Apple Logic Express 9 - Music Production Software

What's New

Flex Time

Flex Tool
Flex Tool lets you push audio around with your mouse by clicking and dragging anywhere on the waveform - forget all that tedious splicing and editing

Audio Quantize
It's not just for MIDI anymore. Now you can conform the timing of an audio region to a musical grid, or to the feel of another track, instantly correcting a performance

Editing Drum Tracks
Use Slicing Mode with drums and you won't compromise a single attack. Edit across a set of grouped multitrack drums and everything stays locked perfectly in phase

Varispeed
Slow down or speed up an entire multitrack project effortlessly, whether you want to try out different tempos or take it slow while you play a difficult solo

Flex Modes
Whether you're editing a solo vocal, a rhythm guitar, or multitrack drums, Flex Time has a mode designed to give you the best results

Speed Fades
Get creative by adding turntable-style starts or stops with the kind of precision that would impress even the best DJs

Tempo Import/Export
Now the audio you import can automatically conform to the tempo of a project you're working on (and the other way around)

Production Tools

Selective Track Import
To transfer setups and track content between projects, simply select the individual components you want to import on a track-by-track basis

Expanded Take Folder Editing
Logic Express 9 gives you access to your important edit tools and Flex Time features - right alongside Quick Swipe comping

Drum Replacer
Now you can replace or double less-than-perfect drum tracks with triggered samples in just a few clicks. No more headaches. No more hassles

Convert to Sampler Track
In one step, turn an audio region into a sampler instrument with a MIDI track to trigger it. Then you can modify and re-sequence the part

Bounce-in-Place
Makes effects rendering much quicker and easier, whether you're bouncing a single region or an entire track

Notation and Chord Grids
Create guitar tablature or detailed scores using a library of more than 4000 chord grids (or your own custom grids) and new ornaments for hammer-ons, bends, and more

Guitar Gear

Amp Designer
Build your dream rig by mixing and matching 25 amps, 25 speaker cabinets, and 3 mics you can position freely around the speaker cone

Pedalboard
Fire up 30 stompboxes that deliver lush effects like Overdrive, Distortion, Fuzz, Delay, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Treble Boost, and Wah

Classic Tones
Hundreds of presets give you Amp Designer and Pedalboard sounds that are ready to go. Start exploring with classic tones, genres, or characteristics like clean, crunch, and distorted

Apogee GiO support
This new USB audio interface and control device lets you operate Pedalboard hands-free and works with Logic Express 9 and MainStage 2 right out of the box

Logic Express 9

Workflow

Put the Flow Back Into Your Workflow
With Logic Express, all your editing tools and content browsers are integrated into a single, beautifully designed window. And that means everything can happen faster. Your shortcut menus, toolbars, and transport bars are right there for you, not spread across a maze of windows. You can customize your workspace using 99 storable screen configurations and more than 1000 definable key commands to make it even better

Get Rolling, Fast
Templates get you set up instantly to write, record, mix, or master - and you can customize them as much as you want. For classic sounds, the Explore templates let you choose from a range of instruments already paired with effects and processing. Just grab one and start playing. The Compose templates put everything in place for writing and tracking in a specific genre, from rock to hip-hop to orchestral music. You get an entire studio of typical instruments and processing, wired and configured so you can jump right in. Want to track, edit, mix, or master a large-scale project? The Production templates give you a big head start

Share Ideas Between Projects
Selective Track Import lets you easily transfer setups and track content between projects. Since you can select components on a track-by-track basis, it's simple to grab the guitar track from a different session or import that perfect drum mix you created for another project

Writing

Zero In On the Sound
Built-in library browsers make it easy to navigate thousands of effect settings, instrument settings, Apple Loops, and even sounds you've created yourself - all without leaving the track you're working on.

