Logic and general state of Mac OS and iOS integration

[Etienne1973]

The one thing I have found odd is no drag and drop.

Where do you miss drag and drop in Logic exactly?

Just loading of software instruments.
... odd that Logic never got around to doing this simple workflow thing.

You (and all who are missing that feature) can send feature requests any time:

Logic App > Menu: Logic Pro X > Provide Logic Pro Feedback

[kovacs]

I used Logic back in 2002 or so, but once Tracktion appeared I never felt the need to look at other DAWs, and in sometime around 2006/7 I stopped making music altogether.

I think it’s fair to say that Logic Pro X is a very different DAW than it was back in 2002, when it was still an eMagic product (Apple bought eMagic in 2002).

For the price it can’t be beat. Sure there are tons of competitors but if you own a Mac, there really are a lot of good reasons to get Logic Pro X. Tracktion was cool when it came out, but it’s still a really small player (now known as Waveform).

As for «drag and drop» - Logic Pro X supports a range of drag and drop operations, like drag a loop from the library into the main window and a new software instrument or audio track is created (depending on type of loop). Here are other examples: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT210998

Oh - and there’s TouchOSC for the iPad which will let you control Logic and a lot of other things. https://hexler.net/products/touchosc

[chagzuki]

That's the sort of thing I fear I'll miss: Waveform/Tracktion is super-drag and drop. You can drag an effect off a track straight onto an audio clip, whereby it only affects that single clip. It's all very fluid.

Edit: missed those last two posts before posting.

[Etienne1973]

You can drag an effect off a track straight onto an audio clip, whereby it only affects that single clip. It's all very fluid.

Logic audio region or marquee selection based processing: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH26325

I've created my own user plugin menu categories list in the Logic Plugin Manager.
It speeds up my workflow so I don't personally really miss drag/drop instrument/effect plugin functionality.

[ozinga]

Unless I am doing something wrong in Logic you have to make a software instrument track first and then assign an instrument to it.

You can select the instrument before you create the track but there is no browser for plugins so you can not drag drop it and +1 for that.
Actually in Studio One it is really advanced as you can drag drop a plugin from the mixer strip of a channel to the inspector or track header of another track, So for example it is super easy to copy a plugin or plugin chain from track 1 to track 150 as you can see one on the main page other on the mixer page at the same time. You can drop to send slots to create auto assigned return channels or on to regions to create event fx etc.

[apoclypse]

That's the sort of thing I fear I'll miss: Waveform/Tracktion is super-drag and drop. You can drag an effect off a track straight onto an audio clip, whereby it only affects that single clip. It's all very fluid.

Edit: missed those last two posts before posting.

There are some drag and drop workflows which are really nice though. Like for example dragging a sample to the arranger view and into the header area will actually prompt you to create a qsampler, an optimized qsampler, a drum designer track, a Sampler track. Choosing optimize will automatically do things like normalize the audio and find the key it's in and set that up in the sampler. It's actually pretty slick. So they are getting there.

Logic is an extremely old application under the hood and it has a very specific way of working. It still has some pretty legacy stuff to deal with and drag and drop is one of those things. Like you can't drag and drop mixer channels in the mixer view to reorder them. You can only do that in the arranger view.

That being said it's just so feature full, so excellent at what it does do and so relatively cost effective that if you own a Mac there is absolutely no reason not have a copy on your machine. It literally costs as much as some VSTs and it's been updated pretty much for free yearly since 2013. Apple doesn't make any real money on Logic they primarily use it a selling point for the Mac AppStore along with FCPX.

[chagzuki]

The value proposition for all of this rests on what Apple will end up charging for their hardware in the future. The last two or so years has seen Apple's intel stuff become more competitive with PCs... with base models reasonably priced, but component upgrades usually way overpriced and higher tier models still stupidly expensive. And that's in laptops where everything is soldered, effectively making one a slave to Apple in terms of component choices and repairs (well, not entirely)... the issue of cooling has also provided Apple with a way to 'gimp' their lower tier models by using inappropriate cooling options. So I'm skeptical of Apple as a company in many ways, but the degree to which the nailed the iPad really turned my attitude around in terms of how right they get things from a certain design perspective.

