Logic 10 from GarageBand

[membler]

I use GarageBand for my recording even though I have a full version of Logic 9. Logic 9 just seemed so much more complicated than GB. Has anyone made the move to Logic 10 from GarageBand? It looks intriguing especially with the new drummer part. Before I shell out $200 I'd like the hear folks experiences. Thanks!

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by membler

I use GarageBand for my recording even though I have a full version of Logic 9. Logic 9 just seemed so much more complicated than GB. Has anyone made the move to Logic 10 from GarageBand? It looks intriguing especially with the new drummer part. Before I shell out $200 I'd like the hear folks experiences. Thanks!

I have Logic X. You're post is confusing though. If you're asking if Logic X is "less" complicated than 9 the answer is clearly no. Drum programs most always look intriguing but they're are always genuine work to get convincing rhythms. I wouldn't be inclined to hang my DAW hat on any single element. That said however I'm not sure Logic 9 or X is all that complicated.

For $200.00 it's an awfully, awfully good deal.

[muscmp]

i went from 9 to 10. the drummer is great but you do have to tweak it. they provide you with, initially, 2 8bar grooves with one already different than the other one which allows them to be used as a verse and chorus section, or however you designate them. then you can stretch it to create a drum intro and drum outro, if necessary. it isn't real easy but once you get the hang of it, it sounds much closer to a human(my goal) then ever before. i've just created a new song with a complete, great drum track. you can even tweak each bar by making it louder, quieter, more complex or more simple. this, plus you can make the kick busier or more straight forward, quieter or softer, as well as the snare, left and right cymbal and hi hat(which can be used open, closed or somewhere in between.

i have garageband and find logic much easier to use but it is probably that i've spent more time with it. you don't have to send it to itunes or some other trick to bounce it down. i realize that apple did this to make their programs more interactive but i find it difficult. logic just bounces down to wav, aiff or caf files so they are easy to create bounces to use elsewhere.

also, the smart controls in 10 give you the ability to tweak your sounds quite easily. the logic remote allows you to use an ipad to record remotely. so, now i sit in a chair and record. if i mess up, i just hit record again. no getting up, stopping the recording, restarting the recording and quietly going to the chair. it also allows me to remotely record the virtual instruments built in. the electric piano, b3 organ and others have been upgraded and work very well.

i bought logic when it was $500, so to pay $200 was a big deal for me, but, for someone new to it, it is a great deal for what you get. it has new bass and guitar amps as well as stompboxes. note that you also get about 25-30gb of content. a lot of valuable youtube tutorials that help a lot.

do i like logic 10? obviously! but i also use and like reason and ableton live for their benefits.

play music!

[CyberFerret]

I've been using Garageband for a long while now, but also had Logic 9 installed for a while too.

I don't know, but something about the Logic 9 interface just didn't really sit well with me, and I could never get the hang of it or manage a good workflow with it, so I stopped using it.

I bought Logic X when it came out and I LOVE IT !! Strange, because there is still the same depth and complexity as Logic 9, but the newer interface just makes it seem easier.

Well, they have fine tuned a lot of things to make the workflow easier, so that must be it. I found myself becoming very comfortable with the software in very short order.

I actually set myself the challenge of doing a recording from nothing to finished product in Logic X one day, and I managed to do it with virtually no trouble at all.

I haven't gone in depth with Drummer or the Synths etc., but will do so in short order.

My recommendation is DO IT. The price just cannot be beat.

[KevWind]

I don't use Logic I use PT. So take what I say with a grain of salt BUT No question that Logic is going to be more complex because it will do so much much more.. Logic is professional level DAW with everything that that involves, including learning curve. Garage is a consumer grade DAW (absolutely nothing wrong with that) but the two are not really comparable.

This much I can say with confidence, If you are anywhere near a Mac Store and if you want to expedite that learning curve. Sign up for some Logic classes.

[membler]

Thanks Devan,

You sum up my experience with Logic. Yes I can record with it but I spent more time trying to do things in it than I did making music. GB was more hit record and play. I've heard the new Logic's work flow was easier and more intuitive. I too started with Logic 8 I think and have spent a lot of money and have always wanted to love it. I'm going to give Logic 10 a try. Thanks to everyone who commented.

[wcap]

Originally Posted by KevWind

.....
This much I can say with confidence, If you are anywhere near a Mac Store and if you want to expedite that learning curve. Sign up for some Logic classes.

