LOGIC NOTES

Screensets

Published in SOS January 2002
Printer-friendly version

Technique : Logic Notes

A customised setup can make sequencing in Logic much easier, so here's some help with tailoring the default Song to your needs. Plus, there's advice on mixing and suggestions for arranging your Screensets, as well as another bunch of handy tips and tricks from the pros.

Once you've been using Logic for a while, you'll probably find that the standard setup which loads up whenever you create a new Song isn't very well suited to your needs. The good news is that you can change the default to something more useful if you wish, because it is stored as a special Autoload Song in your Logic program folder which can be edited to reflect your own working preferences. Here's how to do it, along with some suggestions for useful tweaks you can make to streamline your sequencing experience.

First off, before you even start up Logic, make yourself a safety copy of your existing Autoload Song, and put it somewhere safe so that you can always return to it if you mess anything up while you're changing stuff around. Now start up Logic and create a new Song if one doesn't appear automatically — this new Song will be based on the current Autoload Song in your Logic program folder.

Once you've made any tweaks you want, and have saved the resultant Song to your computer's desktop, you then have to transform this Song file into your new Autoload Song. You can do this on the Mac by renaming the tweaked song Autoload, and using it to replace its namesake in Logic's program folder. Once you have done this, you also need to open the new file's general information window (by highlighting it and hitting Apple 'I') in order to select the Stationery Pad option — this makes sure you don't accidentally overwrite the new default settings.

If you're running Logic on a PC, then you need to change the name of your personalised Song file to Autoload.LSO, before using it to replace the existing Autoload.LSO file in the Logic program folder. Now right-click on the program icon and select Properties from the menu, checking the Read-only option in the window which comes up.

You have now updated the default setup. If you choose New Song from Logic's File menu, your tweaked setup ought to appear as the default, with the name Untitled. If you do any work within this Song which you wish to save, then you'll be prompted to choose a more suitable name.

So now you know how to update the Autoload Song, what things are worth customising? The place many Logic users really like to make their own is the Environment. For a start, if you have all sorts of unused objects cluttering up your Environment, it can make it clumsy to select Track Instruments in the Arrange window. If you delete all those objects you never use it'll cut down the size of the instrument list. Alternatively, you can remove an object's icon from the list without deleting the object, simply by deselecting the button to the left of the icon in its Parameters box — for example, even if you feel the need to use a GM Mixer object, you're unlikely to want to select it as a Track Instrument. And while you're there, why not choose a more suitable icon by clicking and holding on the Parameters box icon? Or colour-code it using the Object Colours option in the View menu?

One of the great things about Logic's Environment is that it allows you to set up separate Environment Layers to house MIDI control panels for external sound modules. Setups for common pieces of equipment are shipped with some versions of Logic, while others can be found on the Internet, and it's great to have these in your Autoload Song so that they're on hand whenever you need them. Similarly, any MIDI filtering or processing which you want to implement can be carefully built and cabled in the Environment and saved for future use.

If you're using Multi Instrument objects, then it can make sense to enter the patch names for the instrument they control, so that you can call patches up by name while sequencing — Paul White covered this in depth in his December 2000 column. Again, pre-programmed Multi Instrument objects are available if you don't fancy entering all those names yourself.

And, of course, the Audio Layer of the environment is worth setting up to suit your own way of working. For a start, you can decide how much of each object you wish to see, using the buttons in the Parameters box — I, for one, can do without the I/O selectors and channel EQ fields most of the time. You can also set up any preferred audio routing. For example, if you always use an external reverb with Logic, you could have the send and return routing already sorted out, as well having the relevant send on every channel assigned.

While the Autoload song is currently ideal for sorting out the various Channel Splitter objects for automation purposes, the automation system looks set to change in Logic's new version 5 upgrade. That said, I imagine that even the new system will require some setting up...

There are many areas of Logic's operation that can be customised to suit the way you work. One of the handiest of these is Logic's Screensets function, which enables you to quickly switch between different window setups while you work. (See Ab Wilson's article in SOS February 2001 for some useful pointers on using these.) Your preferred set of Screensets can be stored in your Autoload song, so that you always know which button to press for which set of views.

You can also set up your Arrange window so that you don't end up having to do the same setup tasks on every session. For example, you can make sure that there is a track for every one of the playback Audio objects and MIDI parts available to you. These tracks can be zoomed to the correct height, and you can maximise the potential of your screen's 'real estate' using the options in the View menu.

