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2. Convert to Sampler Track

The ability to trigger sliced audio loops with MIDI data is invaluable to many producers, and software instruments such as pHATmatik Pro and Stylus RMX have made such functionality available in plug-in form for several years.

Now Logic Pro has it built-in via the Convert to Sampler Track menu entry. This slices the currently selected audio clip, loads all the slices into an EXS24 sampler and creates a new MIDI track for it, with the requisite MIDI data in place.

Awesome, and also a much-needed shot in the arm for the excellent-but-a-tad-behind-the-competition EXS24 itself.

3. Amp Designer

Oh man, guitarists are gonna flip over this one. Amp Designer is a thoroughly comprehensive guitar combo design system, complete with adjustable mic positioning, built right into Logic Pro as a plug-in.

25 amps, 25 cabinets, five EQs and ten reverbs give an incredible range of sounds, and if you need a patch in a hurry, a vast array of presets is included, helpfully browsable by tone as well as type.

With its many hardware influences barely disguised graphically, early reports indicate that Amp Designer genuinely gives the likes of AmpliTube and Guitar Rig a run for their money in terms of sound.

4. Pedalboard

Aimed at guitarists but no doubt destined to become a favourite of sound designers too, Pedalboard is the perfect complement to Amp Designer, comprising a modular rack of virtual stompboxes, 30 in total, including everything from distortion and overdrive to delay, reverb and modulation.

Again, the model on which each unit is based is generally apparent, and they can be laid out entirely in series or over two parallel channels, and pre- or post-mixer.

Pedalboard has been designed to work seamlessly with Apogee's imminent GiO controller, and the two should make a formidable combo live and in the studio.

NEXT PAGE: Drum Replacer, Notes and Space Designer's Warped Effects

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