The new Delay Designer opens up a vast array of cool time-based effects.

 

Apple sent shock waves through the professional music industry last fall with the release of the industrial-strength, full-featured Logic Studio suite, which now represents the absolute best value for anyone looking to establish a digital audio recording and editing workstation from scratch. It contains everything you’ll need to create polished music - just add talent and stir.

 

One of the biggest obstacles for people weaned on GarageBand and moving up to previous versions of Logic has been the almost overwhelming interface, which was quite powerful but daunting to many who made the effort to master it. This latest version of Logic has undergone a significant overhaul, with the myriad overlapping windows of previous versions cleaned up and made more orderly with a single-screen approach.

 

Control-clicking on interface elements now brings up the contextual pop-up menu with all relevant commands, an Apple convention long absent from Logic. This doesn’t mean that Apple jettisoned any of the intense capabilities of the app. It just means that everything is easier to find and use, even the unique Environment window, which allows you to concoct the most insanely complex signal and control paths imaginable. The overall improvement in the interface is compelling enough to make Logic Studio your default recording and editing application. Former Logic users can rejoice in the fact that the USB copy-protection dongle is now officially history.

 

The Arrange window is the main editing screen for manipulating the chunks of MIDI and sampled audio that make up a recording. You can now edit sampled audio directly in this view, down to the individual sample level - a long-standing request from hardcore Logic users - as well as integrated time stretching and compression, which produce very smooth, usable results. External loops and audio are accessed via a Media Browser reminiscent of Final Cut’s, and there’s even a Spotlight-enabled search tool for quickly tracking down specific audio clips on any hard drive.

 

Logic has a slick new interface that puts all major functionality on a single screen, including sample-accurate audio editing.

 

Quick Swipe comping is a truly innovative addition that lets you instantly select the best portions of a take and create a comp. This feature is likely to convert some recording studio holdouts. Overall, the range of MIDI and audio editing tools is beyond the scope of this review, but rest assured that any editing contingency is covered well beyond the basics. Logic has many years of field use, and it shows in the deeply comprehensive and capable toolset.

 

Automation is also extensive, allowing you to create automated controls for most major audio attributes (volume and panning), as well as just about every control of the many instrument and effects plug-ins, including third-party Audio Units offerings. The Arrange view directly displays and edits all automation tracks as visual envelope controls, which are totally intuitive and can be adjusted even as a sequence is playing - a useful touch.

 

One of the most compelling value propositions of Logic Studio is the awesome range, quality, and flexibility of the arsenal of software instruments, effects, and loops. All five Apple Jam Packs are here, as well as thousands of sound effects and other musical content, more than enough to build some lovely compositions and musical accompaniments for just about any commercial and artistic undertaking. There are more than 2,400 channel strip templates, combining equalization, compression, and other effects into presets perfectly suited to making everything from vocals to recorded instruments sound stellar and polished.

 

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MainStage takes over your screen so you can easily view the seeings for this rad guitar patch from across the stage.

 

Once you start to hit the wall with the loops, you’ll be delighted at the sonic potential of playing the bundled synthesizers, which range from utilitarian to absolutely superb. The Sculpture modeling synth is a standout - unbundled, it would likely sell for a few hundred bucks all by itself. It can generate some delicious stringed, plucked, and struck instruments, resulting in organic and dynamic sounds that fit nicely into any style of music you’re likely to indulge in. The electric piano goodness of the Hohner Clavinet and Rhodes keyboards are wonderfully emulated by the EVD6 and EVP88, and R&B aficionados will just adore the spot-on sound of the EVB3 Hammond organ plug-in.

 

Logic has more synths than you can shake a stick at, and that’s not even covering the revamped Ultrabeat rhythm synth, an amazingly complete drum and percussion übermachine. Effects are well represented too, with a brand-new plug-in called Delay Designer, a multitap delay marvel that will put you right in the hands of U2 guitarist the Edge - the beginning of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” well, you’ll find it in the Delay Designer, along with endless other regenerating marvels. The quality and quantity of the built-in instruments and effects is nothing short of outstanding, and will keep you busy for years.

Logic Studio is also bundled with the rather excellent Soundtrack Pro 2 audio editing package, Compressor 3, MainStage (see Mainstage below), the WaveBurner CD mastering program, and some other utilities that essentially round out the suite. The documentation is clear and exhaustive, including more than 10 pounds of well-written manuals, and the online help is extensive.

 

While Logic Studio is an amazing bundle, there are some warts on this beauty. In the course of testing the software, we ran into a few random program crashes, which need to be addressed by Apple. Professional recording studios can’t stand for crashes, because time is costly. The bundled instruments and effects are extensive, but the truth is that some of the plug-ins (such as the EXS24 Sampler) have not received major improvements in years, and are starting to feel a little long in the tooth. Mind you, we’re not making a major fuss over this, it’s just that the times, they are a-changing, and we’ve become spoiled on things like Native Instruments’ Absynth and PSP AudioWare’s amazing Vintage Warmer. But it’s nice to know that these Audio Unit plug-ins, and most others, work seamlessly with the Logic suite.

 

The bottom line. Logic Studio has risen to the rank of best musical bargain on any computing platform, and will likely make some third-party music software publishers lose precious sleep. Apple has officially come up with a major hit, and we’re thrilled to see what musical wonders will emerge from the fingertips of its fans.

 

COMPANY: Apple

CONTACT: www.apple.com

PRICE: $499, upgrades from $199

REQUIREMENTS: 1.25GHz G4 or Intel processor, Mac OS 10.4.9 or later, 1GB RAM, 7GB free disk space (plus 39GB for accompanying musical content)

Killer bargain. Nicely overhauled interface. Everything you need in one box to make marvelous music. Universal binary.

A touch unstable. Some of the instruments need updating.

 

 

MAINSTAGE: A SOLID OPENING ACT

While Logic does a knockout job in the studio, it’s far from perfect for use in a live performance situation. Enter a totally new application dubbed MainStage, which is designed to serve as the center of a live rig. The primary idea is to have MainStage drive specific combinations of its software instruments and effects in custom-configured, virtual racks that respond to hardware controller input for triggering musical notes, applying specific signal processing effects to the audio routed through a Mac, and switching the patches of the rig in real time. MainStage can also be used with any Audio Units-compatible plug-ins, amplifying its usefulness and appeal.

 

Imagine a musical set consisting of a dozen songs, and you step on a foot controller before each song, which loads up a preconfigured set of effects for changing the guitar, or a massive, layered keyboard sound with visually delimited splits between sounds. You can build a specific rig with the intuitive interface design tools, and everything is designed to be clearly readable on a darkened stage. It’s a uniquely cool idea, and we hope that Apple adds the ability to trigger MIDI sequences and Logic files in the next version. The fact that it’s bundled with the Logic Studio package is icing on an already delicious cake.