Logic Pro X Gets Massive Update With Smart Tempo, New Plug-Ins, and Hundreds of Loops

[0947347]

Logic Pro thread
So what shall we discuss? Features? Usability? How we like it?

No!
Let’s complain about Aperture being discontinued ages ago.

Anyway,
this update is fantastic. I just love love love the STEP FX and the Studio Strings and Horns.
But I could live without the Space Designer redesign.

 

[buckwheet]

This is a great release, though I really, really, really wish they would give us some built-in, drawable automation curves, like in Cubase and/or Studio One. It's the only thing that keeps me from using Logic on every project. The current approach of creating a line, then applying a curve after is much slower by comparison (particularly if you're doing hundreds of these in a track).

 

[skitidetdu]

This couldn't work on El Capitan why?

Garbage.

bummed me out too, it means my 2008 mac pro can't run it without me installing a patched version of sierra or high sierra (which is what I will do). That machine runs Logic 10.3.3 on el capitan without any problems

 

[villicodelirant]

Wow so you really don't need any ability or skill at all any more? And we wonder why music is treated as a near-worthless commodity. ​

I fail to imagine where you'd get that not having to bother to manually place a tempo map on a recorded performance (which always was a mechanical and boring aspect of DAWs) would mean that no ability or skill is involved the entire endeavor of making music any more.

It's as if you went back to 1995 and told people "hey, you don't have to cut tapes with a blade any more, music is dead".

I assume you do not make music, do you?

Fact of the matter is, unless you only listen to recordings of live sets (and even then, most outside of jazz and classical will have overdubs), there has been some form of "studio magic" on literally every song you've ever liked.

Some form?

Rock/pop records, except perhaps crust punk demos, are the product of studio manipulation more than anything else.

Multi-miking, multitracking, overdubs, punching, comping, effects, compressors, fader riding, eq, reverbs, more overdubs, sequences...

And that's the routine part, then comes the actual black magic.

Sure. Because anyone could pick up Logic Pro and be the new Ryan Tedder within a week.

Good luck with that.

Well, Chris Lord-Alge did pick up Logic Pro after 30 years of DASH tapes and after a week he was Chris Lord-Alge, so there's a precedent.

 

[ErikGrim]

OMG. CamelPhat and CamelSpace are finally reborn as Phat FX and Step FX! I have missed CamelSpace so much since Apple acquired Camel Audio.

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Stop releasing free loops and instruments Apple. I'm already dangerously low on disk space.

Move them to an external drive.

 

[loby]

OMG. CamelPhat and CamelSpace are finally reborn as Phat FX and Step FX! I have missed CamelSpace so much since Apple acquired Camel Audio.

View attachment 748985
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Move them to an external drive.

Keep them coming! Options are great to be able to pick and choose what you want and not want. Delete or move to an external drive. Now a days, external drives for the loops and extra don’t crash the system like it use too...

 

[Pugly]

Move them to an external drive.

I do that. Though I'm not complaining, just a bit of fun irony. Can't really argue with free updates.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Wow Apple. Keep bringing these “.1” releases! I’m really interested in the new Studio Strings and Studio Horns.

Not to mention the Mellotron!

Does anyone know what Mellotron "tapes" are included with this?

And by "standalone", does that mean it will work in MainStage, or actually be completely standalone, in its own "host"?
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Other new features include an undo option for mixer and plug-in actions

Thanks for that! And the rest of the stuff. Especially curious about the Studio Strings and Studio Horns.
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I think it's fine to ”cheat” (or whatever you want to call it) when recording and creating your song/project as long as the result is good. I still think you need to have skills to make good stuff, it's just that some obstacles are more easy to overcome with modern tools. And the possibilities are endless.

Or when something happens in a live recording, and there really isn't a good way to go back and "re-record" it.

For example, a couple of years ago, I live-mixed and multitrack-recorded (with Logic Pro 9) a local benefit-concert for a local musician with cancer.

One of the tracks featured a bowed-bass player, who (probably because of marginal monitors) wasn't exactly on-pitch for some notes. Otherwise, the performance was quite nice, but I had no way to "re-record" the bowed bass part after the fact.

So, with some trepidation, I tried out Logic's Pitch-Corrector plugin (can't remember the name of it), and, after just a little fiddling, had a result that not only was dead-on pitch-wise; but was also subtle enough that no one could ever tell was pitch-corrected.

Was that "cheating"? IMHO, not in a million years!
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No fcp x xml import ? Still ???? I still have to use a $150 app to convert to aaf, then import to logic which is a one way trip. Bad

Whatcha smokin', Jackson? (And can I have some?)

