This week I’d like to ask for your help.
You see, every week when I sit down to film a video, I pop open my Apple Notes. And in there I have a big ol’ list of potential topics I could cover.
Some of those topics are just ideas that I thought would be fun to cover. While the majority of my list is questions I’ve received from readers and viewers over the last few years.
And that’s awesome! Because what’s most important is that WLPR is helping you.
But that big list has become so big, that I suspect I’m losing the forest for the trees when I sit down to film. What one person needs help with might not be what you (and most other users) want to see on WLPR.
So here’s my question:
If you were in charge of WLPR’s content calendar for the next 6 weeks, what would you like to see on the channel and website?
It could be anything! For example, just to get the ball rolling maybe you’d like to see videos on:
- Recording guitars
- Mixing for singer-songwriters
- Capturing ideas with Live Loops
- Recording rock vocals
- Spatial Mixing
- A beginner’s guide to Logic Pro
- The fundamentals of Compression
- Advanced mastering techniques
- What the heck are the MIDI Transform functions for?
- Etc, etc, etc
The ideas above are just examples. What I want to know is what is most important to you and your music right now? What would be most helpful to you to see on WLPR right now?
And if you could please leave me a comment below that would be amazing!
Even better – if you see a comment that already suggests what you’d like to see, please reply to that comment and let me know.
Go ahead and share as many ideas as you like! My hope is to find out what is going to help the most people right now and hit those topics ASAP.
Your feedback is massive. And while everything in Logic Pro deserves (and will eventually get) a video, some things are more important than others.
Thanks so much!
Hey Chris, that would be awesome to get a topic on:
How to mix orchestral strings, real or sample.
Thanks !
Thanks so much for your suggestion Laurent! What types of strings do you work with most? Real or software?
Hi Chris ! Capturing ideas on regular projects or Live Loops and have a easy strategy for the next step would be great !
Any help for building chord progressions, bridges and entire songs from a simple idea too…
Thanks for your everyday help ! 👏🏻
Hi Ben
Have you tried Scaler plug in – it is so cool I think for coming up with chord progressions and it has a tonne of features from bass to melody to movement phrases
https://youtu.be/eY6IuToCHaY
Joe
Hi Chris,
Capturing ideas from live loop would be great. Also any info on mastering would bne useful for me.
Thanks
David
Good to know! Thanks so much David.
Thanks so much for your suggestions, Ben! Truly appreciated 🙂
Tel people, Can be 30-50 performers to a string quartet to a multi cello playing 12 parts.
With sample library Lots of spiccato staccato and sustains, if you have any advices that would be great !
I strictly use software for strings and every other instrumentation as well.
Me too. The king’s cross strings are awesome. And you can record each instrument separately.
Hi, You really helped me a lot. Many thanks!
All the above suggestions are always welcome.
I would like to learn how to properly balance, EQ, mic position for; guitars, mandolin, fiddle, acoustic and slide guitars, acoustic bass.
There’s not too many clips for them on the Internet.
And my vocal tracks could use improvement also. I’m always stuck with choosing the right voice setting in logic.
Take care!
Litha
Great to know! Thank you Litha.
Understanding saturation. When to use it and how to use it. What tools are available in LPX
Thanks so much for your comments Robin! Great to know. I think I take saturation for granted regarding how much I use it. Def will include this in the near future.
Yes. This would be great.
I second that. How do you make Studio Stings or other patches like Spitfire Labs sound almost real?
I’m possibly alone on this, but I would love to see something on making glitchier music or collage-style experimental music. For glitchy, I would reference Endless Summer by Fennesz. For collages, I would reference Thought for Food by The Books. A ton of YouTube videos cover rock and hip hop, but there is a lot of mystery to the albums above and would love to hear how you would recreate sounds like that.
Good suggestion. Getting a spatial dimension to the sound picture is a worthy subject, as is getting clarity of sound and detail from tracks and ideas put down from the keyboard using the sounds on Logic Pro X. These too often end upon sounding too dense. That is the sort of mixing help that would be useful. I do not record any live instruments, as I do not play in a band or, wish to record such. All my music making is via a keyboard, mostly using Logic Pro X sounds, but have been trying out NI now, but find using them both together causes Logic to crash. No idea if it’s me or the set up?
Thanks smithian! So to clarify:
– You only work with in-the-box instruments
– Your mixes end up sounding too dense
So creating space and clarity (while creating/writing I assume?) is top priority. Did I read this correctly?
Hey Chris, how’s about some real in depth tuition on articulation? How and when to use it and what can be articulated? I have so much trouble trying to get my head around it, often having some very senior moments😜😂😜😂😜😂😜😂
Sorry Chris I meant ‘Automation’ see! I really don’t understand 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Any reply?
