Power Tips Special
Master your DAW with our massive round-up of pro-level tips
Think of software as an instrument; the better you can play it, the better your music will be
Whether you’re moving up to Logic Pro X from GarageBand, have just upgraded from Logic Pro 9 or are a seasoned Logic user, it’s remarkable how deep Apple’s flagship DAW is. Having started as a MIDI sequencer, Logic’s standout features have grown to include a plug-in suite of both instruments and effects to rival even third-party manufacturers.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that, despite a fairly gentle learning curve, there is no shortage of new things to learn. Here we’re going to focus on some ‘power user’ features, with tips and tricks which should allow you to cover lots of ground quickly, or add a more professional edge to your work. We’ll see that when Drum Kit Designer takes over from a humble Drummer region, remarkably in-depth mixing and sound design is but a few clicks away. We’ll also see what can be done with Track Stacks, and how they can simplify the mixing process, while simultaneously helping to craft a slicker sound overall.
Inevitably, these tips barely scratch the surface of what’s possible once you become familiar with Logic’s feature set, however, so let’s cram as much as possible into the space available. Once you’ve worked through the Track Stack six-step walkthrough, add extra value to your mix both by working with ‘grouped’ and ‘single channel’ automation lines. Remember, you can open a Stack, select a single channel within it and then add automation data to it. Equally, you can add automation data to the entire Stack too and this works extremely well; we could easily enhance our String Stack with a single line of automation data, which could fade all string tracks in and out of the mix all together. Equally, you can use Track Stacks at the programming stage. Lots of producers like to layer sounds such as kick drums, by setting up three sounds and ‘mining’ each one for its most attractive qualities. You can use the attack portion of one sound, the body of another and the sub portion of a third, for instance. With Track Stacks, simply set up all three of these sounds on separate tracks, Stack them together, then trigger them all at once. Remember, individual treatments can be added to each individual sound to filter or EQ out unwanted frequency content.
Another great feature of Logic Pro is its ability to import tracks – complete with insert effects, auxiliaries and automation data – from another project, without having to leave the one you’re currently working on. Click the Browser button in the top right-hand corner, click All Files, then the Computer icon below to select your Drive of choice. Browse to your chosen project and doubleclick the Logic song which contains the data you want. Rather than opening the song, you’ll instead be presented with a list of all tracks, from which you can click on as many as you like. This is perfect for importing single sounds or multiple settings from a compatible project.
There’s barely time to mention that Smart Controls needn’t be limited to the default parameters Apple have configured. Click the ‘I’ button in any Smart Control set-up and get busy configuring the parameters you really want, mapping them to hardware controllers as you go along.
No matter how long you work with Logic Pro, you’ll come across new features. Mastering the ones central to your workflow is in your interest. Think of your software as a musical instrument; the better you can play it, the better your music will be.