I thought this was solved in 2013?!?

https://ask.audio/articles/logic-pro-x-and-final-cut-pro-x-working-together-fcpxml

There are many other articles, YouTube Tutorials, etc. on this subject. Try this Google search term:

using fcpx and lpx together


BTW, that took like 0.5 seconds.
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I think when it comes to the human voice, we expect that the ability to sing in tune is part of what defines someone as a "good singer". When you remove the need to do that, because you're just going to fix it in the studio ... you're definitely just cheating.

If it is done as a crutch; but if correcting a once-in-a-lifetime live recording, where someone was a bit off-key because of poor monitoring, or a slightly flat/sharp note at the far-reaches of a singer's range (who otherwise nails the performance), and if used CORRECTLY (other than as an effect unto itself), pitch-correction is a useful tool, like many others.

It just got a very bad rap (no pun) by being overused as an effect for the "robot voice" stuff. Truth is, I'll bet not one recording produced in the past 10 years or so doesn't have at least a LITTLE subtle pitch/tempo correction on a few of the tracks.
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Welcome to the new Apple. Marketing features matter most, reliability and usability, not so much.

So ONE user reports a crash and suddenly Apple is teh Sh**?

Riiiight.

What about all the others who have NOT reported a Crash, or any other anomalous behavior? Are you going to PRAISE Apple for that?!?

Of course not.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

This is a great release, though I really, really, really wish they would give us some built-in, drawable automation curves, like in Cubase and/or Studio One. It's the only thing that keeps me from using Logic on every project. The current approach of creating a line, then applying a curve after is much slower by comparison (particularly if you're doing hundreds of these in a track).

But it is much more parsimonious of stupid little non-events that happen when someone DRAWS automation curves. All those little do-nothing events have to be PROCESSED (in real-time!), and do nothing for the mix, ultimately. Remember, behind-the-scenes, a DAW is primarily a gigantic database of audio clips, settings and "events", and extraneous "automation event" records can stack-up pretty damn fast.

And besides, once you get the hang of doing automation the "Logic" way, it's pretty fast, too.

 

[buckwheet]

But it is much more parsimonious of stupid little non-events that happen when someone DRAWS automation curves. All those little do-nothing events have to be PROCESSED (in real-time!), and do nothing for the mix, ultimately. Remember, behind-the-scenes, a DAW is primarily a gigantic database of audio clips, settings and "events", and extraneous "automation event" records can stack-up pretty damn fast.

And besides, once you get the hang of doing automation the "Logic" way, it's pretty fast, too.

Understood. But I've used Logic since v2 (well... actually, Notator!). I only starting using Studio One more regularly in the last year, or so. The automation creation and editing tools are just much better, imho.

 

[star-affinity]

Understood. But I've used Logic since v2 (well... actually, Notator!). I only starting using Studio One more regularly in the last year, or so. The automation creation and editing tools are just much better, imho.

Tried Studio One and it felt like I was using a Windows app – didn't like that part of it.
But I can imagine it does some things better than Logic just as Logic probably does other things better. Like Live. And Cubase. And Pro Tools. And…

 

[buckwheet]

Tried Studio One and it felt like I was using a Windows app – didn't like that part of it.
But I can imagine it does some things better than Logic just as Logic probably does other things better. Like Live. And Cubase. And Pro Tools. And…

Yeah, for sure. Honestly, I'd like to just use Logic. But the automation contour thing is a bit of a show-stopper, for me, at this point. I do classical/orchestral kinda stuff, and I don't play controllers in, so it's all hand-entered. And this really is much faster in S1. I may put in some time practicing with Logic's tool, just to see if I can speed it up, but honestly, it will always be 1 click-drag vs 2... (But yeah, would love to stick to Logic... hence my complaining! )

 

[Leguna24]

Great update, I love logic for my hobby music projects

 

[JungleNYC]

bummed me out too, it means my 2008 mac pro can't run it without me installing a patched version of sierra or high sierra (which is what I will do). That machine runs Logic 10.3.3 on el capitan without any problems

How the heck do you get a "patched" version? I'm in the same boat, and really struggling with my main machine getting obsoleted…even though it is an absolute beast, and still running smoothly as a baby's you know what.

 

[skitidetdu]

How the heck do you get a "patched" version? I'm in the same boat, and really struggling with my main machine getting obsoleted…even though it is an absolute beast, and still running smoothly as a baby's you know what.

Google install Sierra on unsupported Mac (or High Sierra if you want to go with that version). I'm having trouble getting it to install though

 

[Jar Jar Abrams]

I really wish Apple kept developing Aperture. I still don't understand why they kept Final Cut Pro and Logic and not Aperture.

Totally agree, I love Aperture, such an awesome professional tool and so intuitive. Nothing beats the skin smoothing simplicity. I use Aperture professionally and I pay for a subscription to Lightroom and Photoshop, PS gets a fair amount of use, but Aperture is my main post tool for work.
Great that after all these years it’s still working, I think we’re safe because before it was abandoned it became available on the mac App Store unlike something like Shake for instance which is now dust.
Aperture should be revived, Apple had something really special there but received so much grief from Adobe apparently, then they rushed Lightroom out shortly after Apertures release because they were worried, there’s plenty Aperture can’t do that Lightroom can due to being updated but Aperture is so easily laid out and it’s a powerful pro app.

