Logic Quick Questions

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re the apogee one: i wouldn't trust a microphone that small to do anything except little dictaphone style quick takes. the best thing about apogee are the mic pre's, i own a duet and it does everything i need

Thanks for the input! This is why I wanted to pose the question about the Apogee One, because I like Apogee as a company (in terms of the quality of their products) but haven’t really come to trust microphones like this.

jmrln:

I wish I could just study Logic Pro all day.

jmrln:

I wish I could just study Logic Pro all day.

Aug 9

Logic updates to 9.1.5!

Yeah… not a huge deal. But here’s what you get (from Apple):

  • All instrument and effect plug-ins that use LFO’s synced to the beat now behave correctly.
  • The Toggle Zoom key command now returns to previous zoom level as expected.
  • Improved compatibility with Apogee’s Duet 2.

…so a few bug fixes, essentially. Like most Logic users, I’m waiting to gear up for Logic X.

Aug 9

i have been getting some weird glitching noises after playing audio files after the project has been ope for a while. audio file seem to sort of start cutting in and out. its not my amp or speakers it seems to be in logic 9 somehow. is there a setting i could check?

Anonymous

Try increasing the “I/O Buffer Size” in “Logic Pro,” -> “Preferences” -> “Audio…”

More cool mastering stuff from ykproductions. Give them a follow! Happy Monday!
ykproductions:

Mixing & Mastering A Track: Mastering is an art in itself: when a client asks for their tracks to be mixed and mastered I will usually respond by telling them that I can make your track “loud as fuck” but if you want it mastered then go to a master mind masterer.
Having said that; I have been playing around with new plug-in treats in and thought I would share some tricks and tips for mastering your tracks.
There is no “default” setting for mixing or mastering a track.  I would always recommend learning some basic knowledge of the physics of sound and functionality of processors (EQ, compression, stereo imaging etc).  By learning this and not solely ‘going by ear’ you are able to constructively shape your track by cutting, attenuating, adding, subtracting and transforming elements for a particular reason.  I often see people cranking knobs and setting up processors for absolutely no reason - other then that you are ‘supposed’ to.  My number one rule is don’t add to it unless its missing something and don’t take away from it unless its got too much of something. That is why defaults preset on EQ’s and compressors are not advised - immediately applying a “rock guitar” setting may instantly make your guitar sound “better” but more often then not it is just louder not better.  The amount of low, mid, and high frequencies completely depends on your guitar, how its set up, how you have recorded it, where it was recorded, with what microphone, pre amp, or DI etc.  For instance in this track here I am using my 60s Classic Les Paul which is rich in mid tones and lacking in the high end department.  The Logic EQ preset for “Classic Guitar Improve” bumps up 3 dB around 2k - drastically worsening my guitar tone NOT improving it!  I would bump up the frequencies around 9K by about 3dB, take out -3 around 2k - and bam - sounding sexy.
You must make sure that each part of your mix is levelled, situated, and pocketed BEFORE you even start to think about mastering.  I usually produce a relatively quiet OVERALL mix pre-master - under compensating amplitudes for safety reasons.  That is not to say that my mix is wrong, its just quiet.
Mixing tips: use bussing for delays, reverbs, and grouped channel strip settings - this not only drastically saves your CPU but also helps the mix stay coherent.  You can adjust the amount/intensity of the bus effects using the “Sends Dial”.  This really works well with delays and reverbs especially on vocals - if you are using identical delays and reverbs on multiple channels - what is the point of repeating the channel strip setting? More so - the slightest difference in reverb or delay settings can cause some major confusion in the mix - keep it clean and dont let it clash.  I tend to EQ each channel individually (unless there are grouped instruments) and make sure that every element of the track sits in its own part of the frequency spectrum.  There are golden rules around EQing but I wont go into them - most producers have there own tips and tricks - you can find plenty of information online.
Once your track is mixed properly - you want it to sound loud and radio worthy.  As you can see from the screengrab I am using a basic 4 part processing chain on my output track.  Firstly I am using Center as my stereo imaging tool, Multipressor as a 4 band compressor, L2 as my adaptive limiter, and finally a multimeter to meter my overall mix level and frequency content.
I usually start a master by setting up a multipressor on the output channel and working with the sophisticated 4 freq band compression.  The multipressor allows you to compress 4 separate frequency bands, simultaneously between 20-20kHz.  You can adjust the frequency crossover manually but for a rock track I set my bands at 20-150Hz, 150-350 Hz, 350-5k Hz, and 5-20k Hz.  I then use a Multimeter to meter the frequency content of my track and compress the low, mid low, mid, and high frequency ranges accordingly.  You can solo out/in each band to hear how the multiprocessor is working, and shape each band to taste.  
I then apply an L2 adaptive limiter to pump up the volume.  All of the settings are subjective to your mix, level, and instrumentation as well as personal preference.  As I mentioned I tend to mix excessively quietly to make sure that I can get a really powerful master at this stage - if you try and master a track this is already clipping you end up with horrible results.  The threshold will usually need to be adjusted between 3-8 dB - but there is no right/wrong settings.  If you are using purely logic plug-ins then use the “Adaptive Limiter” in the Dynamics folder.  It is important that you use an adaptive limiter versus a regular limiter.  
Once my track is shaped, and volumed I apply Center or Stereo Spread (in this case center) to adjust the stereo imaging.  Stereo imaging can really transform your track - just have a play around with it by dramatically altering the center/side levels.  Stereo imaging levels is totally dependant on how you have mixed your track and how you want it to sound.  This track is super punchy and warm with lots of big wide guitar parts - so i have boosted the punch towards the sides and kept the centre relatively flat.  These settings helped to accentuate the wide guitar parts and open the track up - typical in well produced guitar music.
If you have any questions about mixing or mastering give me a shout.  Want me to mix your track?  Email me at yk@londonmusicproducer.com