The Apple Loop browser serves up thousands of royalty-free loops by category, such as instrument, genre, and mood, so you can easily find what you're looking for. Choose one and it automatically conforms to the tempo and key of your project. Special software instrument loops even let you edit the instrument, processing, or original MIDI performance

Experiment, Then Go Back
Nondestructive, region-based editing allows you to tinker with individual sections of a track and hear the results as you go. You can experiment all you want, knowing your original performances are always kept intact

Instant Sampler Instruments
In one simple step, you can transform any audio region into a sampler instrument, along with a MIDI track that will trigger the samples so they sound just like the original track. From there, it's easy to modify and re-sequence the part

MIDI
As a full-featured MIDI sequencer, Logic Express lets you choose how you want to view and edit MIDI data. Use the Piano Roll Editor to graphically edit note velocity and length, while monitoring the results in real time. Or if you're used to working with traditional notation, go to the Score Editor where new duration bars make it easy to graphically edit the length of notes

Music Notation
Logic Express features a complete set of music notation tools, including comprehensive layout and print options, instrument transposition, drum notation, and adaptive lyric input. You can generate guitar tablature with an expanded set of ornaments for notating hammer-ons, bends, fingering, and more. Snap guides make it easy to add the new chord grids, whether you choose from the library of more than 4000 or create your own.

You can transform MIDI performances into music notation in real time. If you prefer not to perform your compositions, you can use MIDI Step Input to enter notes one at a time using your computer keyboard, or define pitch and velocity with a MIDI keyboard as you go

Scoring and Sound Design for Video
Advanced music-for-picture features make scoring and sound design easier than ever. Flexible video display options let you view synchronized QuickTime movies within the interface or on a separate monitor using output options like Digital Cinema Desktop. You can locate scene changes visually via a thumbnail track or automatically mark transitions using the scene detect option

Recording

Multiple Takes, Zero Confusion
Take folders make it easier than ever to organize and manage all your takes and overdubs. You don't even have to create or rename a folder. Just record over your existing material, and Logic Pro automatically creates a new take folder. Since take folders are region based, you can keep takes for the verse in one folder and takes for the chorus in another - all on the same track. If you prefer to organize your takes like playlists, simply use a single take folder for the entire track

New features in Logic Express 9 let you freely edit and move take regions, punch in and out of a take without creating a new take lane, and color code your best takes on the fly

Take Good Notes
Logic Express makes it easy to document everything that happens during a session. Track Notes are perfect for details like the mic you used or that external compressor setting you don't want to forget. With Project Notes, you can keep track of bigger events, like who did what and when. Markers let you flag and recall important places in time, such as the start of a verse or solo section. And since notes and markers can hold up to 20,000 characters, you'll never have to resort to abbreviations you can't decipher later

Get Around Latency
Logic Express has a unique Low Latency Mode that delivers low latency monitoring. Go ahead and record into a project that's been heavily mixed using limiters or other plug-ins that can trigger compensation delays (even in DSP-based systems)

Custom Mixes for All
Flexible routing options and loads of auxiliary channels let you set up different monitor mixes for everyone you're recording. Give yourself a head start by using the multitrack Production templates in Logic Express, which are preconfigured for separate monitor mixes

Flex Time

Audio Quantize
Lets you fix the timing of an entire performance in one step, aligning notes and beats to a musical grid. Want to match your bass line to the feel of your drums? You can transfer the rhythmic feel of one track to another by creating a Groove template from the source track and applying it as a grid

Quick Swipe Comping
Use it to build the perfect track in no time. Just swipe over the best sections of each take to create a seamless comp, complete with transition-smoothing crossfades. Now you can even access traditional edit functions - including cut, copy, paste, fades, crossfades, and more - all without leaving Quick Swipe. Multiple comps and Autosave let you experiment without worrying about losing your work. And you can use Edit Groups to synchronize your selections across related tracks, like a multimic recording of a vocal group

Skip the Click
With Beat Mapping, you can record freestyle, without a click track, then conform your performance to a bar and beat grid later on. When you're ready, all you have to do is create a tempo track based on a selected guide track, or simply drag bar and beat guides to downbeats in an audio file or MIDI region

