The I Love Logic thread

[spaceman]

As I said, I'm convinced it is very powerfull. But I tried to get started with the (obviously lighter) version that came with Music Studio 2005 and just couldn't get the hang of it. From your own statements it is clear that you NEED manuals and/or books as you say yourself that the usermanual is 'not always helpfull or informative'. It's clear that Logic's user interface 'clicks' with some people and not with others. I'm now a SONAR-user and I had it set up with all my plugins readilly available, my midi-keyboard connected and working and running a midi-sequence on a VSTi with some VST effects on it within half an hour or so from first installing the application. And that without reading one line of text in a manual (it's SONAR LE so there isn't even a manual, only a helpfile, but didn't read that either), all because it's user-interface is largely self explanatory. I seriously have never heard of anyone doing that with Logic after 'first contact'

But to be honest, I've seen some people make the same claims about SONAR as the ones I (and others) make about Logic. So again I say: to each his own

to know Logic thoroughly you indeed need a manual.. but having said that, even some professional users have never even opened the environment. If you're familiar with modern sequencers like Cubase, Sonar etc. you can jump right in and not touch any of the 'deep' features.

As I mentioned before, the osx versions are not like the windows versions anymore. A lot of the weird-and-complicated has been replaced since those days

[spaceman]

"Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth."

was she hot?

[crimsonwarlock]

As I mentioned before, the osx versions are not like the windows versions anymore. A lot of the weird-and-complicated has been replaced since those days

So there you answered your own question why some people (like me) think Logic is not 'easy'

[spaceman]

As I mentioned before, the osx versions are not like the windows versions anymore. A lot of the weird-and-complicated has been replaced since those days

So there you answered your own question why some people (like me) think Logic is not 'easy'

I very much understand

[Watto]

"Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn't tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth."

was she hot?

[beej]

The best way to learn Logic is to get a knowledgable friend to come around and set it up for your studio, explain some of the key concepts and walk through how to do the basic stuff (record audio, use the arrange page, use the mixer, plugins, SCREENSETS, KEY COMMANDS, LINKED WINDOWS etc).

I taught my computerphobic guitarist friend how to use Logic, recording, arranging, basic editing, mixing, using plugins etc in about a hour, and he had no problems after that.

The main reason Logic is preceived to be more difficult than other DAWs to learn is that there are a few key concepts that are not necessarily obvious from first glance - it's goes a level deeper than many DAW's - and if you don't get those then i can understand how you get confused (not going to list them all here). Also, you don't know the best way to set it up for you until you know how to use it, so often you end up doing things in non-efficient ways because that's the only way you know.

Getting a knowledgable friend to introduce Logic to you and help set it up sorts out 90% of beginners misunderstandings.

If my guitarist friend can learn the core of Logic in an hour (who can barely send an email) then *anyone* here can do it.

[jackson]

Part of the problem is in it's flexibility. I've never seen Logic set up the same way on different user's DAWs. Once you learn to customize it to your work method, it's very fast to use. Until then, the vast majority of people would probably agree that it's a monster to grapple.

I agree that hands on training is the best way to go, the same recommendation I hear time and again for Protools. But like so many others, since I'm not a professional artist/producer I cannot justify the cost of a top of the line Mac simply to be able to continue running it.

[DHR53]

"Capture last take"... Until someone else adds that in their host, I'll never switch!!

[Sascha Franck]

"Capture last take"... Until someone else adds that in their host, I'll never switch!!

Cubase SX has it... but it seems to not be working properly. Well, what else would you expect from a company that's even completely f**king up something as simple as the mute/solo functionality.

[DHR53]

Hmmm... I had SX (2.0), but I don't remember that being in there?? Anyway, Logic's works, as you said...

[christianmusicmaker]

I agree that hands on training is the best way to go, the same recommendation I hear time and again for Protools. But like so many others, since I'm not a professional artist/producer I cannot justify the cost of a top of the line Mac simply to be able to continue running it.

Exactly. This is a problem for many. Cost. With so many cheaper alternatives available on the PC for many the cost of a mac just to run Logic 7 is just too far to stretch financially.

Also the support costs something like £129 per incident or £1199 for a year! Add that to the cost of a top end mac and it's way beyond many budgets for music making.

Check out page 5 of this Logic 7 review under RELATED ISSUES...

http://www.musictechmag.co.uk/mtm/reviews/logic-pro-7

But ...since spaceman started this thread to discuss the good things about it, and as a Logic owner myself I think it has a great collection of plugs and the design of the instruments and FX is very consistent. While not as easy as Tracktion or even Sonar to get into it is very powerful indeed. One day I will spend some time in the Environment but I just don't have the time at the mo and probably do not need it for now anyway.

I have Logic 5.5 (pretty much a collectors item now if you can find it and if new, try to activate it, even more difficult now) and it is a very capable package. I recently got a new dongle to replace a problematic one. I think that door though is fully closed now to PC users. Any dongle failures now and the only likely route for Logic only users is Logic 7. I contacted Sound Technology for support recently and they said the older Logic dongles they had in stock were disappearing fast! They are probably all gone now.

Considering it's age (Logic 5.5) it's amazing it already has Pow-r dithering, surround and a very good spread of quality instruments. I love the EVD6, EVP88 and the ES1 in particular.

I use other sequencers as well, depends on requirements, but Logic 5 still remains a very powerful sequencer to use, Logic 7 even more so. Logic does require time to learn but it's worth the effort IMHO if you like the look and feel of it.

I was up and running with Logic in about 15 - 20 minutes when I first fired it up.

[jackson]

Considering it's age (Logic 5.5) it's amazing it already has Pow-r dithering, surround and a very good spread of quality instruments. I love the EVD6, EVP88 and the ES1 in particular.

Not to mention the only-use-CPU-when-VST-is-actually-processing-data feature, a feature I think only Samplitude also does. This goes a long way towards the fact that Logic 5.5 is one of the most CPU efficient hosts around. I heard it got incredibly slow in later versions though. I can run WAY more instances of plugins in Logic 5 than I can in eXT or Live 5.

Oh, and I'll always miss ES2 and EXS24 when I finally ditch it...

[droolmaster0]

If you take the time to learn Logic, understand layers in the environment, mapped instruments, etc. (a good two days work)
you get control over the most powerful host by far.. in my opinion

people who critique Logic either don't have a brain, have no manual or are just simply f**king pussies ..
or a combination of any of the above


I Logic!

I used Logic since version 1.2. I recently sold it. I agree that, in most respects, it is the most powerful host BUT - it doesn't do everything the best. In my case, I gave it up because the routing of multiple incoming midi streams is quite awkward. I've posted on this before, and have had several good suggestions - most of which I was familiar. but....I think the problem is more generally that the environment window is great - and the arrange window is great - but in some cases the integration between them doesn't work as well as it could.

I've switched over to sx 3, and I'm sure that I will miss much about Logic....certainly I'll miss Sculpture.

[christianmusicmaker]

Considering it's age (Logic 5.5) it's amazing it already has Pow-r dithering, surround and a very good spread of quality instruments. I love the EVD6, EVP88 and the ES1 in particular.

Not to mention the only-use-CPU-when-VST-is-actually-processing-data feature, a feature I think only Samplitude also does. This goes a long way towards the fact that Logic 5.5 is one of the most CPU efficient hosts around.

Thanks for the heads up on that. I guess it's age also benefits it CPU wise as it was not designed for the powerful CPU processors we have today so it needs less juice than more recent hosts like Live 5.

[spaceman]

Not to mention the only-use-CPU-when-VST-is-actually-processing-data feature, a feature I think only Samplitude also does...

Digital Performer (as well)