Hey Gary, thanks for your comments! Took the weekend off 😉
Can you expand on “real in depth tuition on automation?” Are there any particular situations you struggle to use automation?
Thanks!
Thanks so much for your suggestions DC! I’ll admit, my wheelhouse is rock, but I love venturing into pop/hip hop. I’m listening to your referenced tracks right now for ideas.
So to summarize – you’re interested in how to create glitchier sounds?
Chris
I’d love to learn more about spacial mixing!
Thanks for your great content and all your hard work!
Hey Doug, great suggestion! Is there anything in particular about Spatial Mixing you’d like to learn? Or any specific questions you have?
Expand from just Logic Pro! Do a why people tools rules next, and then ableton etc. I trust that you know audio. Teach us in more than just logic! <3 thanks for all the help along the way.
Thanks for your suggestion ROVCH! Unfortunately that’s probably the one thing I will refrain from doing. I’m down to explore plugins and instruments outside of what comes stock with Logic Pro if that’s something people are interested in. But I’m all Logic over here <3 Sorry!
I’d like a detailed breakdown of Logic’s quantise and swing functions, in particular the relationship and interaction between the quantise settings in the Inspector and the settings in the Piano Roll which seem completely at odds with each other. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Love it! Thanks for your comment Simon, and thanks for sharing specific details related to your suggestion 🙂
GREAT WORK CHRIS!!!👍🐣
My Easter wishes:
1:
Capturing verse and chorous ideas when composing – playing with the ideas and organize them to the final song. Using tracks like you sit humming playing with chords on a guitar.
2:
A simple plug-in template for recording vocals – with hints to headset monitoring.
Happy Easter
Eric
Cannes – France
Thanks so much Eric! I love your suggestions. Also – I’ve been seriously thinking about releasing templates that are far more focused on a single element, instead of trying to cater to every single possible element in a production. So I’m glad to know you’d like that.
I’m glad to see that someone else has questions about quantizing. I second your suggestion, Simon. And what about destructive and non-destructive quantization, quantizing attacks, releases and durations (is there a way to extend durations to the next attack.)…
Yes! Destructive vs. non-destructive quantization!
Your “Vocal Reverb and Delay 3 step approach” completely handled a problem I was having in a very short time. My wife is finally happy with a mix I did of her vocal!!!
I then compared it to my reference tracks (“Love Letter” Bonnie Raitt and “Lazarus Heart” Sting) and see that the drums and bass I have are very weak in comparison. She uses all Apple Loops in her song so they are recorded well.
I was hoping to find a breakthrough in this part of the mix like we did using your reverb and delay guidance. A video from Noize London seemed to promise a drum fattening mix but I couldn’t get it there.
I’m hoping you can describe how to get that “ Love Letter” punch in the drums and bass and how we can get close to that mixing an Apple Loops drum kit on one track..
Thank you so much for the breakthrough you have already delivered!!
Thanks so much Charles, and I’m so glad my reverb/delay article could be of help you and your wife! What drum Apple Loop were you using for your wife’s song?
Tutorial about recording an instrument, like guitar ‘naturally’ without a click track and adding the click track later to add eg drums and synths. Thus capturing an organic performance.
Love it! Thanks so much for your suggestions Ben.
I agree with Ben. Great topic for a tutorial!
Love ALL of your videos. I am not a beginner so maybe some advanced features or tricks in logic would appeal to me that I may be missing. Nonetheless, I learn something each time I watch! Thanks!
Thanks so much David! I’ll try my best 😉
Of the topics you listed I wd favour
The fundamentals of Compression
Advanced mastering techniques
What the heck are the MIDI Transform functions for?
I’d also like to hear from you about using reverb on tracks and how to use it to place tracks in the same world – if that makes sense !
Also – and this kind of goes with the mastering side of things – when I turn the track up it can get quite harsh sounding – how do you preserve a clean and clear high end when turning up the volume in mastering ? Is it because of summing if higher frequencies or maybe resonant frequencies ?
Post mastering is it ok for tracks to be over 0db?
I’ve looked at finished pro tracks and they appear to be clipping – massively in some cases! If they are limited I am assuming they are not technical peaking? but when I import them to look at them they are well in the red
When I mastering I follow the rules in terms of head room but still encounter problems at higher volumes !
I love your tutorials and they have been so helpful – so just wanted to say thanks as well 🤟
Thanks so much for your suggestions Joe! All great stuff. I’ll definitely tackle these in the near future 🙂
Would love to see both basic mastering and advanced mastering videos. That final step…mastering…is a bear!!! Many thanks!
