Logic Pro 8
Digital audio workstations (DAWs) have to do a lot: they typically record, mix, and edit audio, host instruments and effects, record and edit MIDI, arrange music, score videos, print notation, slice and stretch sound loops, and even provide programmable drum machines, acoustical simulators, and surround sound. It’s easy to get immersed in all those features and lose track of actually making music. With new features constantly being added, is anyone cleaning house? Apple is. With Logic Studio, Apple has transformed Logic from a deep but difficult program into one of the most streamlined and elegant music environments of its kind.
New look, New View
Logic Pro 8, the heart of the studio, has undergone an extensive interface redesign. There are cosmetic improvements throughout, but this isn’t just a skin-deep upgrade: entire editing facilities have been streamlined or replaced, and a lot of Logic’s strange terminology has been translated into standardized language. That may sound like bad news to existing users, but remarkably, Apple has managed to avoid sacrificing the application’s core structure and functionality. Even long-time users may find themselves discovering existing features, simply because they’re easier to access. Most importantly, this means you’ll be making music when you launch, not half an hour later.
The most profound change in Logic Pro 8 is an entirely new Arrange window, a one-screen display of all the major recording, editing, mixing, and file and setting management features of Logic. You can still open separate windows if you like, but you now have access to most of the functionality of the program without worrying about switching views or dragging windows around. Tabs at the bottom of the screen expand editing panes for mixing, editing audio files, and viewing and editing MIDI information in Piano Roll, Score, or graphical views. A tabbed pane on the right provides access to the Audio Bin, Loop Browser, the file and project browser, and a Library pane for navigating presets for channel strips, instruments, effects, and other features.
Takes and Editing
It’s not just the interface that’s different in Logic: Apple has reworked its editing features as well. You can now perform sample-accurate edits in the main Arrange window, with adjusted Snap tools and a reworked Bar Ruler to assist everything from audio edits to automation. New punch and multi-take facilities make recording audio and MIDI much easier, as well. You can easily merge multiple MIDI or audio sessions into a take; the interface is actually better integrated than the similar feature in Soundtrack Pro. Other Snap improvements, plus a new Junction facility for adjacent clips, make editing more precise.
Logic is deep, but there are still some odd imbalances absent in other DAWs. Aside from basic, non-destructive quantize (for tightening timing of MIDI tracks), there’s no arpeggiator or real-time, non-destructive MIDI editing available unless you dive into the Environment. While the Transform window is capable of some powerful operations, it’s tricky to use and performs only destructive edits.
The Menu structure will look familiar to old Logic users, but it can sometimes be confusing to newcomers. While there’s a Sample Editor accessible from the Arrange window, it’s the same audio editor from previous Logic versions; Logic lacks the slick in-line editor available in Soundtrack Pro. Editing overall is very efficient, and the integration of the Arrange window balances out some of these shortcomings, but hopefully Apple will address MIDI editing in a future version as comprehensively as it has audio and mixing.