There are several preferences which are stored with the Autoload Song which are useful when working within other specific windows. For example, if you make use of Logic's Score window, it's worth knowing you can save all the Instrument Sets and Styles defined from the Score window, as well as the entire range of score-related preferences available from the Settings window. Similarly, your favourite Transform window settings and any custom Hyper Edit setups can also be saved.

Once you've caught the bug, it's natural to keep adjusting the default setup as you refine your working methods. Some musicians even find that they need to keep several default Songs available, using only the most general-purpose one as the Autoload, because they need completely different setups for tracking, mixing, editing, or whatever.

The difficulty with updating your Autoload Song continually is that you'll inevitably find yourself going back to old projects which don't have the most recent set of Autoload tweaks in place. In this case, you need to update your old project's setup to reflect your new preferences. If you want to update the Environment to your new setup, ensure that you only have one Logic Song open, and then navigate to the Import Environment submenu in the Environment window's Options menu.

I would suggest choosing Update from this submenu, which should add in any recent Autoload Environment expansions, such as new editor Layers and Multi Instruments, without upsetting existing Environment objects already in the project. If the changes you've made to the Environment are not just additions, then you should probably opt for Merge instead, though it's more likely here that Logic may disrupt the odd bit of cabling, particularly on the Click & Ports Layer.

Even if you're happy with the Environment setup, you may want to update your Screensets, or the settings associated with the Transform, Hyper Edit or Score windows. In this case, all you need to do is pull down the main Options menu and head for Import Settings in the Settings submenu. This will bring up a dialogue box allowing you to select the types of settings you wish to import.

Logic Tips     If you need more attack on a dull drum sound or limp-sounding loop, the Enveloper plug-in could just save the day. Insert this processor into the track in question, and alter the following controls from their defaults: Lookahead to zero, Attack Gain to 50 percent, Attack Time to 10mS. Now adjust the Threshold control, starting at around 70 percent, for Transient Designer-style punch. Mike Senior With many budget digital mixers, you have to be careful about internal clipping within equalisers or effects. However, you'll be reassured to know that Logic's internal floating-point processing means that you never need to worry about this as long as you register no clipping on any of the Audio object level meters. Paul White Although, strictly speaking, accidentals in music notation are normally only written once per bar, there are occasions when it can be worth reminding a performer of the correct accidental. In such cases, the accidental is usually given in brackets. To create this in Logic, highlight the note and select Guide Accidental from the Accidentals submenu of the Score window's Attributes menu. Mike Senior On a normal Mac or PC keyboard, there are two sets of numeric keys, and it's a shame to have both accessing the same set of key commands, as they do by default. Fortunately, you can differentiate between them if you wish — you just have to use the Learn Sep Key button (rather than the Learn Key button) when assigning keys to actions in the Key Commands window. Sam Inglis

Logic v4.8.1     Emagic's web site now carries v4.8.1 updaters for both the PC and Mac versions of Logic Audio. For the PC, the main improvement is extended compatibility with DirectShow plug-ins, and a small software utility is provided for managing these. The Mac upgrade sorts out some problems users were experiencing with USB audio support and ReWire compatibility.

Screensets: The Editor's Choice     There are more ways to set up your Screensets than there are Logic users, but what's a good way to set them up if you're just starting out with Logic? Here's the way I sort out the Screensets in my own system, which is a pretty good model to begin with. Screenset one is my top-level song overview, and Screenset two is similar but with an environment window at the top showing my audio mixer channels — I use the latter for recording. The third Screenset is split between an Arrange window and the Audio window, and I find this good for importing files and for dragging segments of audio into my Song's arrangement. Screenset four is like the first, but this time with a Matrix Edit window at the top, and I use it as my main MIDI editing setup. The next Screenset replaces the Matrix Edit window with a Hyper Edit window for editing drum patterns, while the subsequent Screenset replaces it with the Sample Editor window. Screensets seven, eight, and nine show various different Environment views. I use the other Screensets for less commonly required views, such as the ones I use for working with Emagic's Sound Diver patch librarian. Paul White

A Better Mixer View     Logic's mixer is very cleverly designed, but if you have a lot of Audio objects in your Environment, you can waste a lot of time scrolling between playback tracks, busses and master faders. An easy way to avoid excessive scrolling is to use Logic's ability to open two versions of the same window, using one window to show a number of track-playback Audio objects, whilst another shows only the Audio object for the master outputs (although it could also contain buss outputs). This allows you to scroll within the first window to view any of the input channels, whilst your master object always remains visible in the second window. Bear in mind, though, that the level meters will only be active in the topmost window. This is such a useful configuration that it's worth saving as a Screenset, so that you are able to jump to it at any time using a single keystroke. Paul White