Me too!
Duly noted. Thanks so much George and Mike+Kozar 🙂
Flex pitch and a step by step on how you tune a vocal. A lot of people use Melondyne and not flex pitch would be great to have a start to finish vocal tune example.
Great idea Richard! Thanks so much.
Hey Chris, I’m interested in mastering techniques, recording cello and violin, processing vocals.
Great! Thanks so much Tim for your suggestions.
Hi Chris,
Logic Drummer has come a long way and it has made my life easier as an amateur music producer. But I still struggle with Drum programming and creating a custom drum pattern is a huge challenge. I am sure like me, there are musicians out there who need to know how to use the drummer to create more realistic and dynamic drum progressions. In your next or future episode if you can do a few sessions on Logic Drummer then that will be great.
I’d love to see something on this as well.
I would also like to know more about the drummer feature. Thanks.
Perfect! Thanks so much Naweed, Mark and Gary.
Hi, Chris, good question indeed!
• I have the impression that (at least over here in Germany) there’s quite a lot of new Logic beginners around. Some coming from other DAWs, others completely new to DAWs at all.
So a new “LPX for Beginners” (side-)series might be no bad idea, I guess.
• What I alway find interesting is advice on “LPX stock plug-ins vs. external alternatives”. Including accent on the undoubted pro’s of the stock equipment.
• Further I’d appreciate deeper info on the “We’ve built AI in our latest plug-in/update” trend. And judgement on where this is rather marketing speak.
• And of course it’s always good and helpful to learn more about Better Recording, Better Mixes and Better Mastering.
• Last not least I’d be interested what you think about the brand new union of NI, iZotope and Plugin Alliance/Brainworx – and what that might mean to us users in the future …
Anyway – thanks an awful lot for what I’ve learned from you and some of your colleagues in the past years!
Best regards from Germany,
Rich
You’ve done many videos on Logic drummer but I would like more as it is so hard to make any program completely believable. I’ve started experimenting with incorporating live shakers and tambourines which is the max I’ll get away in my apt. . If you have any further approaches or techniques on top of what you’ve already done would be great!
Anything on organizing the sessions further would be appreciated. My folders on the SSD I’m using are such a mess and I end up wasting storage by duplicating and quadrupling, etc. I could live with that part but losing various alternative projects never to be seen again in that mess is not so easy to swallow. There must be an effective system within Logic and Apple thst im simply missing. Thanks!
Neil
An over-the-shoulder style mix session with you, start to finish, Logic plugs only! From the importing of stems to the final piece… goals being to highlight great workflow ideas in Logic from individual track treatments to bus processing to the final product.
I know, tall order… but from a fellow Chris, I think you’ve got this 😀
Thanks for all you do. Helped me so much.
For me it would be how to get movement from bass audio samples using automation and logics plug ins.
I’m a Drum and Bass producer and it’s one thing I really struggle with. Thanks again and big up!!
Spacial Mixing- particularly for film score/ objects moving through space L/R butr also forward and back?
Compression for Dummies
Vocoding
Hey Chris — LOVE the channel and learned a heck of a lot from your Mixing and Mastering courses – great investment!
On the day-to-day, business side of recording — I’d be very interested in learning what tools you use to organize and manage your clients, projects (ie time/project management, invoicing) and digital assets (ie audio masters, stems etc)?
Do you use any off-the-shelf databases, spreadsheets, or digital asset management systems? Maybe you built your own relational database, ie custom FileMaker Pro app for your specific needs?
Thanks for anything you care to share on the channel related to the practical aspects of a Logic-based studio workflow and running a small studio business
Would love this too! I’m retiring from the day job in two weeks and studio time is filling up quickly. I don’t want to get overwhelmed and miss out on anything or have scheduling issues, etc.
Hey Peter,
Thanks so much for your feedback and kind words! I never would’ve considered the topics you brought up (business of recording). That would be pretty interesting to geek out on at some point 🙂
Oh I would also love a tutorial on sidechain compression
I know you did one before but if I recall that was using the sucker in the noise gate plug in I think
I’d like to see one using the compression plug in – maybe you have already done this !
I would like to see videos on correcting timing with drums,(not electronic drums)vocals, guitars, bass, etc. Being able to lock it to a grid when musicians aren’t super-savvy in having something consistent. Also, they do not like using click tracks. Should a drum track be quantized and then the bass, guitars, vocals,etc be quantized after that? I would like to able to see the transients in the mix window so they bass ,for example can line up with the kick drum. As always, use the ears to make sure it’s right. Also, I always record multiple takes using the Takes function, and want to move let’s say, a great drum fill from the second verse to replace a bad drum fill in the first verse.
