If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that managing tempo is a major stumbling block for Logic Pro users. From Flex Time to Smart Tempo, many users struggle to achieve tempo perfection for their Projects.
For example, a reader named Jim B. contacted me because he was having trouble with Drummer.
The issue – no matter how hard Jim tried, Drummer wouldn’t play in time with his audio recordings.
Has this ever happened to you? You’ve laid down some ideas and arranged them into a song. And now you’d love to add Drummer or an Apple Loop to complete the Project.
But despite Drummer and Apple Loops willingness to adapt tempo, neither option will work!
I thought this was a great chance to help out anyone struggling with tempo in Logic.
In today’s video above, I figure out why Drummer doesn’t match up with Jim’s recordings. Then, I use Flex Time to edit the rhythm guitar’s performance to better line up with the Project Tempo.
When I bring Drummer back into the picture, it sounds great!
So today’s video is all about Flexing audio regions to better match up with a consistent Project Tempo.
NEXT WEEK – I’ll do the opposite! Instead of Flexing the guitar performance, I’ll use Smart Tempo to beat-map Logic’s Project Tempo.
That way Drummer, Apple Loops, and imported audio files will match the beat-mapped result.
So if you’ve been stuck on tempo in Logic Pro, be sure to check out these next couple of videos 👍
Usual flawless presentation of what Logic offers in fine detail from Chris.
Legend!!!
Thanks so much for the kind words Ross! Means a lot over here 👊
Your tips and video’s are awesome. Thank you for your time and effort sharing your knowledge
That is such a simple guitar part that you make it look easy, although mind numbingly tedious. I’d like to see that done with a guitar part that has a lot of syncopation, and fewer transients.
My struggle is always with importing audio tracks to a project and getting them to line up correctly with existing midi or audio tracks. The import tempo settings of Keep/Adapt, etc always confuse and frustrate me.
Thanks for the suggestion Rusty. Often I’ve found the more complicated the example, the more folks tend to get lost. So a simple example can help illuminate the workflow, and users can adapt it to their own situation.
One user’s “tedious” is another’s “too fast.” So I try my best to accommodate all skill levels the best I can. If I wasn’t demonstrating to an audience I certainly would’ve skipped several steps in today’s video.
Is there a way to flex adjust multiple tracks at the same time? Like if you had multiple mics on a drum set? Or would you still need to do each track individually?
Hi Derrick, absolutely! For editing multiple tracks that are similar in performance, but not identical (example: 2 distinct rhythm guitars tracks that are equal in length and performance) you’ll want to group those tracks together using the Group assignments, and make sure to enable the “Editing (Selection)” option in the Group Settings.
If you have multiple tracks of the same exact performance (example: multimic drum recording), you’ll want to also enable the “Quantized-Locked (Audio)” setting as well to preserve phase between the different miked tracks as you edit.
Here’s a link to a video and post regarding editing multimic drums with Flex Time:
https://whylogicprorules.com/edit-drums-flex-time/
And a video regarding Groups in Logic Pro:
https://whylogicprorules.com/groups-vca/
Hello Chris!
I see you don’t use the available Flex modes Align Bars – or Align Bars and Beats – in this tutorial. Could you explain why you didn’t?
Thanks!
Thank you Chris! Certainly been there and done that. One bar at a time…. Kudos to your presentation and skill in “making it look easy”. You’ve saved me many hours, many times. I’m indebted to your tutorials. Ta!