There’s a whole new world of possibilities available to you once you start recording your own material.

the bottom of the Arrange window opens up Logic’s virtual mixer. This has a channel for each of the corresponding tracks in your arrangement, an output fader and a master fader. First you’ll want to concentrate on the level and pan settings for each track, ideally building a coherent mix that doesn’t distort the main outputs. If the combined levels are too hot, consider reducing the master control to restore some headroom.

Adding plug-ins to the empty Insert slots will enable you to modify the sound of each track and to double-click the EQ box to quickly establish some suitable equalization settings. As you’ll see from the list of plug-ins, all of which are organised into various categories, Logic comes with enough audio processing technology to create a complete professional mix. Double-clicking on any plug-in will enable you to change its relative settings, or browse through its presets, to fi nd an output that gets the results you want.

Use your own combination of plug-ins, instantiated across a mixer channel, to change the sound and timbre of each track.

We’ve only just begun… Of course, what we have looked at here is only just the beginning of what can be achieved with Logic. Although we have covered the overarching principles of the Arrange window and mixing, there’s a whole new world of possibilities available to you once you start recording some of your own material – either as audio tracks from acoustic or electric instruments, or by controlling Logic’s own virtual instruments using MIDI information. Whichever method you choose, you’ll soon appreciate that working with Logic – as with music itself – is an endless journey of discovery, with new creative possibilities opening up on a daily basis! MTF

STEP-BY-STEP Completing your fi rst track by creating a mix.

Introduction Using Logic Pro

IS THE 46GB INSTALL REALLY ESSENTIAL? The full install of Logic is now a whopping 46GB, which could easily eat up the drive capacity of older Macs. However, an application-only installation (omitting the Jam Packs) takes the installation down to under 5GB in most cases. To remove items from the install, use the Custom Install option on the DVD, where you can drop components in or out as required. Try removing some of the sound FX content, for example, and concentrate on the more musical Jam Packs.

1

You can open the mixer at any point using the tab at the bottom of the Arrange window, or [X] on the keyboard. The mixer is essentially a vertical representation of your arrangement, laid out according to the order of the tracks in your track list.

2

Use EQ and Compression as your main mix tools. EQ can be activated from the top of the channel strip and enables you to shape the timbre of a sound. Use the Compressor plug-in to control the dynamic range of important instruments like bass or vocals.

3

Reverb is best applied using a send from a channel so a number of instruments can share different amounts of the same reverb. Under the Sends section, create a series of new sends to Bus 1. The level for each channel’s reverb can be controlled via the small pot.

4

In creating the bus sends, Logic will have also created an accompanying aux master fader, which can be used as the location for the reverb. Instantiate Space Designer on this aux master, and you should now hear the reverb on the tracks being sent through.

5

Another use of aux faders is to compress groups of sounds. In this case, send the required tracks directly out to a spare bus under the I/O tabs. With the track routed, you can then instantiate a compressor across the corresponding aux fader.

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6

With the mix complete, you’ll need to render it as a finished file. To do this, click on the Bounce (Bnce) tab on the main output fader. A dialogue box will enable you to specify the length of the bounce and the file format – a 24-bit WAV is probably the best choice.

MusicTech Focus Logic Pro 17