19th March 2010: Apple has updated Logic Pro and Logic Express to v9.1.1. Issues addressed include: Improved stability of the 32-Bit Audio Unit Bridge. Compatibility with Novation’s Automap feature in 64-bit mod…
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Apple updates Logic Pro and Express to v9.1.1
What’s the best way to help get someone started on computer music making? From comments, we get this request from a mother looking to buy the first software on a budget for her teenage son. I’m, uh, hoping your son isn’t reading this (actually, he probably won’t mind – just remember, act surprised).
I am completely new to this kind of software, but my teenage son is requesting the likes for Christmas. I started out looking at Ableton Live 8, but am a bit wary of the price. I’ve also looked at Reason and Apple’s Logic Studio. The price is a bit of a deterent, (he’s not an only child) and I have also looked at the Live Intro and Logic Express. I would love some advice on what to get. He is wanting something that will let him play around with the existing song library on his iPod (mixing songs together, making remixes of individual songs etc), as well as something he can create his own music with. He’d like to be able to save or record what he does. Eventually he might want to be able to plug in a guitar or mic and add his own playing/singing to what he has done on the computer. Any suggestions?
Good question! I take she had also pulled up some of my reviews (presumably for Macworld) and hadn’t come to any definite conclusion, because I said nice things about both.
The challenge here, as always, is that any number of tools will be up to the job, including GarageBand. I quite like Logic Express as a bargain choice for Mac production. It’s got the amp and pedalboard options for guitar, and nice effects built in. Apple’s done a lot to make the interface friendly and attractive. And for someone just getting started, there’s almost nothing in Pro that’s missing from Express that you’ll really need. Logic Express is also an interesting choice for doing remixes, because of the new Flex Time feature.
That said, I’m going to go with Ableton Live Intro as my recommendation, based on the way she describes her son. It’s an ideal choice on the Mac for getting creative ideas flowing, thanks to Live’s non-linear Session View and approach to musical clips. Live offers a tough-to-beat toolkit for the beginning remixer, with the ability to slice and rework audio and apply various envelopes to musical materials. But it’s also a good place to begin experimenting with your own ideas; because you don’t have to look at a linear, left-to-right view of your music, the addictive process of imagining ideas is easy to employ.
Live Intro does just about everything you’d need to get going (though it’s too bad, for a guitarist/vocalist, that Looper is missing). Intro also bundles a lot of preset sounds. And it’s only $99. The best advice: give Live Intro a try, and then as your son’s work grows, he might add on Logic Express or upgrade Live to a higher-level version. By then, he’ll know more about his own tastes and needs.
Here’s a comparison of the two Live versions (I actually couldn’t find a chart this simple for Logic Pro versus Express, though I’m sure I’ve seen that somewhere):
Live Intro vs. Live 8 comparison chart
Anyway, that’s just my humble opinion. And yes, I use both tools myself. Live is a place where I’ve often started new ideas, even if I finish them off somewhere else. And Live will work with Logic, so if he decides he wants some of the features in Logic, he can use them together.
Readers, any different thoughts? Of course, there are many other software options not listed here available on the Mac.
On Windows, we’d have a different set of variables – there, I might be inclined to point to Cakewalk’s Music Creator 5 and Reaper, too. (I like FL Studio, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it to someone with this particular set of tastes.)
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Last-Minute Holiday Shopping: Mom Asks, Live or Logic for a Beginner Teen?
Apple’s diversification into mobile phones, music retail and the consumer computer media experience led many to speculate that its professional software development would suffer, but this has been far from the case.
With new versions of Logic Studio and Final Cut Studio released last month, pro audio and video apps are clearly alive and kicking in Cupertino.
Logic Pro 9 is one part of the updated Logic Studio, along with other music-related tools such as MainStage 2, Soundtrack Pro 3 and WaveBurner 1.6. We’ll be focusing on Logic Pro 9 here, but note that you can’t buy the software on its own. There’s a cheaper cutdown version, however, called Logic Express.
One caveat to be aware of is that Logic is now officially Intel Mac-only, although internet reports say that it does actually work on PowerPC machines.
In the new version, Logic’s underlying capabilities remain similar, so you can enjoy a potential 255 audio tracks, 255 software instrument tracks and 99 external MIDI tracks. These are complemented by over 70 effects plug-ins, a bundle of soft synths (including those that are also found in GarageBand) and over 4500 presets.
The additional content includes all six Jam Packs (including the Voices package), 16GB of sound effects and 6GB of surround sound music beds. This translates to more than 20,000 royalty-free, tempo-clocked Apple Loops and 1700+ EXS24 sampler instruments. The specs are impressive and, out of the box, Logic Pro 9 has something for everyone.
“Although there are subtle changes to a few graphical elements for Logic Pro 9, for the most part, it looks just like its predecessor.”
There are plenty of other features that make Logic an attractive option. If you’re after extra processing power, you can combine networked Macs to share the load. For interfacing, there’s solid ReWire implementation, and if you plan to transfer songs to another platform, there’s XML, OMF and AAF support. Recording, editing and mixing in surround is also fully supported.
The workspace system introduced in Logic Pro 8 now feels like second nature and, although there are subtle changes to a few graphical elements for LP9, for the most part, it looks just like its predecessor.
However, there is at least one visually impressive addition: the Amp Designer plug-in. Although Logic already had the basic Bass Amp and Guitar Amp Pro effects, Amp Designer is more like IK’s AmpliTube or NI’s Guitar Rig, offering 25 amps, 25 cabinets and three mics (condenser, dynamic or ribbon).
The elements can be mixed and matched, and the mic position adjusted, and over 200 presets categorised by amp type and style are included.
Stomp effects are implemented in a separate plug-in called Pedalboard. This features 30 pedals of various types (distortion, delay, modulation and filter) that you can chain together (up to ten at once), with splitter and mixer modules for creating more complex dual and panned setups.
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Apple Logic Pro 9