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Expanded Take Editing

Logic 8’s take editing and comping features are hugely popular but they’re not without issues. In particular, it was frustrating having to complete and ‘flatten’ a comp before going to work on editing it and copying comp regions was impossible until they were ‘committed’ too. Now, it’s possible to temporarily disable ‘quick swipe comping’ while looking at the various takes you’ve recorded and, with the view expanded, copy, move or ‘Flex edit’ regions before switching back into ‘Comp’ mode to complete your selections.

Selective Track Import

Via the Media Browser, it’s now possible to browse into other projects on your hard disc and select individual tracks from within. That isn’t the cool part though. The cool part is that you can tick boxes to select content, plug-ins, auxiliary sends and even I/O routing and anything you select will then import with all selected settings. So, if you’ve got a killer bassline which combines a soft synths, some EQ and distortion and an aux delay, you can bring the whole lot in, as one, without leaving your current project or needing to save channel strip settings.

Bounce In Place

Here’s a feature many of us have been clamouring for. Finally, it’s possible to select a single region and bounce it as an audio file. This is great as a way to capture sound with effects for one off ‘treatment moments’ or when working with third-party plug-ins such as Melodyne. When selecting this option, there’s even a handy ‘capture the effects tail’ option so that regions don’t unnaturally chop the ends off your sounds.

What’s New For Guitarists?

It’s no exaggeration to say that this is Logic’s most significant update for guitar-based producers ever. For starters, there are two new plug-ins squarely aimed at axe-wielders in the form of Amp Designer and PedalBoard. Read all about both below and don't miss the videos on our cover-mounted DVD to see them in action. There are now thousands of tab chords added to the Score Editor while MainStage 2 offers Playback and Loopback, two tools designed to get you jamming. MainStage also lets you configure and use Amp Simulator and PedalBoard to your heart’s content and both Logic and MainStage benefit hugely from the options offered by the new Apogee GiO interface.

Amp Designer

Guitarists are among the biggest beneficiaries to Logic Studio 2. Amp Designer borrows heavily from plug-ins like Guitar Rig but while it’s not as complete a plug-in, it’s less CPU intensive and for all those who don’t yet own an amp simulator, this could well forgo the need for an additional purchase.

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