Render When You Want
Bounce-in-Place lets you quickly render effects for a single region or an entire track. You might use it when you're ready to apply a plug-in destructively to an audio file, when you want to bounce an effect before doing more to a track, or when you want to transfer files between applications

Tempo Import/Export
Tempo is now totally fluid. Selective Track Import lets you combine your best recorded performances from different sessions - even if they were tracked at different tempos or without a click. Since the new Tempo Import/Export feature stores tempo information within each performance, any audio you import will automatically conform. Use the drums from one session and the rhythm guitar from another without worrying about tempo differences

Varispeed
Varispeed makes it easy to slow down or speed up an entire multitrack project, so you can experiment with different tempos while editing. You can also use Varispeed to slow things down while you punch in a difficult solo, then bring everything back to the original tempo. And the new Speed Fades feature lets you easily add creative, tape-style speedup or slowdown effects at the beginning or end of any audio region

One Edit, Multiple Tracks
Track Groups ensures that when you edit one track, it affects all the related tracks. This works with move, cut, copy, and paste. You can even lock in phase so you'll maintain all the relative distances across your tracks. That's especially important when you're using multiple microphones to record one source, like two mics on an acoustic guitar or multiple mics for the different drums in a kit. And with Logic Pro 9, you can hide entire groups to remove clutter

The Power of the Mouse
Logic Express gives you 14 different mouse tools to work with - and plenty of shortcuts for getting to them. Set up one as your primary tool, and it will be wherever your cursor is. Set up another as your alternate tool, and all you have to do is press Command to access it. You can even assign a third as your right-click tool. So you've got fast, custom access to the tools you use most

Turn on the new Click Zone feature, and you won't even have to call up your fade or marquee tools to use them. Just hover over one Click Zone and your cursor turns into your fade tool, so you can instantly create crossfades. Hover over the other zone and you get the marquee tool - it's the fastest way to select part of your track and move or delete it

Perfecting Drum Tracks
Use the new Drum Replacer to replace or double problematic drum tracks with triggered samples in just a few clicks. No headaches. No hassles. Just a simple, straightforward way to enhance drum tracks in Logic Pro

Mixing

Configuring the Mixer
Create whatever configuration you want with up to 255 discrete audio, software instrument, and auxiliary channels, along with up to 32 mix groups and as many output channels as your audio hardware offers. Each track supports 15 plug-ins and 8 pre-fader, post-fader, and post-pan sends with full latency compensation to keep everything in perfect sync

You can record busses and integrate outboard hardware into your mix. And you have the flexibility to mute and solo tracks or individual regions. In fact, you can do anything you'd do in a major studio, yet you don't need a single DSP card to do it. Your Mac Pro or MacBook Pro can easily handle the huge mixing capacity of Logic Express all by itself

Views
Intuitive display options make it easy to find and focus on what's important. Without even opening the mixer, you can look at the dual channel strips beside your edit area to see all the functions and plug-ins for a selected track, along with any channels to which your track is sending signals. Enter the complete mixer view, and you'll see channels displayed by the number and order of tracks you've created, or by type, such as audio, software instrument, and external MIDI

Instant Channel Strips
Logic Express automatically creates auxiliary channels for your project whenever you need them. Say you create a send to a bus or click on a software instrument channel with multiple outputs. Logic Express will generate an auxiliary channel strip to receive the signal. Think of it as your engineering assistant

Group Your Tracks
Track Groups makes it easy to work with related tracks, like a set of background vocal tracks or a multitrack drum recording. When you're adjusting the channel strip for one track and you want the changes to show up on other tracks, just assign them to the same group. The redesigned group window makes it easier to access all the group functions and adds the option to solo or hide a group

Complete Automation
You can easily record changes to any channel strip or plug-in parameter on the fly. So you can ride something, like the feedback on a tape delay, the same way you would a fader or pan. You don't have to configure anything or define parameters. Just enable automation, press play, and make your changes. You can also create and edit automation graphically

