Logic Pro
| Developer(s) | Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 8.0.1
/ 2007-12-18 |
| Operating system | Mac OS X |
| Type | MIDI Sequencer + Digital Audio Workstation |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www.apple.com/logic/ |
Logic Pro is a Digital Audio Workstation and MIDI sequencer software application for the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer C-Lab (then known as Emagic), Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought out Emagic in 2002. Logic Pro is part of Apple's Logic Studio bundle of professional music applications.
A consumer-level version based on the same interface and audio engine but with reduced features, called Logic Express, is also available at a reduced cost. Apple's GarageBand, another application using Logic’s audio engine, is included free of charge as part of the pre-installed software on all new Apple computer systems.
History of the Logic sequencer
Early history
Logic started life as the MIDI sequencer C-Lab Creator on the Atari ST platform in the 1980s (the ST was an early favorite among MIDI users during the mid- and late-80s). As the program advanced, and music notation was added, it was named C-Lab Notator. Sometime in the 1990s, due to massive growth in popularity of Cubase, Creator/Notator was given a complete rewrite and became Logic. With increasingly powerful computing hardware becoming available to users throughout the 1990s, succeeding generations of the Logic software were released with ever more powerful inbuilt audio processing tools. New versions of Logic do much more than simply send and receive MIDI messages, and Logic’s Audio Unit based effects and synthesiser plugins have become well-respected tools for composers and producers worldwide.
Notator first arrived in the USA from Germany in the fall of 1988 with version 1.12 at a suggested list price of US$ 649; Digidesign was the distributor. Notator was notable for its ease of use at a time when sequencers could be esoteric and difficult to navigate, had few if any graphics, and didn't have mouse-controlled interfaces. It had a clean, high-resolution paperwhite display, like the Mac, but larger, and its complex midi crunching functions were non-destructive.
Over its history, the program evolved through many version upgrades and was offered for both Mac and Windows.
Addition of audio recording
In the early 1990s, with Logic version 3, Emagic added the ability to record and mix audio into the sequencer tracks, along with its existing MIDI capabilities that had continued to be expanded as well. At the time, computers were not fast enough to record audio in "native mode", so additional hardware was needed to make it work, usually in the form of sound cards or DSP cards plugged into the computer's internal bus slots, such as the NuBus slots on Apple Macs running the Motorola 68K line of CPU processor chips. Among the systems that worked with Logic 3 were Digidesign's Audiomedia card and Pro Tools III.
In the mid 1990s, Emagic released the Logic version 4, and their Audiowerk audio interface, introducing the ability for Logic to record and mix audio without requiring additional hardware, although the track counts and processing possibilities were significantly limited by the speed of the computers of those times, which were very slow relative to current systems.
Further developments
Logic 5 featured significant improvements in user interface, and increased compatibility with more types of computers, operating systems, and a wide range of native-more audio interfaces.
With Logic 6, eMagic added the availability of separately packaged software products that were closely integrated add-ons developed specifically for use with Logic, including software instruments, the EXS sampler and audio processing plug-ins. The Logic 6 package also included the stand-alone program Waveburner, for burning redbook audio CD standard-compliant CDR masters for replication, however, that application was considered a free bonus feature; it was not advertised as part of the package and did not include printed documentation. PDF documentation was included on the installer disc.
Apple’s acquisition
Apple acquired Emagic in July 2002.[1] Support for the Windows version was dropped with the release of Logic 6 shortly thereafter.
In late 2004, Apple released version 7 of Logic Pro, consolidating over 20 different Emagic products, including all instrument and effect plug-ins, Waveburner Pro (CD Authoring application), and Pro Tools TDM support, into a single product package. Apple also released a scaled down version of Logic called Logic Express, replacing two previous versions that filled that position called Logic Silver and Logic Gold. Apple began promoting Logic Pro as one of its flagship software ‘Pro’ applications for the Macintosh platform. Logic was also used as the basis for a modified application titled GarageBand, included at no extra charge as part of OS X on all new Apple computers.
Additions to Logic Pro 7 included: the integration of Apple Loops, Distributed Audio Processing (an innovative technology for combining the power of multiple computers on a network), 3 new instruments including Sculpture (a sound modeling synth) and Ultrabeat (a drum synth and sequencer), and 9 new effect plug-ins including Guitar Amp Pro (guitar amp simulator), and a linear phase corrected version of their 6 channel parametric equalizer. In total, Logic Pro 7 now included 70 effect plug-ins and 34 instrument plug-ins. Pro-Tools TDM compatibility, which had been a feature of Logic since version 3.5, was not supported by Logic 7.2, or any later version of Logic 7 on Intel-based Mac computers[2]; TDM support returned with the release of Logic 8.
Logic 8
On September 12, 2007, Apple released the Logic Studio suite that includes Logic Pro 8. Logic Pro is no longer a separate product, although Logic Express 8, which was released on the same day, remains a separate product.
Significiant changes were made for Logic 8. Alongside changes such as the new processing plug-in (Delay Designer), Apple has included features such as Quick Swipe Comping, such as that in Soundtrack 2, and multi-take management. Apple also made changes to ease of use. These include the discontinuation of the XSKey Dongle and a streamlined, single screen interface, which is in some ways similar to that of Ableton Live, but highly customizable.
Other additions to the new interface include consolidated arrange windows, dual channel strips, built in browsers (like that in Garageband) and production templates.
Features
Logic Pro provides software instruments, synthesisers, audio effects and recording facilities for music synthesis. It also supports Apple Loops - professionally-recorded instrument loops that can be used as beats and are royalty-free. Audio effects include distortions, dynamics processors, equalization filters and delays. The Space Designer plugin, for example, simulates the acoustics of audio played in different environments, such as rooms of varying size, or producing the echoes that might be heard on high mountains. Logic can work with MIDI keyboards and control surfaces for input and processing. It also features real-time scoring in musical notation, supporting guitar tablature, chord abbreviations and drum notation.
Logic Pro and Express share much functionality and the same interface. Logic Express is limited to two-channel stereo mixdown, while Logic Pro can handle multichannel surround sound. Both can handle up to 255 audio tracks, depending on system performance (CPU and hard disk throughput and seek time).
The application also features distributed processing abilities, which can function across an Ethernet LAN. One machine runs the Logic Pro app, while the other machines on the network run the Logic node app. Logic will then offload the effects and synth processing to the other machines on the network. If the network is fast enough (i.e. gigabit Ethernet) this can work in near-real time, depending on buffer settings and CPU loads. This allows users to combine the power of several Macintosh computers to process Logic Pro’s built-in software instruments and plug-ins, and 3rd party processing plug-ins.
Notable users
Some notable users include Radiohead, Justin Timberlake, John Mayer, Depeche Mode, Snow Patrol, The Chemical Brothers, The Crystal Method, Christina Aguilera, Pet Shop Boys, 'N Sync, Nine Inch Nails, BT, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Peter Gabriel, John McLaughlin, Gwen Stefani, Rick Rubin, Thomas Dolby...[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Apple Acquires Emagic". Apple, Inc. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
- ^ According to Digidesign’s compatibility document for Pro Tools TDM HD 7.2 and 7.3, Logic Pro will require a future update from Apple to support Pro Tools HD DAE for Intel-based Macs."
- ^ "List of Celebrity, Famous V.I.P. Logic Pro users". Logic Pro Help. Retrieved 2007-01-29.