More cool mastering stuff from ykproductions. Give them a follow! Happy Monday!

ykproductions:

Mixing & Mastering A Track: Mastering is an art in itself: when a client asks for their tracks to be mixed and mastered I will usually respond by telling them that I can make your track “loud as fuck” but if you want it mastered then go to a master mind masterer.

Having said that; I have been playing around with new plug-in treats in and thought I would share some tricks and tips for mastering your tracks.

There is no “default” setting for mixing or mastering a track.  I would always recommend learning some basic knowledge of the physics of sound and functionality of processors (EQ, compression, stereo imaging etc).  By learning this and not solely ‘going by ear’ you are able to constructively shape your track by cutting, attenuating, adding, subtracting and transforming elements for a particular reason.  I often see people cranking knobs and setting up processors for absolutely no reason - other then that you are ‘supposed’ to.  My number one rule is don’t add to it unless its missing something and don’t take away from it unless its got too much of something. That is why defaults preset on EQ’s and compressors are not advised - immediately applying a “rock guitar” setting may instantly make your guitar sound “better” but more often then not it is just louder not better.  The amount of low, mid, and high frequencies completely depends on your guitar, how its set up, how you have recorded it, where it was recorded, with what microphone, pre amp, or DI etc.  For instance in this track here I am using my 60s Classic Les Paul which is rich in mid tones and lacking in the high end department.  The Logic EQ preset for “Classic Guitar Improve” bumps up 3 dB around 2k - drastically worsening my guitar tone NOT improving it!  I would bump up the frequencies around 9K by about 3dB, take out -3 around 2k - and bam - sounding sexy.

You must make sure that each part of your mix is levelled, situated, and pocketed BEFORE you even start to think about mastering.  I usually produce a relatively quiet OVERALL mix pre-master - under compensating amplitudes for safety reasons.  That is not to say that my mix is wrong, its just quiet.

