Apple's Logic Pro X 10.1 adds new sounds and popular musical genres
With version 10.1, Logic Pro improves its library of genres with a focus on electronic and hip hop music, while adding convenient tools for all.
Apple updated Logic Pro X to 10.1 today, adding new features, new drummer profiles and more tools for easier music creation. The launch of Logic Pro X last year brought with it a redesigned interface and tons of new tools to create music across every genre, but this update adds sounds and tools so you'll now have a better pallette for creating electronic and hip hop music. Best of all it's still the same price at $199 (and a free upgrade for existing users).
The Logic music creation software has been around in one iteration or another for the last two decades, and many popular musical acts past and present have used it for both recording and performing on stage. This latest version opens it up to newer genres, but the tools are still easy to use with an intuitive interface. Even those who started with Apple's simpler Garageband software will recognize the layout and be able to start creating right away.
More drummers, new styles
One of the big upgrades for Logic Pro X last year was the addition of drummer profiles you could use to perform as a sort of AI drummer in your songs.
Each drummer is essentially a bank of drum loop families, and you can reassign any drummer's patterns to any other drum kit. More importantly, any loop can be adjusted on the fly to be louder, softer, more or less complex, using different symbol or kick/snare variations, and with more or fewer fills. You can even tie the timing and complexity in with an audio track, such as a bass guitar, and it will tweak itself on the fly to follow along.
In version 10.1 Logic Pro X gets 10 new drummers that produce beats in a variety of electronic and hip hop styles including Techno, House, Trap, Dubstep and more. Also, a new drum machine designer plug-in gives you new sounds and features for custom electronic drum kits in several different styles.
New sounds and tools
The latest version of Logic Pro X includes 200 new synth patches and 10 classic Mellotron instruments. The original Mellotron was an instrument that generated sounds via audio tape used by famous bands such as the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and several other progressive rock bands. As an example, you might remember the breathy flute sounds that accompanied Jimmy Page's guitar in Stairway to Heaven. These were sounds performed using a Mellotron.
But beyond just new sounds, you also get better tools. The piano roll editor has been improved to show more notes in less vertical space and lets you identify drum sounds by name. You can easily compress or expand the timing of selected notes using new time handles. If you want to add some notes in a specific section, you can use the new Brush Tool in the Piano Roll Editor to click and drag notes that conform to a scale so even randomly placed notes will end up sounding good.
The Compressor plug-in has been redesigned with a scalable Retina-ready interface and features seven different models including the new Classic VCA.
New automation features let you add automation to a region rather than the whole track. This means you'll be able to add things like a section where the volume slowly swells for one instrument over the course of a section.
To round out the new features, we finally got a Plug-in manager in this version that lets you customize the organization of your menu. This means you can now keep all your most-used plug-ins handy so you can make quick changes while recording or at a performance.
Controlling Logic with your iPad
Starting with Logic Pro X, Apple added an iPad app called Logic Remote that let you control your music from the touch screen. If you purchase Logic Pro X for $199, the iPad app is a free download that gives you more flexibility while creating music.
Many of the built-in plug-ins and virtual instruments that come included with Logic Pro have custom control screens on the iPad. Keyboard-based instruments give you an actual physical keyboard you can play, plus the various knobs and other controls as the real-life version of these virtual keyboards would offer.
In version 10.1, the company has expanded it's Logic Remote toolset to include a new plug-in view so you can have access to Logic or Audio Unit plug-in parameters. You can use multi-touch gestures to shape the tone of individual tracks using the Visual EQ. It lets you remotely add or reorder plug-ins -- an option that was limited to the desktop in the previous version. You'll also now be able to control the microphone and other input settings for compatible audio interfaces.
A promising update
Logic Pro X 10.1 expands upon what was already a good music creation tool, giving you more sounds, tools, and drummers for flexibility in creating electronic and hip hop projects. From my initial testing, I like the changes and think the latest version looks very promising.
The app has kept its intuitive layout giving those who come from using Garageband a helpful leg up when recording tracks in Logic Pro X. But it also made smaller tweaks that let people customize their layouts.
In other words, we like what we see so far, but check back in the coming days for a full review of Logic Pro X 10.1 once we've put it through its paces.