Music 1770: Intro to Music Technology

Logic Mini-Project #1: getting your feet wet

And don’t let your ambition interfere with simply getting it done. The fastest way to grow artistically is to balance constructive self-criticism with a healthy rate of production and completion.

Dowloading Logic (Mac only)

If you are on Mac, you can install the program for a free 90-day trial. You can also buy it as part of the Pro Apps Bundle, which is a great deal for students. You get perpetual use of Logic Pro (including upgrades), Final Cut Pro, and three other applications for $199, which is what Logic usually costs by itself.

Instructions and operations

• Set Sample Rate (in Project Settings—Audio) to 48kHz, Depth (in Global Settings—Recording) to 24 bit.

  Logic has both global settings (accessed via Logic Pro menu, shortcut command-comma) and Project Settings (via File menu, shortcut option-P). There are reasons for this, but it is confusing to new users. In fact, what I call Global Settings here is actually just called “Settings”, making this distinction even more obscure.

• Each track should be a different color and name to help with organization (tracks that are related can be the same color).
  Do this via Track menu > Assign track color, or (I think easier) control-click in a blank area of the track header.
• Make the audio recording of your poem the top track. Fade in and out using either
  Track volume automation (shortcut: A)
  or the
  Fade tool. Quick navigation: T [for left-click tool menu] then A [for Amplitude].
  This track should have a nice healthy waveform; use the Normalize Region Gain option in the track area’s Functions menu (look just above the track names, within the main workspace window) if you have a weak signal.
• Add EQ to your voice. To do this:
  1. Go to the Channel Strip area of the Inspector (shortcut: I). The Channel Strip is at the bottom of the Inspector pane; it may be all or mostly obscured by the Quick Help, Region, and Track sub-panes above it, so collapse these to make it visible.
  2. The left of the two strips showing is the Track channel strip. (The right one is the Stereo Out channel strip and applies to all tracks a once.)
  3. Click the grayed-out EQ button. A blue Channel EQ button will appear lower in the strip.
  4. Click this button to open the EQ settings. Drag the baseline up or down to boost or cut the strength of different frequency bands. This will change the sound color—its “brightness” or “darkness”. Audition as you twiddle and find a result you like.
• Add another plugin to your voice (compression, reverb, etc.). To do this:
  1. Go to the Channel Strip area of the Inspector.
  2. There is now an almost invisible (very narrow!) grayed-out button immediately below the Channel EQ button. Click and hold, or control-click this button and select an audio processing plugin from the list.
  3. Pick an effect and experiment with the settings until you find an effect/setting that you like.
  It is not important at this point that you understand the meaning and workings of all effects, though it is instructive to look them up! We will discuss basic mixing functions (compression, gain, EQ, reverb, pan) in upcoming projects.
• Pan your voice from L to R for each stanza using track automation (shortcut: A).
• Add 2-3 MIDI (Software Instrument) Loops (Loop library shortcut: O) and 2-3 Audio Loops to your first iteration of the project. At the end you need to have ~6 different loops, some Audio and some MIDI. They should not all run the whole way through. Be creative and think formally—not just what sounds good for a moment, but also how each element contributes to the shape of the entire composition.
• Add a Software Instrument track (this will not be a loop) and associate it with one of the loop tracks. Put it right above the associated loop track, give them the same track color, then choose an appropriate sound (instrument) to add something that goes with and complements the associated loop. For example, many loops provide mainly harmonic or rhythmic interest; your paired track could be a melody that goes with the backing loop.
• Pan one of the two associated tracks slightly to the left and the other slightly toward the right of the stereo field.
• Create a desirable mix, and have the volume of some loops change using the fade tool + track volume automation to create gradual crescendo(s) or decrescendo(s). You must use at least some track automation. (Note that the Fade tool cannot be used on Software Instrument loops.) First and foremost, make sure your poem is audible. You may, but do not need to, use the Mixer (X) to create your mix.
• Add a note describing each track using the Notepad (command-option-P, or via the View menu). What plugins did you use? What settings?
• At least one loop must be edited in some way - this can include changing a note in the piano roll (P), using only a portion of an audio loop by trimming it, etc. Describe your change in the Notepad and say why you made the change (what you like about it).
• At the end, there should be nothing actually “looped”, but rather copied to achieve a looping effect. You can do this either “manually” by copying and pasting, or by selecting a looped region and then Edit > Convert > Loops to Regions.
• Bounce to disk (command-B), saving as an mp3 file. Note start/stop markers!
• Compress your Logic file: Go to your .logicx file in the Finder, control-click on it, and choose “compress”.
• Create a folder labeled “FirstnameLastname-Logic 1” (where Firstname and Lastname are your first and last names). Put your compressed Logic file and your mp3 bounce file into this folder, then upload it to the “Project 2 (Logic) Loops etc” folder in our class Team.

Grading

1. tracks colored: 4 pts
2. both audio fades and track volume automation present: 4 pts
3. voice track EQ’d + another plugin: 4 pts
4. voice track panned dynamically (via automation): 4 pts
5. ~6 loops present, incl. some audio and some MIDI: 4 pts
6. at least one software instrument track paired to loop and panned as per instructions: 4 pts
7. at least one loop edited, described in Notepad: 4 pts
8. other Notepad descriptions: 4 pts
9. loops converted to regions: 4 pts
10. project bounced to mp3: 2 pts
11. .logicx file compressed: 2 pts

Lecture slides