Mixing tips: use bussing for delays, reverbs, and grouped channel strip settings - this not only drastically saves your CPU but also helps the mix stay coherent.  You can adjust the amount/intensity of the bus effects using the “Sends Dial”.  This really works well with delays and reverbs especially on vocals - if you are using identical delays and reverbs on multiple channels - what is the point of repeating the channel strip setting? More so - the slightest difference in reverb or delay settings can cause some major confusion in the mix - keep it clean and dont let it clash.  I tend to EQ each channel individually (unless there are grouped instruments) and make sure that every element of the track sits in its own part of the frequency spectrum.  There are golden rules around EQing but I wont go into them - most producers have there own tips and tricks - you can find plenty of information online.

Once your track is mixed properly - you want it to sound loud and radio worthy.  As you can see from the screengrab I am using a basic 4 part processing chain on my output track.  Firstly I am using Center as my stereo imaging tool, Multipressor as a 4 band compressor, L2 as my adaptive limiter, and finally a multimeter to meter my overall mix level and frequency content.

I usually start a master by setting up a multipressor on the output channel and working with the sophisticated 4 freq band compression.  The multipressor allows you to compress 4 separate frequency bands, simultaneously between 20-20kHz.  You can adjust the frequency crossover manually but for a rock track I set my bands at 20-150Hz, 150-350 Hz, 350-5k Hz, and 5-20k Hz.  I then use a Multimeter to meter the frequency content of my track and compress the low, mid low, mid, and high frequency ranges accordingly.  You can solo out/in each band to hear how the multiprocessor is working, and shape each band to taste.  

I then apply an L2 adaptive limiter to pump up the volume.  All of the settings are subjective to your mix, level, and instrumentation as well as personal preference.  As I mentioned I tend to mix excessively quietly to make sure that I can get a really powerful master at this stage - if you try and master a track this is already clipping you end up with horrible results.  The threshold will usually need to be adjusted between 3-8 dB - but there is no right/wrong settings.  If you are using purely logic plug-ins then use the “Adaptive Limiter” in the Dynamics folder.  It is important that you use an adaptive limiter versus a regular limiter.  

Once my track is shaped, and volumed I apply Center or Stereo Spread (in this case center) to adjust the stereo imaging.  Stereo imaging can really transform your track - just have a play around with it by dramatically altering the center/side levels.  Stereo imaging levels is totally dependant on how you have mixed your track and how you want it to sound.  This track is super punchy and warm with lots of big wide guitar parts - so i have boosted the punch towards the sides and kept the centre relatively flat.  These settings helped to accentuate the wide guitar parts and open the track up - typical in well produced guitar music.

If you have any questions about mixing or mastering give me a shout.  Want me to mix your track?  Email me at yk@londonmusicproducer.com

(Source: londonmusicproducer)

Jul 4

I just upgraded from 8 to 9. how come every time i click on the logic pro icon in the applications folder, instead of opening the default with the templates set up (songwriter, rock, hip hop, mixer, mastering ect...) it always opens up another project i already had started or my autoload song. Is there any other way to get to these templates?

Anonymous

Click on ‘Logic Pro,” and then “Preferences” and “General…” The “Startup Action” is probably set to “Open Most Recent Project,” but you change it to automatically start up on either a default template or the template menu (“Create New Project From Template”).

Hope this helps.

Jun 1

Low-latency mode in Logic

Trying to help someone on Twitter with a latency issue using the Motif 8 (analog, not MIDI) in Logic. Anybody have any tips?

Jun 1

I’m working on better tagging for more convenient site navigation! Check out the videos and the answered questions tags.

Beat Detection in Pro Tools vs Logic Pro: Part 1 - Creating Tempo Maps

rfsaudio:

Beat Detection in Pro Tools vs Logic Pro: Part 1 - Creating Tempo MapsBeat Detective in Pro Tools is a very powerful tool, useful for a whole range of beat-based editing and tempo manipulation activities. This is the first Quick Tutorial in a series that aims to show you each of these processes, and how to replicate each one in Logic Pro, which doesn’t have a comparable dialogue window.

danski: os x keyboard shortcuts every logic user should know