[Michael L]

I patiently wait for the right combo of hardware and software for me, minimize updates, only use compatible software and accessories, and keep my whole system as simple and stable as possible. My Macs have a long life and I avoid the time-consuming Apple dramas.

[dellboy]

I have quickly learned the hard way not to be so quick in updating a Mac.

It said an update was available so I clicked to update only to find I can no longer run 32 bit apps.

If I want to go back I now I have to download and install Mojave after jumping through some hoops.

Yeah, I know, that's what "time machine" is for - but I am very new to Macs and have only just learnt about that.

[chagzuki]

I've installed different OS versions on external drives to test them. There's no way I'd update my main OS without testing things first.

[dellboy]

I've installed different OS versions on external drives to test them. There's no way I'd update my main OS without testing things first.

Booting an OS from an external drive is new to me as Windows does not allow that.

I am pretty sure that the Mac arrived out of the box with "auto update" switched on. And I thought the whole point of its superiority over windows was that you can safely update.

So can I turn off updating to a newer version permanently if I go through the bother of downgrading ?

Or is it like windows which keeps disabling that and forces updates ?

[chagzuki]

It's important to make a USB intaller for the OS version your Mac ships with as once you upgrade the OS you no longer have access to the former one through the app store (best to keep your options open)... or so it was last time I was messing around with this stuff. But I'm pretty sure it will always ask for confirmation when updating the OS version rather than doing minor fixes. Just familiarise yourself with the system preferences, the auto-update options are there.

[pdxindy]

That being said it's just so feature full, so excellent at what it does do and so relatively cost effective that if you own a Mac there is absolutely no reason not have a copy on your machine. It literally costs as much as some VSTs and it's been updated pretty much for free yearly since 2013. Apple doesn't make any real money on Logic they primarily use it a selling point for the Mac AppStore along with FCPX.

The 10.5 update has been encouraging. They didn’t just put a new face on old stuff but did some new stuff that works really well. That bodes well for the old legacy limitations steadily disappearing over time.

The new drum designer exceeds expectations. And of course you get Alchemy and Sculpture both of which are worth the cost of Logic by themselves. The reverbs and delays are great... and so on.

10.5 shows a development team that is paying attention and enthusiastic, not just going through the motions.

[BoogerSnot]

So I'm just wonder how Logic users here feel about the product? Is Apple's walled-garden approach generating any problems for Logic users? The feature set looks comprehensive on paper... at a good price. I wonder what the downsides are? How much do upgrades generally cost and how does that work out over time? Have there been any OS compatibility problems, particularly with the Catalina general issues/bugs?

Is Logic incorporating iPad input methods... I assume there are cool ways to use the iPad as a controller?

Logic is solid, though I still gravitate to Live, mainly because it has a better Session mode and better MIDI routing for 3rd party plugins. You really have to weigh your own personal positives and negatives, Logic is definitely solid though all around.

It also has it's own dedicated controller for iPad, though I don't use it.

One of the great things about the iPad is all the MIDI controllers available for it, like StepPolyArp, ChordPolyPad, and Fugue Machine, among others. And with the iPad and a Mac you can just plug it using the iPad's connecting cable and use MIDI that way. Not sure how that compares to Windows, but it's a great feature, to have an abundance of MIDI controllers you can plug and play with no further set up needed.

[dellboy]

After a couple of weeks of using Logic I have to confess, I find it a mess.

Why have they hidden Alchemy away somewhere ?

Sometimes I find it by accident - and then its gone again, hiding somewhere. The same goes for the sampler and other stuff. Some times the legacy Logic instruments are there with all the synth functions showing and then - poof - there gone and just basic controls are available.

When I bought Cubase Pro I was up and running in 5 minutes, everything was easy to navigate and find, the same for Studio One, but Logic is doing my head in. Logical it aint.