Logic and general state of Mac OS and iOS integration

[EdgarRothermich]

I did initially consult the Help function which told me to create a track and open the Library and pick an instrument. The main one I wanted was Alchemy which was not there. I also wanted to try the sampler which also was not there, and finally retrosynth which was absent as well.

After spending an hour or two clicking on stuff I found them by accident hiding with the "legacy synths" even though I thought there were quite recent additions and not legacy.

Confusingly, if you click in the library under "Legacy"/ Logic they are not there either.

I think we can blame the Help Menu for misleading you. It tries to simplify things and therefore maybe end up being confused.
Once you understand the required components (that are the same in every DAW), then it is easier what these steps mean:
1 Track: FIrst you have to create a Track
2 Plugin: You need to load an Instrument Plugin on that Track
3 Preset: You can load Presets onto that Plugin

Depending on the DAW, those three components/steps might be combined to make it easier/faster.

I mentioned already, that in Logic, you can define a default Preset (Patch) to each Plugin and you can define a default Plugin for a new Track. That means that you only create step 1, and step 2 and 3 automatically happen.

From what you write, I think you are missing step 2. Yes, after creating an Instrument Track, you can use the Library Browser to load a specific Patch and that Patch loads a specific Plugin. This is for user who looks for a sound (i.e. lead synth) and could care less about what Instrument Plugin create that sound. This is where you go straight to the Library Window.

[Virgil]

Is Logic Pro X linked to a serial, apple id, or machine?
I have a macbook pro and iphone but don't love using an apple id.
Thanks.

Yeah, it’s linked to your Apple ID, like everything else in the Mac App Store.

Alright, thanks so much. I was afraid you were going to say that.
Is just that I loathe the apple id is linked to a cell number when trying to retrieve your forgotten password. GG

[apoclypse]

DAWs nowadays have become extremely powerful and complex and some stuff you have to look up or learn, no matter how intuitive the implementation is. Unfortunately, it happens way too often that I see posts on various forums where users ask questions because they didn't invest their own time to learn a thing (look at the manual) and want others to it for them, or just want a quick recipe without to bother with the understanding/knowledge.

I did initially consult the Help function which told me to create a track and open the Library and pick an instrument. The main one I wanted was Alchemy which was not there. I also wanted to try the sampler which also was not there, and finally retrosynth which was absent as well.

After spending an hour or two clicking on stuff I found them by accident hiding with the "legacy synths" even though I thought there were quite recent additions and not legacy.

Confusingly, if you click in the library under "Legacy"/ Logic they are not there either.

The Library browser is just for presets but it doesn't show all instrument presets which can be confusing for sure. Like it doesn't;t show you all of Alchemy's 3549 patches, or none of the Sampler, Sculpture, ES2 etc patches. It just shows you a few patches that Apple has created and they are mostly channel strip settings. You can save you own in there if you want to do some leg work and save some default Library patches for each instrument like Alchemy, Sampler etc.

Apple definitely needs to address that and make Library an actual media browser with plugins, presets etc.

[Etienne1973]

Apple definitely needs to address that and make Library an actual media browser with plugins, presets etc.

Let your voice be heard: https://www.apple.com/feedback/logic-pro.html

[dastee9]

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.

I have Cubase and Studio One and you just drag any instrument and drop it and it automatically creates a track with the chosen instrument ready to go.

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

Even in a very old DAW like Energyxt 3 you could right click and scroll down an instrument list and select a VST, which is a step on from Logics way of doing it, although its not drag and drop.

Bandlab Sonar has drag and drop of instruments, and its free, so it seems odd that Logic never got around to doing this simple workflow thing.

Yeah, drag and drop (other than from the loop browser) would be a cool feature for Apple to add to Logic. Although, FYI, in the mixer you can click and scroll down an instrument or plugin list depending on where you click...

[teilo]

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.

You can boot Windows from an external drive. You can boot even boot Windows from an external drive on a Mac. Your BIOS just needs to support booting from USB devices. Most do. It will be slower, though. The ideal is a second SSD in a desktop. No performance issues.