ES2, EVP88, EVB3, EVD6, EXS24 mkII, over a dozen high-quality GarageBand instruments,
or third-party Audio Units instruments.
Load projects or channel strips from GarageBand, and enhance them with the additional
processing and editing possibilities afforded by Logic Pro.
Mix your MIDI and audio tracks, including effects and software instrument settings, via
a sophisticated total recall mix automation system. Logic Pro includes high-quality
effects that you can use in your projects. You can also install and use third-party
Audio Units effects and instruments.
Bounce (mix down) all audio data, including instruments, effects and mix automation
settings, to stereo or multiple Surround format les for mastering or further processing.
Work in real time: You can work on Logic Pro projects in real time, adding to, and
editing audio and MIDI parts while the project is playing, and hearing the results of
your changes immediately.
Use existing loop libraries: Logic Pro directly supports Apple Loops les, and is
compatible with a wide variety of existing audio le types.
Getting started/ How to use logic
You rst begin by clicking on the logic icon.
Once opened you will be shown a menu where you have to select a project type. Select 'empty project'.
Once you have done this you will be presented with another menu which asks you to choose which kind of track
you would like to create. There are several options but the main 3 are Audio, Software instrument or External
MIDI. Audio is if you are recording an instrument such as a guitar, drums or vocals. Software instrument is used
for recording through a MIDI Instrument. For example, a keyboard. Finally, an external instrument is self-
explanatory its for drum machines and external software for the DAW.
When you have selected either the software instrument or the audio you will be presented with a screen that
looks like this..
Once you have got this screen you can then proceed to choose which instrument you would like to choose form
the menu on the left hand side.
The next step will be to record in. You can either use step input or just simply record. Both are demonstrated in
the clip below..
To use the pencil tool hold down cmd
To record press the red button or simply press R
Once you have recorded in you can then begin to quantise and use a variation of other tools.
For example;
Velocity- volume for each individual note
Automation Adjusts the volume and can be used as a fader tool
Panning pan the sound left or right, effective through speakers or headphones.
Soloing hear one individual track at a time
Muting mute individual notes or tracks
Quantising making everything in time to the metronome (1/12,1/16)
The videos below will show you how to use these tools.
Automation Solo and Muting Panning, Quantising, velocity
Sound Waves/Acoustics
Dene Sound:
Sound is the vibrations transmitted through a elastic solid, liquid or gas with frequencies in the approximate
range or 20 to 20,000 hertz. Capable of being detected by the human ear.
A good example of how sound waves work is like when water is disturbed and ripples are created, similarly,
when a sound is made vibrations are created. Sound energy travels omnidirectional which means the sound
moves away from its original source with equal energy in every direction.
Sound waves travel through the air which is a mixture of the gases: Oxygen and Nitrogen. These consist of
atoms and carbon dioxide which are made up of molecules. When these particles are disturbed from a sound
source a chain reaction is caused. This means that the atoms and molecules both collide together through
vibrations and oscillations. Oscillation is the movement back and forth in a regular rhythm.
When pitching forks vibrate they create regular periods of high and low pressure. These are known as the
compressions and rarefactions or the air molecules and will produce a frequency.
Frequency:
One compression with one rarefaction is called a cycle. The number of these cycles (completed compressions
and rarefactions ) that occur within one second is called frequency. Frequencies are measured in Hertz. Our
frequency spectrum for perfect hearing from lowest to highest pitch is 20Hertz to 20,000 Hertz. This will
diminish over time.
Musical notes are set to specic frequencies. Concert pitch A being 440 Hz. An A note played an octave higher
is 880 Hz.
Timbre is the effected frequencies produced due to the shape and material of an instrument. Using the 'envelope'
effect helps us to differentiate one instrument from another. An envelope is a vital part of a waveform - ADSR
(attack, decay, sustain, release). They are many types of waveforms depending on the instrument used their
appearance will vary.
Acoustics
Psychoacoustics
The brain can perform auditory illusions such as the 'glissando illusion'. This is where a sequence of notes are
played up and down but they will play together at a certain time and it will sound to the brain like the same note
is being played over and over. Our brain is very sensitive to sound, so slight differences in intensity and timing
will allow us to recognise the direction where the sound is coming from. We are a lot better at locating sounds
from a horizontal scale due to the positioning of our ears.
The brain has the ability of cancelling out a sound when a louder sound dominates it. For example, when having
a conversation, say at a bus stop. If a large vehicle drives past generating a loud noise you stop hearing the
conversation.
Equally, the brain also has the ability to perform the 'cocktail party effect'. This is where the brain can tune in to
a certain conversation and block out everything else. For example, using the scenario of at a party your brain
can overhear conversations and tune into just one. Another effect the brain can perform is the 'doppler effect'.
This is where the sound will pan from left to right or vice versa. For example, if a police car was to have its
sirens on the sound will travel according to when the car approaches, passes and recedes from the observer. All
it simply means is there is a change in the frequency or wave moving from its source to the observer.
Physic's of sound
A wave can be described as a disturbance that travels through a medium,
transporting energy from one location to another location. The medium is the
material through which a disturbance is moving; it can be thought of as a series of
interacting particles. The example of a slinky wave is often used to illustrate the
nature of a wave. A disturbance is typically created within the slinky by the back
and forth movement of the rst coil of the slinky. The rst coil becomes disturbed
and begins to push or pull on the second coil. This push or pull on the second coil
will displace the second coil from its original position. As the second coil becomes
displaced, it begins to push or pull on the third coil; the push or pull on the third coil
displaces it from its original position and so fourth. This process continues in
consecutive fashion. Subsequently the disturbance travels through the slinky. As the
disturbance moves from coil to coil, the energy that was originally introduced into
the rst coil is transported along the medium from one location to another.