Mixing for singers / songwriters and using futuristic effects glitches etc
I record live drums and use tempo mapping to flex and better sync the performances on other tracks with the drums. I desperately need an understanding of how to correctly create a tempo map and how to correctly use flex time on other instruments. Often when I flex a track the whole track moves WAY out of sync when I enable flex for that track and it’s a horrendously time consuming job to bring that track into sync w flex. It’s clear I’m not using it right, even though I’ve read Apple’s ref manuals and exhaustively searched YouTube. None of the many YouTube tutorials for using tempo maps and flex together go into any real detail, especially in solving live drums. We need to better understand this mechanism as it is extremely valuable when it works right. As a bonus, I’d love to see an explanation of the relationship between beat mapping and tempo mapping, and when to use which.
Thanks for your great work!
Hey Mark, thanks so much for your suggestions! Have you checked out the following video and post about tempo mapping and flexing a full session?
https://whylogicprorules.com/no-metronome-no-problem/
Also, when you say you flex a track and it goes way out of sync, are these tracks that you’ve imported or recorded into Logic Pro?
Another post that might be helpful:
https://whylogicprorules.com/flex-time-not-working/
I would like to see what stock plug-ins you use when creating a submix/submaster (bus) for vocals, guitars, bass, drums, etc.!
More on recording, less on mixing and mastering. Bought the element 88 based on your advice and it is always confusing when first setting up direct monitoring. Things like being able to play and hear a software instrument for pitch reference while recording vocals. Often it is hard to get the keyboard to make any sound while recording a vocal track, or I can’t hear the other keyboard tracks I already recorded. Also, I spent about an hour yesterday trying to get my direct mic sound through my headphones while recording but never got it to work.
Hey Nick, thanks so much for your feedback. How are you routing the Direct Monitoring using the Element 88? Via Logic Pro’s Audio Device Controls, or the Apogee interface?
I’d like to see a video showing how to mimic DP’s “Mixing Snapshot” feature, whereby a “snap” can be taken of a certain point in mixer automation and ALL mix features are recorded at that point.
Hey Philip, can you expand on the “Mixing Snapshot” function? I’m not familiar with what it is or it’s intended goal. Thanks!
I would like to learn some shortcuts to shortening the time I’m taking in editing the velocities and note lengths of my recorded piano, keyboard, and any other tracks. Especially all the orange and red colored notes that are way too loud. Thank you Chris for all your helpful advise.
Hi Chris. Recently I submitted a project to a mix engineer. He uses LPX as well, so he asked me to send the actual LPX project as well as the LPX project with tracks bounced in place. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to do this. Folder vs package? If I checked off too many assets to include, the files were too large for the sharing service, even after they were compressed. Could you walk us through this process?
Hey Chris! I love your channel, am an avid Logic user since the very beginning. Can you please review: Automation techniques for mixing, the what, why and how. Logic does so many different things so well, but sometimes we miss the why…
Thanks,
Ty
I would second this. My wish here would to complete your automation series by concentrating on automating plug-ins and their parameters – both stock and third party. You touch on this briefly in your other automation videos, but more detail here with some ‘meaty’ examples would be great please! Might also overlap well with some requests above for glitch style effects? Many thanks.
Gain staging. Although I get the concept, the actual steps aren’t clear. Perhaps you could walk us through gain staging a simple project.
I love to see, more Mixing, Mastering and plugins tips on logic
Thanks
I would like to see a mix and master of some binaural recordings.
Randomization in Logic, for example using the arpeggiator and sampler etc. I love all your videos Chris, really cool way dig into all the possibilities of Logic! I would like to hear more about how to get random sounds, fx etc. in Logic. How to route the midi fx or other plugins to get random sounds, maybe also with Step Sequencer.
Kind regards,
Stefan
Love your videos.
I’d like to see a deep dive into Alchemy, especially since it’s been upgraded with new features.
I would LOvE a breakdown of the multiband compressor. The why and how it works would be great!
Thank you Chris!
I love the videos showing me
That I do not, in fact, need a ton of plug-ins, so continuing to delve into what all Logic has under the hood is great.
Beyond that, just finishing a song would be nice. I know it isn’t really your focus, but creativity hacks to allow you to move forward and not be sick of the first 8-16 measures before you are even half done is what I need. I mostly ignore the mixing and mastering content because it is of no use to me until I actually finish something. How do people get past listening to their work hundreds of times without it sounding dumb eventually?