Compatibility

Software and Plug-Ins
Your GarageBand projects open in Logic Express without a hitch. You can also move your projects to and from other audio applications like Pro Tools, because Logic Express supports XML, OMF, and AAF file interchange protocols and makes it simple to create stem files

You can plug in any Audio Units software instrument or effect. And ReWire lets you run Logic Express with specialized applications such as Reason and Live. Trigger and sequence your instruments from Logic Express, route your signals directly into the Logic Express mixer, and have everything running in perfect sync

Create any Kind of File
Logic Express supports all the popular file formats, including WAV, AIFF, MP3, SDII, and even CAF, which lets you record up to six hours at 96kHz

Back up to MobileMe
Logic Express lets you back up your favorite channel strip settings, plug-in settings, and key commands to your MobileMe account, so you can access them from anywhere over the web.1 You can also share your preferences across any local or Internet-based network

Interfaces and Control Surfaces
Logic Express fully supports Apple Core Audio. That gives you the freedom to work with almost any audio interface, and even combine the inputs and outputs of multiple devices. If you want hands-on control, you have your pick of third-party control surfaces, including everything from small, portable faders to the top-of-the-line consoles you find in the best recording studios. And customizing control assignments couldn't be easier with the Auto-learn feature built into Logic Express

Power Management

More Plug-Ins, Less Power
Most applications switch on the juice for plug-ins as soon as they're inserted. But Logic Express features an intelligent DSP engine that asks for power only when a signal runs through the plug-in. So go ahead, pile on the instruments and effects. It will take more than that to slow you down

Quick Temporary Rendering
If your project requires more power than you've got, or if you simply want to play your project on a less powerful computer, Freeze Tracks allows you to temporarily render your tracks. This is also a great way to share projects with friends who don't have the same plug-ins

Plug-Ins and Sounds

Plug-Ins

For the Guitarist
Amp Designer and Pedalboard are two new plug-ins that give you an astonishing collection of gear. Amp Designer lets you mix and match 25 amp heads, 5 EQs, 10 reverbs, 25 speaker cabinets, and 3 mics that you can position freely around the speaker cone. So you can faithfully re-create almost any legendary sound. And Pedalboard features 30 stompboxes, all meticulously crafted to reproduce the tones and responsiveness of the originals they're modeled after. The Pedalboard interface makes it easy to re-order and swap your pedals, and to creatively route your signal for thousands of combinations and virtually unlimited sounds. And because it all lives on your Mac, it's easy to bring your killer sounds with you to the stage

Logic Express Instruments
Logic Express features an amazing range of drum sounds and synths, as well as the powerful EXS24 sampler to create a truly fresh sound. If you've been using GarageBand, the same instruments are available in Logic Express, so you can continue to work on your projects without missing a beat

Studio Sound Library

More than 1200 Apple Loops
Royalty-free Apple Loops let you build a rhythm, grab a melodic phrase, or simply sketch out an arrangement. Any loop you choose will automatically change key and tempo to match your project. Real Instrument loops, also known as blue loops, are integrated into your project as audio files and can be edited like any audio region. And Software Instrument loops, or green loops, allow you to fully edit the instrument, effect, and original MIDI performance. Apple Loops give you plenty of creative fuel - you can even use Apple Loops Utility to create and tag your own loops

More than 1000 Sampled Instruments
Logic Express is packed with beautifully sampled EXS instruments. Build your song with authentic strings, horns, woodwinds, guitars, pianos, basses, harp, choir, synthesizers, tonewheel and pipe organs, acoustic and electric drum kits, and orchestral and world instruments

More than 2500 Presets for Plug-Ins
You don't have to be a sound engineer to take advantage of the enormous range of plug-ins that come with Logic Express. Just rely on the plug-in settings (designed by sound engineers) to get great sounds right out of the box. Plug-in settings can also speed up the production, mixing, and mastering process if you use them as templates for your instrument and effects combos and tweak them from there