Perhaps there are different versions of these classes, but a local store that specializes in Macs and Mac repair had something that they called "Introduction to Logic Express" or something like that a few years back (I have Logic Express). I was very intrigued, because I had found it really hard to get myself to the point of understanding much of anything using Logic Express. It was free, but they made a big fuss about how you had to register on the Apple website for this, and it all seemed like a big deal. So I registered, reworked my schedule for that day, spent over an hour (round trip) driving to this thing, and spent an hour or more at the store for this "workshop". It turned out it was pretty much just a big sales pitch for upgrading to Logic 9 (I think it was Logic 9). I was hoping to have someone walk me through the basics of how to interact with the program (and this is how this event was advertised), but that really didn't happen in any useful way. I was very annoyed. Yes, it was free, but they misrepresented what this was going to be about, and I feel they tricked me into wasting about 2.5 hours just so they could give me a sales pitch.

Maybe the Apple stores do have legitimately useful classes for using Logic. I don't know. Just be careful what you sign up for.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by wcap

Perhaps there are different versions of these classes, but a local store that specializes in Macs and Mac repair had something that they called "Introduction to Logic Express" or something like that a few years back (I have Logic Express). I was very intrigued, because I had found it really hard to get myself to the point of understanding much of anything using Logic Express. It was free, but they made a big fuss about how you had to register on the Apple website for this, and it all seemed like a big deal. So I registered, reworked my schedule for that day, spent over an hour (round trip) driving to this thing, and spent an hour or more at the store for this "workshop". It turned out it was pretty much just a big sales pitch for upgrading to Logic 9 (I think it was Logic 9). I was hoping to have someone walk me through the basics of how to interact with the program (and this is how this event was advertised), but that really didn't happen in any useful way. I was very annoyed. Yes, it was free, but they misrepresented what this was going to be about, and I feel they tricked me into wasting about 2.5 hours just so they could give me a sales pitch.

Maybe the Apple stores do have legitimately useful classes for using Logic. I don't know. Just be careful what you sign up for.

Good advice and to clarify. I don't have first hand experience but had some friends who took some Logic classes and were quite pleased but I do not know the particulars i.e. free or paid, specific version etc.


Non the less from personal experience with Pro Tools

Good tutorial/s (in what ever form that takes)even a few hours worth, with someone who really knows the DAW and has had extensive experience like classes etc and even some of the many free online tutorials

Are depending on the situation literally worth weeks months and even years of fiddling around on your own.

[wcap]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Good tutorial/s (in what ever form that takes)even a few hours worth, with someone who really knows the DAW and has had extensive experience .......Are depending on the situation literally worth weeks months and even years of fiddling around on your own.

Indeed.

A typical feature of higher end, professional and semi-professional level software (and equipment too) tends to be that there are LOTS of features that are organized in a way that makes for very efficient use by someone who knows and understands the system, but the features are not necessarily obviously staring you in the face when you are sitting down with the software for the first time (or in my case, the 10th or 20th time). This sort of music software is like this, pro level photography software tends to be a bit like this, pro level movie software (like Final Cut) is definitely like this, etc.

This also tends to be the case for things like cameras. Professional level cameras can be mysterious for a novice (without good understanding of things like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc), but such cameras are an absolute joy to use for a more experienced photographer who wants everything at his/her fingertips (and cameras with scene modes and such can be really annoying for a more experienced photographer).

Back to Logic....
I think that even an hour of having the person running that workshop walking me through the basics of how to use Logic would have been invaluable.

Incidentally, when I first got Logic Express I tried working through the tutorial on the computer (which walks you through a project), which seemed to focus a LOT on all the loops stuff (which honestly, I don't care about). I got bogged down by this and got frustrated and ran out of time to spend on it (work got busy), and did not get a handle on the basic fundamentals of simply using the program to record and layer tracks, edit tracks, apply effects, etc. While cleaning up the basement I recently ran into a little booklet that was called a quick start guide or something like that that somehow I had overlooked before. This is a pretty substantial little booklet, but it looks like I really should have been working my way through this rather than fussing with the tutorial project on the computer.

[muscmp]

Originally Posted by wcap

Indeed.

A typical feature of higher end, professional and semi-professional level software (and equipment too) tends to be that there are LOTS of features that are organized in a way that makes for very efficient use by someone who knows and understands the system, but the features are not necessarily obviously staring you in the face when you are sitting down with the software for the first time (or in my case, the 10th or 20th time). This sort of music software is like this, pro level photography software tends to be a bit like this, pro level movie software (like Final Cut) is definitely like this, etc.

This also tends to be the case for things like cameras. Professional level cameras can be mysterious for a novice (without good understanding of things like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc), but such cameras are an absolute joy to use for a more experienced photographer who wants everything at his/her fingertips (and cameras with scene modes and such can be really annoying for a more experienced photographer).