Hi, I would really like to learn how to mix and make my tracks (songs with vocals and instrumental )sound professional. I don’t know how to apply eq, reverb, and all those other effect in live project. It nice to see you break down these things solo but I would really like to see it all come together in a live track.
Could you maybe select 2/3 songs or sections of some popular songs and try to recreate the mix for a verse etc.
Like I can copy the channel strip setting from all the demo track in logic but I still don’t know why and what to use depending on the singer
I would like to hear what you are expecting from Logic Pro “11”. Is it time for Logic to change the deep and incredible detailed and capable interface which is of course a great tool for the professionals and adopt a more modern, more “abstractive” and playfull interface which will attract the younger generations? Are you expecting a big change of all the software instruments and effects towards the above mentioned direction? See for example the new Playbox from native instruments or the new Augmented Strings from Arturia or their Efx FRAGMENTS interface. I have the feeling that many companies adopt that way of designing plug ins. They are playful, easy to use and don’t demand a deep knowledge. The new producers may not want to have your technical background to use a compressor, they want to experiment with a more free way, out of the box of technical reasons and explanations. I am missing also the easiness of the Reasons players. Step sequencer is a great tool but I am feeling more comfortable with the sequencers and players of Reason. You can have immediate result. Sorry for the long comment. Thanks for your videos.
Hi Chris,
I’d like to learn how to get more realistic sounding drums, not using Drummer or necessarily a drum kit. Also, how to get more subtle percussion sounds, though I suppose I am limited by the sample. Like snare brush work, or the swiping of a hand across a drum head. There are some good samples I found, but most seem either in your face or too esoteric for me.
Thanks!
How about logic vs another DAW pros and cons? I vote Ableton.
I would love to hear you explain clearly how Logic uses its multi-take comping features. How to use this logically, effectively and safely. I imagine this is well implemented by Logic by I’m always somewhat confused by this process. Would to hear how you organize this and do it. Not only for a single lead vocal track, but also with a multi-track drum session, for example. Thanks!
More on using Logic for singer songwriter pop song creation. Steps with recording midi piano or acoustic guitar, adding voice, adding other instruments including Logic drummer, then mixing/editing for a good demo. What are good Logic arrangement tools when composing, etc. What process/flow do you suggest?
Thanks
Thanks Chris for all your great content. One subject that I haven’t seen covered well is how to record multiple takes of an entire band, I don’t mean comping for tracks I know how to do that rather what is the best way to record multiple takes of a band (vocals, bass, drums, guitar) doing an entire song. My band might do 4-5 takes of a song before we have one that feels good and then we can go on to comp each track as needed. Currently I just keep adding takes of the entire song one after the other on the same track but this gets unwieldy and it seems like there should be a better way. Use of templates, alternate takes, or something else. Thanks
Dear Sensei, my problem is huge. I can never get my mix to 11 LUFS on songs with real drums or 808 kick’s v.s. EDM. With EDM I can go up to 9.5 with no distortion and a clear natural sound. What am I doing wrong?. I studied your FTM course (which is amazing) and when I am done with the mix and move to the last step (Mastering) my mix produces distortion at the 11 LUFS mark. Not much, but enough to sound forced and not natural. Please, make a video on actual levels to use or not go over in order to not get distortion and have enough natural sound to bring it up to 14, 12, or ultimately 11. A video of the “Sweet Spots of Volume” where not too much and not too little will get you a reliable loud and good sounding result. Excuse my ignorance, but I just can’t get past this, I am so sad I stopped mixing and it’s just eating me inside. Thank you for all you do to help, I really appreciate it. Gracias Señor Chris.
1) I’d like to know more about the basics of side-chaining.
2) Also, using Live Loops in live settings, though I get that you focus on recording.
Hi Chris, and a huge thanks for all your top-notch videos. Out off the topics you listed, The fundamentals of Compression and Advanced Mastering Techniques are the ones that stood out for me. Other than that, the thing I feel most iffy about is pitch correction/flex pitch. Best wishes and thanks again. B.
I think EQ is an area where everyone could use a lot of assistance. Not so much tips but more so the process
Composing, producing and manipulating synth/electronic instruments. Also, how to quickly find the sound you’re looking for and working with the arpeggiator.
Hi Chris,
Perhaps an idea for a future session:
How are the stock Logic plug-ins different from the “Apple” audio units that are also included with Logic, other than the graphic interface?
Your videos are well-done and enjoyable, thank you!!
Hi Chris,
it would be nice to see how you’d mix and master a hiphop song with logic stock plugins only – especially if you just had headphones oder imperfect monitoring (on the go for example) – what what you do to compensate (analyzer? mono mixing? …)
Thanks for your content!
