Apple Logic Remote iPad controller app: what does it do?

Could your iPad become your primary Logic controller?
Could your iPad become your primary Logic controller?

Perhaps the most notable thing about Logic Remote, Apple's new Logic Pro iPad controller app, is that it's taken so long to arrive. You'd have thought that the company would have been one of the first to offer a touchscreen control solution for its famous DAW but, up until now, it's been left up to third parties to provide it.

It seems that Apple was just waiting for the launch of Logic Pro X, though, the new version of the software that's finally arrived. Logic Remote was released on the very same day, and it looks pretty comprehensive. It enables you to play Logic's instruments (via interfaces that are reminiscent of the iPad version of GarageBand), navigate your projects and mix your tracks.

Full specs and a few demo videos from macProVideo.com are below. You can download Logic Remote for free from the Apple App Store - it's compatible with the iPad 2 or later and the iPad mini.

Apple Logic Remote features

Play Logic Instruments

  • Play any Logic instrument using a familiar piano keyboard or guitar fretboard
  • Tap out beats on drum pads or a drum kit
  • Use the scale mode to limit notes to fit the key of your song
  • Tap and strum entire chords using Chord Strip view
  • Make simple or dramatic changes to your sounds with Smart Controls
  • Add the Arpeggiator plug-in to any instrument

Navigate Logic Projects

  • Operate basic transport controls like start, stop, record, and cycle
  • Swipe the LCD or bar ruler to navigate to any location
  • Select and jump to any Logic project marker
  • Control recordings on your Mac from another room
  • Browse the Sound Library and remotely change Patches
  • Enable Smart Help and hover over interface elements on your Mac to display documentation on your iPad
  • Remotely trigger Logic key commands with customizable buttons

Mix Your Logic Sessions

  • Use Multi-Touch gestures to adjust Mixer volume, pan, solo, and mute controls
  • Swipe to scroll or jump in banks to navigate through Mixer faders
  • Use the level meter strip to monitor levels and identify clipping
  • Enable and change automation modes for each fader

Jamming on Logic Remote

Key commands

The mixer: navigation and controls

Ben Rogerson

I’m the Deputy Editor of MusicRadar, having worked on the site since its launch in 2007. I previously spent eight years working on our sister magazine, Computer Music. I’ve been playing the piano, gigging in bands and failing to finish tracks at home for more than 30 years, 24 of which I’ve also spent writing about music and the ever-changing technology used to make it.