I remember the excitement I felt the day I got Logic for the first time, back when it was owned by Emagic. I’d just got my first little bedroom studio sorted out, and Logic was the cornerstone. I also remember 5 days later, as I stood there; a complete studio novice tearing my hair out as I tried to figure out how to get sound out of the speakers, keyboards to register on the logic arrange page, and a multitude of other issues that my inexperienced brain couldn’t figure out.

If only Groove3 had been around then. Founded in Jan 2004 by Asa Doyle and Antony Livoti, Groove3 provides quality video tutorial training for many DAWs, software plugins, and virtual instruments around today, as well as videos of recording tips and techniques, and even music theory. There are different options for watching the videos; Buy the hard copy and download, Download only, or a streaming option, where the tutorials are available in your online account for 30 days, for you to watch as much as you like until the end of the month. As far as I could tell, the streaming option works on iphone/ipod/ipad too.

I got the download version of ‘Logic 9 Explained’; a package of 40 video tutorials totalling almost 5 hours, that walk you through setting up and using Logic 9. With the download option, you get a custom video player that works on both Mac and PC, that is easy to use, with all the basic player features, such as volume, easy access menu for all the chapters, full screen capability etc. The total download size of ‘Logic 9 Explained’ was 1gb.

Presented by Apple Logic Certified Pro Eli Krantzberg, each of the 40 Chapters are bite-sized chunks of between 5 and 10 minutes long. They are screen video captures of Logic 9 in action, with Eli’s voiceover explaining what’s happening on-screen. I was curious as to whether I’d get fed up with listening to Krantzberg’s voice, as there’s only so much time you can spend listening to one voice. But no, it was fine. The Chapters start right at the very beginning (assuming you’re capable of installing the software off the discs…), walking the viewer through starting up the program, setting up your hardware so that you can get sound, and a basic description of the files, regions, and different windows that you see when you first get stuck in to Logic. The assumption with this package is that the viewer is opening Logic for the very first time, and doesn’t have much of an idea what anything is. From there, Krantzberg takes you deeper into the software in a careful and concise way. All the main elements of Logic are covered: how to record audio, record midi, to edit, to mix, to use plugins, and to bounce audio. Once all these basics are covered (very comprehensively), the video tutorials step up to more of an intermediate level, with chapters covering some recording and editing tips, tricks and techniques. For example, one chapter is about setting up a headphone mix, another is tips on recording a vocalist live, quick-swipe comping, or how to stutter edit. Some of the new software elements that were introduced with Logic 9 have their own chapters; Specifically Flex time has two chapters devoted to it. Flex time is a powerful algorithm that enables the user to stretch or compress audio files right in the arrange window, with excellent sonic results. This tool can speed up the work process exponentially, as you don’t have to process audio in a different window, or program. The tutorials provide a great explanation of how flex time works, and how to use it efficiently.

I enjoyed the tutorial training thoroughly. I really enjoyed the fact that each chapter is in bite-sized chunks – you can watch one or two 5-minute videos and learn some really useful stuff, but not feel like you’ve been sitting through a lecture. This enables you to learn easily at your own pace. The menu system on the video player (and I assume on the online stream too) is very clearly laid out, with a short synopsis of what’s contained within each chapter. The hard copy and the download one come also with Logic session files (they can be found in the “Extras” folder), so that users can try to reproduce everything they’re learning on their own computer.

Conclusion

If you are just starting out with Logic, this training package covers all the ground you need to become very proficient at using Logic as a production tool, and will save you hours and hours of frustrated time-wasting. I would highly recommend this to anyone I knew who had just bought logic. I have to say, that even though I’ve been using Logic for over a decade, the software is so deep and flexible, there’s always more to learn, and I learned quite a few things from watching the tutorials, including some tips that will definitely speed up my music making process.

Here’s a screenshot of a video tutorial. You can see the menu on the right hand side, with some of the different chapters listed.

Price

Buy the disc, and download, for $54.99
Download only $49.99
Stream online for 30 days for $17.99

This product covers all the bases if you’re starting off with Logic 9

Product page

PROS

• Excellent reference and training for beginners
• Relatively short chapters keep the attention
• Session files
• Great quality audio/visual

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

• This product covers all the bases if you’re starting off with Logic 9. If you’ve had it a while, and consider yourself an intermediate, or power user, you’ll probably already know most of the information in this package. There are more in depth and specific logic training tutorials available!

CONS

• None really at this price – does what it says on the box

By Andy Dollerson

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Learn how to use Logic 9: Groove3 Logic 9 explained