Johannes
Hi Chris, I’d love to see a deep dive on using Live Loops to capture songwriting ideas & experiment with different arrangements. An emphasis on recording live audio would be helpful, especially with trying to coordinate recording controls while strumming/picking a guitar.
Thanks for all the great videos you put out.
Right now I could really use some help with mixing backing vocals
Hi Chris,
Would love an update video on Apogee Symphony Desktop latest software version.
Also different setting options for Spoken Word using the EQ/Comp or Pultec etc.
Basically a good channel strip
Thxs
Steve
Hey Steve, thanks for your comment! Did you see my 3-part series on the latest Symphony Desktop update back in February? Here’s the link: https://whylogicprorules.com/symphony-desktop-update-walkthrough/
Recording guitar with an amp and impulse responses. What hardware and software options are available and how to set it up.
Your content is amazing Chris, and you always seem to read my mind when I need to learn something new.. That said, I’d love to see you work through studio gear with best options for control surfaces and how to expand your inputs etc. would be useful for all of us growing our studios. Thanks for all your efforts so far!
Your content is amazing Chris, and you always seem to read my mind when I need to learn something new.. That said, I’d love to see you work through studio gear with best options for control surfaces and how to expand your inputs etc. would be useful for all of us growing our studios. Thanks for all your efforts so far!
Recording voice singing with an acoustic guitar playing and how to if possible separate the mix of the two with no bleed between them. Maybe not possible, then what is the best way to record voice and guitar. Thanks
I would like to see a video on this too!
a beginners, intermediate and experts guide to compressors and compression – when to, how to and which one to use and why
Chris,
You always do great work that is paced so well. Many people post content based on Logic Pro performance techniques, but there is something Logic does that few ever demo. Often, I am collaborating with a small group that include vocalists, and it would be great if I could use Logic to quickly produce a rudimentary lead sheet for the performers (with lyrics and chords). Is that hard? It’s great to use Finale, Sibelius or some other notation software to do a lead sheet, but if some of the content is already recorded in Logic, do we really need to move to another software? Logic notation works different than other software in this regard, and I haven’t gotten my head around it. I would love to see you demo some quick and efficient techniques to convert a performance track to a melody line and guitar PDF that a vocalist or instrumentalist could find useful.
Beginners guide on automation or how to save presets with the bus information still active when loading the preset in a new project 👍
Hey Chris,
Thx for what you do
Capturing ideas with Live Loops
The fundamentals of compression
What the heck are the MIDI Transform functions for?
Using Logic strings
Would be my topic choices
Cheers & thx Again
Laurence
Hi Chris,
One thing I thought was super useful was when you showed how to see and hear only what the compressions was doing. I forget what video it was. But these kinds of details about how to test are helpful to learn the plugin. Maybe there are other plug-ins where this can done to demonstrate what they’re doing? Sorry if you’ve already covered it, I’m a little behind.
As for your list, here are ones that stood out to me:
* Capturing ideas with Live Loops – and developing them into songs
* Recording rock vocals – and how to record your own voice if you don’t have a good singing voice.
* A beginner’s guide to Logic Pro – especially navigating without a mouse, most efficient setups (if you have any additional insights from your previous videos on it),
* What the heck are the MIDI Transform functions for? I think this is what Scaler does? It would be super useful to understand this and how to use things like ToonTrack to generate ideas in LPX. There are many YouTubers that cover these, but no one explains things as well as you do.
A couple of things…..
1) making DI electric guitar sound amazing, both rhythm and lead. I’ve yet to find the killer tone, be it Gilmour or SRV style
2) managing the sound stage with multiple instruments. People talk about positioning instruments and giving them their own lanes but are so many factors including volume, panning, delay, reverb, eq ranges, etc. I know how these all work individually but it would be great to have a tutorial on the big picture with clear examples of moving sounds around. Hopefully this isn’t just asking ‘what is mixing’ lol….I’m focusing on the spatial aspects here.
Looking forward to whatever you put out next Chris!
To clarify #2…. Panning is super simple…you want the sound on the left you put it on the left. Want it in the middle put it in the middle. Want it everywhere make it stereo or use a spreader. It’s the stage depth that’s harder. How do I place an instrument or section 15’ behind another one? There are so many delay and reverb options but nothing as simple as panning is for side to side. Which techniques are good for managing the space between instruments vs mimicking the interaction of the instruments and the venue?
Hey Chris,
I’m not of the pop orientation that virtually dominates the MIDI world. My background is in classical, and I am interested in ambient music, as well. My question(s) start with the premise that I’m trying to avoid distortion and extraneous sounds (like “tape”). What should I be focusing on for effects beyond reverberation? Is compression/limiting desirable in this sort of music? etc.
