Age 59 + Logic Pro - best way to learn?

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  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    Castro said:
    @andy_k your contribution is invaluable, honest and not at all negative.

    My MBP has 32GB RAM 2TB storage i9 processor. I'm hoping that will enable me to use Logic for some time without upgrade concerns.
    You'll be fine, for a long time to come.
    Still worth saving the Logic libraries to an external, there's an awful lot you might never use.
    cheers
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  • Sorry for my shorter reply earlier, did it on the fly. 

    As has already been stated, there is a lot of great education material out there online (And a million debates on which DAW is better etc etc). I lecture in Music Tech and Audio Engineering and as such have to teach Logic, Pro Tools, Albeton and Reaper. The question I spend the majority of my life answering is, which DAW should I get or which DAW is better. Because there is only one question to ask one's self.

    What am I trying to do and what do I want to do with the software?

    Now you can achieve pretty much everything you need to do to write, recording, compose, edit, sound design, experiment with audio in any DAW, but each has it's strengths and weakness depending on what it is you are trying to do. This is not a fault of the software, but more to do with the conception of each of these products and how they have developed over the years.

    For me personally, I use all four that I teach, but for different reasons.

    Logic for most things, especially composing and writing. Because I feel that that is it's strong point being that it started life as a midi sequencer and added audio later. Also in terms of Bang for Buck, I am sorry but nothing comes close to Logic (Ducks for cover from Reaper users....but there is nothing in Reaper like quick sampler, Alchemy, drummer, auto sampler, Sculpture etc)

    ProTools. Mixing and mastering, audio editing is (for me) a breeze in PT compared to some other DAWs. I started life working in a major studio with a console and lovely tape machines, PT feels like it is the continuation of that work flow. Plus, having to do work with the post production and film world, you need to have Pro Tools. Would I (or even can I) sit down and feel inspired to write and compose in PT....no chance.

    Albeton - Simply for fun and electronic style projects, it is also great for sound design. For me personally, mixing, mastering, scoring to picture, editing audio....no chance.

    Reaper - Has some amazing features, it is great that you can write your own scripts and macros to make repetitive tasks easier. I worked on a project recently with nearly 1200 tracks of ambisonic audio....Reaper worked like a dream. Fantastic ways of rendering out audio, lots of useful tools out of the box. For me....it is like a big notepad, great and fast at doing functional tasks.....for inspiration and writing....no chance.

    Which brings us back to the question.

    From reading the post, it seems that the OP wants to write and record music using Logic. I would suggest that it is probably the best choice given everything thing that comes along with it. Like any piece of software or instrument or life, it takes time to learn those skills. Thankfully as has been mentioned there is a ton of useful material out there on the web and some great courses. Although of course these are not geared up for your learning needs, but a general learning need

    Before starting on any of those, I would ask the question of yourself what is that I am stuck with and what is it that I am trying to do? 

    It could be simple, such as 'I want to record a guitar track, how do I do it', through to something more general, ' I want to record a whole song with guitar, voice and drums, where do I start'

    If you have some questions like those, it can make the journey much easier, I would suggest asking those kinds of questions on forum where I am sure people would be willing to help with your specific question and this would speed up your learning. Also if you have any questions, do feel free to drop me a line, would be happy to help.

    Good luck, it will be an amazing journey!
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  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    + 1
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    @LightB4sound thanks so much for your invaluable input.
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  • ZoonyboyZoonyboy Frets: 161
    I've recorded and/or mixed full albums entirely in Logic, no plug-ins, no extra complications. Like anything, it is a learning curve, but it is really difficult to do anything wrong, and I can testify that you can get great guitar sounds, even just using one virtual amp ("cool jazz combo" - its a twin reverb). There are so many options, you could get lost, but keeping it simple is the way to understand Logic. The drummer is great, as are all of the synth voices, and all you need is a cheap midi keyboard to access those. The on board effects are high quality and so useable. I grew up working in analog studios, and honestly Logic is so much easier, and with better results for most people. It only costs your time and effort. Think of it as a multitrack tape recorder and you can't go wrong. And, as pointed out above, there is a ton of online help.
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    Much appreciated @Zoonyboy ;
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  • KasalicKasalic Frets: 12
    I am 56 this year, and started on Cubase on an Atari ST (amazed I can think back that far), and moved on to GarageBand on macOS before ending up with Logic Pro. I have only got really serious in the last year or so though.

    could use GarageBand, but there are just a couple of things that Logic does that I prefer, the multi take audio feature for example. being able to set a section to loop and just do several takes and pick the best, or even take parts of different takes is a massive benefit.