Back to Logic....
I think that even an hour of having the person running that workshop walking me through the basics of how to use Logic would have been invaluable.

Incidentally, when I first got Logic Express I tried working through the tutorial on the computer (which walks you through a project), which seemed to focus a LOT on all the loops stuff (which honestly, I don't care about). I got bogged down by this and got frustrated and ran out of time to spend on it (work got busy), and did not get a handle on the basic fundamentals of simply using the program to record and layer tracks, edit tracks, apply effects, etc. While cleaning up the basement I recently ran into a little booklet that was called a quick start guide or something like that that somehow I had overlooked before. This is a pretty substantial little booklet, but it looks like I really should have been working my way through this rather than fussing with the tutorial project on the computer.

for those who would like to have a book in front of them, in addition to the youtube tutorials, david nahmani has an apple training series book on logic. i bought the logic 8 version and found it to be excellent. it starts you out on a basic standpoint having you actually apply the concepts as you go(rather than to read and apply later). i would recommend this for the book people. he also has an online forum that is excellent. here is the link.

http://www.logicprohelp.com/forum/

also note that apple has its own logic discussion forum located here.

https://discussions.apple.com/commun...o?forumID=1201

and last is logic pro resources.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5816

hope some of this helps.

play music!

[CyberFerret]

As an addendum to my post above, I would highly recommend that you take a look at the hour long 'Introduction To Logic X' video series on macprovideo.com - It is free, and provides a fantastic introduction to what is available in the software.

http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/...in-logic-pro-x

IIRC it is a series of about 10 videos which are a total of about an hour in length. LOTS of little tips and tricks in there which I found useful, and made me less scared of the new interface.

A member on another forum also had good reports about signing up for one month of Groove3.com to take some 'hands on' Logic X lessons - something like a $15 investment that took him from noob to competent user in short time. I intend to sign up next month when I get back from vacation.

[alohachris]

Aloha,

Logic Pro & Pro Tools are the pro level DAW's. w/ all the bells & whistles - most of which acoustic guys like me will never use. GB is perfectly fine for most acoustic players' needs (as many DAW's are).

However, the sooner you get into the DAW with the workflow that works best for your sensibilities, the better your recordings & mixes will be. One DAW does NOT fit everyone. They are all similar & different. Be discriminating.

Suggestion: Try out the free downloads of many DAW's & choose the one that makes sense to you.

If you're on a Mac, get into the latest version of Logic Pro (10) as soon as you can. I still work with Logic Pro 9 on my iMac w/ Apogee interfaces. Works well for me. Very compatible signal chain.

Logic Pro or Pro Tools give you MUCH more flexibility if you want to put together a CD or album. You can provide a mastering engineering with tracks made in those DAW's & he/she can easily master those to a finished CD. Most studio's have both of those pro-level DAW's. You can't do that with Reaper or Ableton tracks which most studio's do NOT have. Something to think about.

Depends on your goals for your recordings.

alohachris

[muscmp]

Originally Posted by CyberFerret

As an addendum to my post above, I would highly recommend that you take a look at the hour long 'Introduction To Logic X' video series on macprovideo.com - It is free, and provides a fantastic introduction to what is available in the software.

http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/...in-logic-pro-x

IIRC it is a series of about 10 videos which are a total of about an hour in length. LOTS of little tips and tricks in there which I found useful, and made me less scared of the new interface.

A member on another forum also had good reports about signing up for one month of Groove3.com to take some 'hands on' Logic X lessons - something like a $15 investment that took him from noob to competent user in short time. I intend to sign up next month when I get back from vacation.

these videos are done by david earl who used to be known as sf ninja on youtube. he used to provide logic tutorials on his own, but now works for macprovideo and does their logic videos. they are very well done.

play music!

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by membler

I use GarageBand for my recording even though I have a full version of Logic 9. Logic 9 just seemed so much more complicated than GB. Has anyone made the move to Logic 10 from GarageBand? It looks intriguing especially with the new drummer part. Before I shell out $200 I'd like the hear folks experiences. Thanks!

I don't have any experience as between Garageband and Logic 10 (or 9). Still, if you inventory your DAW recording needs and compare them to either program, you should be able to determine which one would work best for you.

Any learning curve is just part of the reality of recording.

[membler]

I have purchased Logic Pro X and I'm very impressed. Like the workflow a lot. The iPad app is a cool feature I thought might just be a gimmick but works great. I start and stop projects from it sitting on my music stand. Thanks for everyone's feedback.