Thank you for your attention to all of our needs using Logic Pro.
As a non guitarist who loves rock music, I often want to achieve great guitar sounds using MIDI riffs and patterns, and using sounds and processing to get a realistic end result.
So, given your Rock bias (nothing wrong with that!) a video on taking a MIDI guitar part, and using processing to get a great final sound would be awesome.
Obviously this would include compression, EQ, and the basics, but of course it’s very different with MIDI data than it is with an audio loop.
Just an idea ! 🙂
I found what seems to be an annoying bug. I’m working with a 70 audio tracks session, with lots of plugins, automation points and project tempo changes. When I bounce the project, at least some of the automation points get out of sync (they hit on a slightly different point in time) which ruins the bounce (live play back works just fine though). I found a work around, but maybe a video about this might be helpful for those suffering the same frustration.
A tutorial on compression basics… one thing that you do that is never how I’ve used compression is the soft distortion you add. I’m of the old school “compression never makes things louder – only softens the dynamic highs” – when I saw you fill the sound with soft distortion, my mind was blown.
Compression: You always add effects so they don’t change the overall loudness of the track – can you use the incoming db and the outgoing db to adjust for that? Like you use your ears in your tutorial – can we use the meters on the left and right of the plugin?
compression: Can you explain why the compressors work differently? The difference seems so subtle – maybe you can find some tracks where one does something VERY different than another so it is obvious what it is doing?
Recording vocalists: Often when I record, take 1 was close to the mic and take 2 was a few inches back and then when mixing those, I get different volumes. Is there a way to “auto” adjust these? I know I can flex-pitch edit the gain (which is what I do) but as I move through a track left to right, I feel like I could be “drifting” up or down and end up with a volume vastly different then where I started. Is there a way to ensure all the takes/pieces of vocals are the same volume?
I second all comments 🙌
Thanks Chris for all your effort. I would like to see videos on how to carve eq so “everything” will fit in my mixes. Today all gets a bit messy.
Hi Chris ! Thanks for your fantastic work. It helps a lot.
What about good tricks on how to record (and mix) saxophone ?
Hi Chris,
I would love more in-depth coverage of the entire tempo section of Logic. I know I am not getting the most out of it.
I would also like to know if it is possible to get the arpeggiator to do more stuff. It seems like the weakest thing in the MIDI FX section. Compare to Omnisphere Arp and you’ll see what I mean.
Other stuff in the MIDI FX section as well such as Velocity which is a great plugin for taming velocity, quick, handy, low CPU and easier than MIDI Transform.
I have been setting up a new M1 Mac to work with my composing templates, and have jumped through many a hoop to get both M1-native and non-native (Rosetta 2) plug-ins working.
It would be helpful if you could do a current overview for people starting this little adventure for themselves. One thing I learned, for instance (and that is not talked about accurately) is that both Final Cut and Logic can be run in their native (M1-only) mode even though some plug-ins are not M1-native — both apps essentially have their own case-specific Rosetta interpreter that steps in as needed. In the latest version, plug-in crashes (in either mode) are even handled better, too.
Mac users with an M1 processor are thus in a rather unique position where the hardware and OS is really being actively configured to work as reliably as possible with Apple’s “pro” apps, and I believe this makes Logic Pro … well … rule! ☺️
Anyway, it would be great to get the accurate story out there. Much of the online advice is either out-of-date or just wrong. I can’t think of a better person to do it than you!
Hi Chris,
How about mixing vocal stacks, background vocals. For example – if you have a lot of vocal tracks for harmonies and doubles, should you EQ and process each track which could use lots of cpu, or EQ, compress, de ess, them in a bus or a few busses? I know there are different approaches but what could be more efficient so you are not over processing Multiple tracks.
Thanks
Dan
Another suggestion is Logic Drummer. Is it possible to use drummer to create your own rhythm without having to use MIDI? Ie: by using the drummer to create your own specific drum beats, not just the drummer following you intuitively with a track.
How to EQ Drums/Bass/Guitars/Vocals to get them to sit properly in a mix
When to use a plugin on a track vs a plugin on a bus
Sidechain compression – what it is and why do it?
Essential third part Plugins (Waves,FabFilter, etc..)
Two topics are top of mind for me right now:
1. Getting solid lead vocals: your recommendations on how to do this (a) with pro-level output quality, (b) with acceptable demo quality (presumably, easier and faster).
2. Mixing a solid demo: particularly — what are the things you consciously exclude (for the sake of time, and not needing super high quality), that you might normally do in a pro-level mix.
