Okay, this entry is actually a little behind. But I’ve been busy with earning a living and recording for the next Ember After EP. Unfortunately, blogging has to wait.
For those who don’t know yet, Apple has just released Logic Studio, it’s suite of professional music applications that includes:
Logic Pro 9 is really a fantastic upgrade from Logic Pro 8. Logic Pro 8 added the new “Apple-ized” Logic Pro look and feel. Other than the new workflow enhancements and the semi-complete Takes feature, it didn’t add too many new bells and whistles. Logic Pro 9 starts where Logic Pro 8 leaves off and turns it up to 11.
Of course, with a Spinal Tap reference, you know that means there’s been some guitar-related updates. And yes, Logic Pro 9 comes with two new plug-ins, Amp Designer and Pedalboard, that are really cutting edge, world class guitar simulation effects. Amp Designer really got the dynamics right, and Pedalboard includes some amazing stompboxes. Look for a complete review of these two plug-ins later. The guitar updates don’t stop there, for those who want to compose for guitar or read sheet music or tab, there are chord tables for the Score Editor, etc. This release doesn’t just add a nice amp effect and call it a day, but it’s really been thought through for guitarists of all skill levels and musical styles. As a guitarist, I couldn’t be happier about this!
But the guitar-related stuff is really just the tip of what Logic Pro 9 adds to the table. Please click the link to read Apple’s mini-site for more details on the 200 or so new features, but perhaps the most profound is the new “elastic time” features, collectively called “Flex Time.”
These features offer automatic tempo detection, varispeed adjustment of your project, and as the picture above shows, easily draggable “Flex markers” to intuitively adjust the timing of any audio segment you want. I find Flex to be very intuitive to use, and the newly developed Flex algorithms sound very good. Like everything in Logic, you can go extremely deep into transient editing if you like to get your hands dirty, so if you’re a tweaker there’s lots to get into, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.
But as the mini-site points out, there’s so many good things here, bounce in place, session import, drum replacement/doubling, automatic audio-to-sampler tracks, new Notes feature, as well as extremely welcome enhancements to the Takes feature (complete editing in Takes! Finally!), automation, Window focus, track naming, surround…on and on. It’s also the most stable new version release of Logic from Apple that I can remember—and that’s worth a lot!
Honestly, Logic Pro 9 is easily worth the $499 (new) or $199 (upgrade) price alone. But then when you add MainStage 2, it becomes a real no-brainer.
Again, read the Apple mini-site for the full rundown on MainStage 2. MainStage is basically an application that lets you build a “live rig” for performance. It is amazingly intuitive to set up the instruments and effects you want to use live, it can control both internal and external devices, it’s stable as an absolute rock, etc. The new version ads ReWire Master capability, live audio playback and live loop record/playback, MIDI, more object types, you name it. Nine Inch Nails used this in their stadium shows; you can be sure that Ember After will be utilizing MainStage as well.
Anyway, I’ve used Logic for all the Ember After music for a long time, and I’m absolutely thrilled with this upgrade. If you’re already a Logic user, this upgrade is really a fantastic one, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re a GarageBand user and you’re getting serious about making music, you’ll definitely want to advance to Logic Express or Logic Studio when you’re ready. If you use another DAW or sequencer, this version of Logic Studio might very well be the one to convince you. There’s always that one extra feature or whatever that you want that isn’t included, but what is here is absolutely fantastic and far beyond previous versions!