The same theory applies to how we hear music. With musical instruments there is
an original source of the wave including a vibrating object capable of disturbing the
rst particle of the medium. The disturbance could be created by the vibrating vocal
cords of a person, the vibrating string and soundboard of a guitar or violin, the
vibrating tines of a tuning fork, or the vibrating diaphragm of a radio speaker.
Which all react in the 'slinky' method.
Mechanical waves can also be used within music. These are waves where one the
sound wave is transported from one location to another by means of particle-to-
particle interaction. If the sound wave is moving through air, as one air particle is
displaced from its original position, it exerts a push or pull on its nearest
neighbours, causing them to be displaced from their original position. This particle
interaction continues throughout, with each particle interacting and causing a
disturbance of its nearest neighbours. Since a sound wave is a disturbance that is
transported through a medium via the mechanism of particle-to-particle interaction,
a sound wave is characterised as a mechanical wave.
Human Hearing
The actual awareness of sound takes place near the surface of the brain when the
auditory cortex (stimulated by electrical signals fed to it by the hearing nerve)
matches the incoming electrical patterns with patterns already stored in the auditory
memory. Once a match is made, we c perceive and recognise the sound. At that
instant, an evaluation process begins, whereby another nearby area of the brain
assigns meaning to the sound. The hearing nerve (just mentioned) contains around
30,000 nerve bres which streams the electrical patterns fed to it by the cochlea (or
inner ear) to the auditory cortex throughout out our whole lives. The auditory
memory, largely empty at birth, accumulates & stores sound patterns all our lives,
as well so some sounds become more easy to remember the more frequently they
are heard. The degree of connectivity existing between the auditory, limbic and
autonomic nervous system, we often feel energised, excited, soothed or even
frightened by the sound we perceive. That is to say, sound can evoke instantaneous,
automatic responses outside the auditory system. For example, when we hear our
rst name spoken or when we rst recognise the opening bar of a favourite song.
What is MIDI?
A MIDI keyboard is a Musical Instrument Digital Interface. This means that it a typical piano-style interface
device used to send MIDI signals, or commands, over a USB or a MIDI cable to other connected devices
operating on the same MIDI interface. For example, a basic MIDI keyboard does not produce any sound,
therefore it sends information in the form of waves to any electronic module cape of producing of reproducing
digital sounds or samples that resemble traditional analog instruments. There is also another type of MIDI, a
DAW (digital audio workstation). This listens and sends MIDI information to other MIDI devices connected by
a cable or running internal to the personal computer system. However, not all MIDI keyboards are based upon a
piano style interface, many MIDI keyboards come with pads and buttons that also send MIDI signals.The
majority of these pads work by having a velocity sensing capability that vary with volumes of the sounds being
played.
The 'Continuum Fingerboard' is a fretless based keyboard keyboard interface which enables note changes
during play. Another example of a MIDI keyboard is the 'Tonal Plexus' keyboard that provides for up to 1266
different tonal pitches in the TPX6 1266 keys. This is a more advanced type of MIDI as it has broader
application because of advanced computer technology. The roland TR-909 is a form of a MIDI drum machine
which is partially analog introduced in 1983. It features a 16-step step sequencer and can store entire songs with
multiple sections as apposed to simply storing patterns. It was the rst MIDI equipped drum machine. In
comparison The AKAI MPK61 combines piano-style keybed with professional AKAI MPC pads, assignable
Q-link controllers and key technology from music production workstations. They are frequently used by
producers, performers and DJ's. They include 16 MPC pads with velocity, pressure sensitivity and MPC swing
and arpeggiator. The MP6KI empowers you to create and manipulate melodic, harmonic and rhythmic content
and inspires creative production with its arpeggiator and note repeat technologies.
MIDI works by having an 'encoding' scheme which works by mapping a MIDI value to a specic instrument.
Other controls of MIDI include pitch bend, modulation, velocity and aftertouch. The keyboard just acts as the
MIDI controller activating other sounds with MIDI control within a DAW software, for example, logic.
MIDI keyboards are a very common feature of a recording studio and can be found in any DAW setup. Most
MIDI keyboards come with a transpose function which has the ability to set different octaves. Other functions
include having a pitch bend, modulation wheels, and other buttons custom to synthesisers, samplers or DAW
software.
Evaluation
For my remake i choose the song 'don't go - Yazoo'. I found it particularly hard as the different
sounds proved difficult to re-create. I also found it hard playing the notes in, as not all of them
were the same so I couldn't just use 'alt' and drag. I tried my best to get the BPM correct
although as it was an 80's electronic track i doubt they used quantize and mapped the track to an
actual metronome therefore i placed the BPM at a figure that was roughly in between the lowest
and highest of what it displayed. The part of re-creating this track that took up the most time
was trying to find the sounds and even having spent loads of time exploring logic to do so i
found that using several different synthesizers on each individual track i still could only find
close sounds never the same. Some of the sounds don't really sound the same but as the levels
of the original track weren't mixed properly it was hard for me to distinguish certain instruments
from each other therefore i had to guess some and just lower the volume of them into the track
so that it would blend in. All together though i thought i did well and my track sounded very
similar to the original.
I also had time to do a rework - which was basically the same as a remix. For this song i chose
'Kraftwerk - the model'. I changed the drum beat and the bass synth to modernise it and added a
few arpeggiators to change the song and give it more of a relaxed vibe. With remixing this track
it allowed me to mess around in logic and explore it in depth. I found this very interesting and it
has broadened my knowledge of logic overall.