LOGIC PRO

'Logic Pro' is a MIDI sequencer and Digital Audio Workstation software application that runs on the Mac OS X platform. Originally created by German software developer C-Lab, then Emagic, Logic Pro became an Apple product when Apple bought out Emagic in 2002. A cut-down version, Logic Express, is also available from Apple. GarageBand also uses Logic's audio engine.

Contents

History of the Logic sequencer

Early History

Apple’s Acquisition

Features

Notable users

References

See also

External links

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 $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.

Apple’s Acquisition

Apple acquired Emagic in July 2002^[1]. Support for the Windows version has been dropped and Apple now advertises Logic Pro as one of its flagship software 'pro' applications for the Macintosh platform. Besides the successful release of GarageBand, Apple consolidated over 20 different Emagic products, including all instrument and effect plug-ins, Waveburner Pro (CD Authoring application), and the Pro Tools TDM support package, into a single product called Logic Pro (however TDM compatibility is not supported by Logic 7 running on Intel-based Mac computers ^[2][3]). 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.
In late 2004, Apple released version 7 of Logic Pro and Express. A few of the noteworthy 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.

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 (feature comparison table from Apple's site) and virtually 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, 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, except for Logic Pro's EXS sampler or Ultrabeat in multichannel mode. Third-party plug-ins are not supported for Logic Node application processing.^[4]

Notable users

Some notable users include Radiohead, Justin Timberlake, Depeche Mode, Snow Patrol, The Chemical Brothers, Christina Aguilera, Pet Shop Boys, 'N Sync, Nine Inch Nails, BT, Peter Gabriel, John McLaughlin, Gwen Stefani, Rick Rubin, Thomas Dolby...^[5]
Also see a more complete list of famous Logic users.

References

1. Apple Acquires Emagic
2. According to Apple’s Logic 7.2 Crossgrade feature list, "Pro Tools HD compatibility is currently limited to PowerPC based systems only"
3. 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."
4. Logic Pro Technical Specifications PDF
5. List of Celebrity, Famous V.I.P. Logic Pro users

See also

★ Logic Express

★ Logic Control

★ Audio Units

★ Core Audio

External links

★ Official Logic Pro home page

★ Logic Pro Tech Specs

★ Logic Pro Features