    It can take a while to get the process of recording a guitar track down properly, and there are several videos on this out there. I now listen back to some of the stuff I recorded a year ago and think ‘I really should re-record that as I would do a much better job now!’

    Lastly, be realistic in what you want to achieve. I can record multi track guitars, add bass, drums and keyboards and get it to sound ok(ish), but I doubt I will ever be able to get anything more than a rough demo level of quality, and I am fine with that. I’m the same with DIY, some things I can do myself because it’s ‘good enough’, but major jobs I will pay someone to do a proper job :) The main thing is to enjoy yourself :)




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  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    I know it is not a Logic video, but this popped up today, and some of the info should be transferable, ie recording over looping sections, and just the ease of getting an idea down.
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    @Kasalic thank you.

    I think we're pretty similar and enjoyment rather than world class production is important to me.
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    Thanks @andy_k ;

    Just watched the video and found it really useful.
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  • St_HubbinsSt_Hubbins Frets: 189
    Great thread, I found this really helpful as I still find the DAW / tech thing overwhelming. 
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  • I found “Why Logic Pro Rules” videos on youtube to be very useful - for one thing he generally uses only plugins that are included with Logic, and he’s explained features to me that I’ve never been able to get my head around - such as pitch correction and tempo detection.

    Best advice though is to treat it as a multitrack recorder at first, one which has a lot of features that you might need to use later ... learn a bit at a time as you use it, rather than trying to master the whole thing before you start  :)
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    I appreciate your input @gretschthumper ;
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    @St_Hubbins welcome aboard.
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  • I started using Logic when I was 60, crossed over from Cubase. If you're a beginner at recording, it will be a slow, hard struggle, same as any DAW. If not, it's the same as most DAWS out there. It's a powerful tool and worth sticking it out. There are many video channels on Youtube dedicated to Logic. I'd recommend trying to use it intuitively and google the problems as you go along. Good luck brother.
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    @spooner248 ; great advice much appreciated.
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Seeing this late, but I’d second @octatonic ’s recommendation of Groove3. I recently got a Logic Pro X Explained course from them (paid the one off £14 quid or whatever it was on offer) and it’s fantastic. I’m sure much of the information can be found elsewhere online, but I would very much doubt there is a more straightforward, structured and well explained course out there. It goes right from the basic setup of the system and your settings through basic recording and into various advanced tools and techniques. There are then subsequent detailed courses on eg Flex time/pitch that dig into great detail. Well worth the money IMO.  They’re a professional outfit - I only noticed when my bank statement showed Hal Leonard own them. 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    SteveF said:
    Seeing this late, but I’d second @octatonic ’s recommendation of Groove3. I recently got a Logic Pro X Explained course from them (paid the one off £14 quid or whatever it was on offer) and it’s fantastic. I’m sure much of the information can be found elsewhere online, but I would very much doubt there is a more straightforward, structured and well explained course out there. It goes right from the basic setup of the system and your settings through basic recording and into various advanced tools and techniques. There are then subsequent detailed courses on eg Flex time/pitch that dig into great detail. Well worth the money IMO.  They’re a professional outfit - I only noticed when my bank statement showed Hal Leonard own them. 
    Thanks.
    Also worth checking out the portal that I sometimes write for- Production Expert.
    There are dedicated pages for Pro Tools, Logic, Studio One and the more general 'production oriented' articles and gear reviews.

     https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/logic-pro-x


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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Thanks @octatonic ill check it out. I think I may have seen a few YouTube videos from them?
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