Your LPX materials are the best I’ve found by the way. You are a great teacher. Videos are the right length and pace for me. You hit on topics I care about. Rock on!
Hi Chris
Thank you for creating a sense of community for Logic uses like myself.
I’m a professional musician & producer using Logic-Pro every day in the Studio.
Your updates on anything new is invaluable to me as well I enjoy any segment that breaks down functionality or intended practical use of the program.
Once again many many thanks and warmest regards
Chris Harold
Hi Chris,
I’d love to see a video on using Step Sequencer and Drummer together. I find that 90% of the time, Drummer does an excellent job creating a very natural sounding drum part. But for the other 10% of the time, I may want a very specific beat/pattern, that I can’t quite get with Drummer. That’s where I’m hoping Step Sequence can fill that need. I’d like to be able to make the SS pattern sound as natural as Drummer, then combine the two so that the overall drum part sounds seamless.
Thanks for your consideration. I appreciate everything you do for us Logic Pro users!
Hey Chris, long term professional user here since the days of C-Lab Notator! Love your site and I just bought the Easter special on your courses and already learnt some new tricks. Thank you for a great resource.
A topic I would love to get deeper on would be best practices for exporting sessions for 3rd parties – mix engineers, remixers etc. For example preparing and creating stems packages. It seems if we “export tracks as audio” it doesn’t include the bus fx sends which means the only way to send others our fully produced individual tracks is by soloing and bouncing them. There has to be a better way than this? If Apple could update this process it would literally save me weeks of my life! I was based in LA for a few years working with Art Garfunkel and was lucky enough to meet with John Danty at the Apple Spaceship. Great experience! I’m based in Sydney now with a new studio. Check out my link for a bit more on my story. Keep up the good work mate. Love it!
Hmm… hold on I’m going to re-watch your export series! I always run into latency issues when exporting buses, particularly with UAD plugs. Apologies if you’ve covered this already!
Ok I watched all the exporting videos and they’re great. I guess my issues is more that I’d like to see Apple add a function where we could export every track with bus sends automatically. Just a little tick box option that next to “include volume and pan automation” that says “include sends”. Oh sweet joy that would be.
Like I mentioned before I export a simple kick drum send that’s going to a UAD 1176 for parallel compression (NY compression vibes) when I line up the resulting file with the exporting kick drum file they are not in sync. IS that the same for everyone else?
Thanks as always for all the great info!
Hi Chris,
You’ve covered a lot in great detail, and great to see all the ideas people have sent for more! Thanks for all you’ve recorded so far!
I would be interested in the things to look out for when using external Pre-amps. I am have both a mic and a guitar pre-amp, and sometimes I just plug straight into my focusrite and seem to get as good results, possibly due to not understanding when there is an issue further back on the signal flow (clipping etc)
Also I like the videos on the other non Logic Plugins you have put out, would be interested perhaps to see a spotlight on individual 3rd party plugins and how they do or do not stack up to Logics bundled options (for example sonnox inflator during mastering.
Hi Chris,
maybe one topic of general interest could be linking modern workstations like Rolands Fantom / Fantom-O series to Logic Pro X for recording / capturing ideas. These workstations are also offering a loop-based sequencer. So, probably there is a more elegant way of combining Logic Live sequencing to the worksation-internal sequencer?
Kind regards,
Fantomacs
Mackie Control (MCU) / Behringer X-Touch tips & tricks!
Hi! I’ve always been confused by bussing. I believe that the busses work in parallel to the main track chain, but this intimidates me. For instance, let’s suppose I want a final EQ on a track. Do I have to put that same EQ on both the main chain and on the bus chains? That seems unwieldy. All descriptions of bussing seem to lack the level of detail of the actual signal routing that I seek.
Thx!
How about an explanation of the q-range parameter when quantizing audio? There’s not a lot of info out there about it…and it’s difficult to wrap your head around.
Hey Chris,
I bought your lesson about mixing and mastering. I was looking right now at your video if you have lessons about how to organize and shop for new sounds in logic pro x and I cannot find it anything. Can you make a video about this topic? It would be a great help since I’m looking for new sound that I can use for my new songs. Thanks for the help and hope yo hear from you the soonest. God bless!
Joel B.
Hi joel, thanks for your suggestion and for checking out the courses! Apple doesn’t offer any additional sounds for purchase to use in Logic Pro. But there are apps/websites such as Splice or LANDR.
I hope this helps!
Oh ok, but how can I discover those apple sounds in logic and maximize it? Thanks for the answer Chris. God bless.
Joel B.