 

[Kevbasscat]

Guessing you are not a musician who records and performs. Recording music is a wildly different skill than playing live music. Fact of the matter is, unless you only listen to recordings of live sets (and even then, most outside of jazz and classical will have overdubs), there has been some form of "studio magic" on literally every song you've ever liked. If you're that worried about the artist's musical pedigree and integrity, you have to see them perform live, and that has always been the case.

Amen. I've been playing bass professionally for 51 years along with my best friend and drummer. A monkey can sound like Sinatra in a studio, but other than pitch correction (****ing Eagles), and orchestration (ELO, faked it live I believe right?) live is what real musicians are really made of. You can't fake live, and if you try, the ones who count know. I rarely buy an artist's albums if I haven't seen them live first. Yet many great performing bands and musicians don't always translate well onto vinyl either. The first few Tedeschi Trucks albums just felt like you put a halter on a stallion. Once they got their studio up, the energy and skill translated much more honestly. It's a two sided coin. All the tools in the world won't do it if you haven't put in the work and heart to develop real skills, and that goes both ways. For live players going into the studio, and for studio cats playing live. You can't fake either cause we know. Lol, hell there may be more good musicians who suck at studio work than less experienced players who love studio work. For me, I find the studio an amazingly creative space, where I'm insulated from distraction and once in that space, I can stay there, because I'm not intimidated by the technologies, whereas many players literally freeze. Hehe, that's when I get down to my jockey shorts. Works almost every time. You can't stay freaked and laugh at the same time. Bottom line. Honesty communicates like nothing else.
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I used to be in a band and also did some recording for them.
If anything, the only computer tool that, IMO, deserves some blame for making music "too easy" for anyone lacking skill to perform is "auto tune" for vocals.

I think when it comes to the human voice, we expect that the ability to sing in tune is part of what defines someone as a "good singer". When you remove the need to do that, because you're just going to fix it in the studio ... you're definitely just cheating.

Your musical instruments already have the ability to play notes in tune, by design. If you fail to tune one properly? Well, that's a mistake on your part as a musician playing it -- but I would think an ability to correct that in the mix would be more acceptable. After all, you're just trying to make the instrument play as intended at that point, knowing full well it's capable of doing that on its own.

Most of what programs like Logic Pro offer are just easier ways to accomplish the same tasks people have been doing in recording studios since the early days. In some cases, it improves on what was possible before (such as being able to pitch correct a track after you purposely slow it down or speed it up to fix a timing problem). But ultimately? Most bands, when performing live, do make a few mistakes here and there. You often don't even notice it, in the audience, listening to them, or you may just think it was performed differently on purpose since the band is changing up some things anyway, to keep it fresh and unique. But a studio recording is about perfection .... getting a recording of everything JUST so. That requires a lot of these tools to tweak things and make small corrections.

So why exactly did the musicians who didn't have these technologies sound so good? Because there is a very distinct line between professionals and amateurs. You know club bands say, "when in doubt, lay out?" Get quiet so you won't be heard blowing it. In the pros, it's the polar opposite. When in doubt go strong, why? If you grow a sac and pull up your dress and hit the ball like you mean it, you'll be the hero. Because 100% of the putts in golf that are too short...don't go in the hole. You wimped it, you lose and everyone can see that. There is no missing allowed, because why would you allow someone to bring down the excellence of your band? Playing music well requires a higher conscience and responsibility, if you strive to be on stage in front of thousands of people. Cheating in the studio isn't really getting away with it, because you'll be found out, the minute you step on stage. Why not just put in the hours and have a real work ethic as well as setting a standard of excellence for yourself? You'll never know how confident, strong and deserving you'll feel until you do. So getting asked to the dance, is an act of faith by these cats. You better make it count. because there are 10,000 others just waiting for your gig. You better damn well be STRONG!
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The sudden killing off of Aperture does seem a bit odd. But I was under the impression that Apple's long-term plan was to roll it into the Photos app -- which would mean you get all that functionality at no extra charge, just because you use a Mac with OS X.

It feels like it was discontinued prematurely, with Photos being so slow to gain capabilities .... but that was likely a financial decision on Apple's part too. (Reuse the development team who was responsible for Aperture, having them focus on Photos and other image related things for the Mac.). If they kept Aperture alive, they'd have to maintain support staff for it and users would get irritated about a lack of updates after a while.

It was a 32 bit app, just like FCP 7. Both were dropped, and FinalCut x was released, which isn't FCP 7 at all. 10.15 has zero support for any 32 bit at all. It's dead.