Almost eleven years since the release of Logic Pro X, and after several major updates, Apple's flagship DAW is finally ready for version 11. A turning point?
Testing a new version of Logic is always a special exercise insofar as Apple’s software enjoys a special status in the small world of DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations). Firstly, because at €230/$199, it’s priced well below most of its historical rivals, who tend to sell for about twice as much. And secondly, because upgrades are free of charge for owners of previous versions, no matter how major. This is still the case for version 11.
Don’t expect Tim Cook to be philanthropic, however. Since its acquisition by Apple, Logic, like Final Cut, GarageBand, Pages, Keynote or Numbers, has been conceived above all as a marketing loss leader. Indeed, since support for the PC version of the software ceased as soon as it was acquired from eMagic, the only way to use Logic is to have a Mac computer. Logic’s attractiveness and astonishing price/performance ratio are due not so much to the fact that Apple intends to make its money on Logic but rather on the hardware it sells: Macs and MacBooks, of course, but also iPads and iPhones (for running Remote Control), with all the accessories and connectors that this implies. And the least we can say is that he’s an attractive guy!
Year after year, Apple has continued to improve eMagic’s excellent sequencer, not skimping on any key functionality compared to the competition and even allowing itself a few original features. The software has, for example, integrated an Ableton-style pad matrix. This is certainly not a competitor to Live or Bitwig in the field of real-time sequencers, but a much more general software offering multiple workflows to adapt to the profiles of different musicians.
This concern for adaptation is also reflected in Apple’s commitment to adapting to the level of the user. While the basic GarageBand is perfect for absolute beginners to take their first steps into the DAW world, the move towards Logic is made all the simpler by the fact that both programs share a common ergonomic base. Logic even offers a Simple mode to welcome confirmed beginners and an Advanced mode that can be unlocked when you feel confident enough. This is a good idea and means that the publisher doesn’t have to produce multiple versions of its software, which would once again lead to the need to buy upgrades, as is the case with competitors.
But Logic doesn’t just stand out for its scalability, as it also boasts one of the most comprehensive bundles of instruments and effects on the market. These include the excellent Alchemy hybrid synth (acquired following the Camel Audio takeover), the Studio Horns & Strings, and Drummer, capable of generating drum tracks relevant to many musical genres.
We could also talk about the excellent delays on offer, the quality of Chromaverb, StepFX and PhatFX, electric pianos, organs, guitar amp simulations and so on. Recently, Logic even added an automatic mastering plug-in, a highly simplified ersatz of Izotope Ozone, with the ability to generate an automatic setting. It also includes quality time-stretch and pitch-shift tools for tempo changing and tuning correction, and it hasn’t neglected ARA2 compatibility, welcoming Melodyne, Vocalign and Auto-Tune Pro within its fold. It also includes developments on the multichannel side.
And that’s just the beginning. When it comes to the essentials — recording, editing and mixing — Logic is extremely well equipped: with features like the Environment, Hyperdraw, Groove tracks, Smart Controls and Track Stacks. There’s very little Logic can’t do, and do well, at a very reasonable price, so much so that the only major fault lies with Apple’s strategy (Mac only and no support for the VST standard, even if this can be bypassed via a VST to AU wrapper). It’s hardly surprising that, like Live, Logic has been taken over by many pros looking for a creative tool to complement Pro Tools. We’ve even seen Bedroom Pop albums come straight out of Logic, whether Christine and the Queens or Billie Eilish.
The recent release of version 11, 11 years after version 10, offers plenty of intrigue: what new feature is so huge as to warrant a version jump? The answer to that question could be summed up in two letters that are very much in vogue at the moment, if Apple’s communication on this one is to be believed: AI.
MA for… Artificial Marketing
There’s no doubt that ever since ChatGPT and Midjourney came along and troublemaker OpenAI sat down at the GAFAM table to redistribute the cards, everyone has clearly understood the formidable impact that AI will have on a civilizational scale in our near future. And when you’re a tech giant like Apple, and you’re way behind the times on the subject, you do your best to jump on the hype bandwagon and show everyone that you’re “in the game” with a great deal of communication. This includes overtly transhumanist ads, as well as the sales pitch for the new Logic Pro 11, which we’re told is stepping right into the wonderful world of AI.
The Mastering Assistant feature, released in Logic Pro 10.8 is AI powered, but a closer look at the four main new features in version 11, reveals more artifice than intelligence. While the new ChromaGlow saturation processor owes its modeling to Machine Learning, that doesn’t make it an AI-driven plug-in. What’s more, while the two new Smart Players, a pianist and a bassist, are based on symbolic AI (and not connective AI as in GPT, Midjourney, etc.), this was already exactly the case with the Drummer feature, released years ago, or even Band in a Box nearly 35 years ago.
Finally, let’s be clear: the software’s Stem Splitter, while certainly more AI-related, comes, as with Izotope, Image Line, Serato, Acon, and Steinberg, from Open Source technologies. While we welcome these new features with joy and goodwill, there’s no doubt, then, that Logic is far from having made its AI revolution if it ever does, contrary to what Apple tells us.
Also, it should be noted that Logic Pro is no longer fully compatible with the current generation of Intel processors and requires a Silicon-based Mac to run several key features: the Stem Splitter, the ChromaGlow plug-in and three of the four Character modes in the Mastering Assistant.
With these points cleared up, it now remains for us to discuss the additions of this V11, which, while by no means a revolutionary update in functional terms (at least not as revolutionary as V11 suggested), nonetheless offers a host of new features and improvements that make Logic even more powerful and enjoyable. Let’s take a closer look…
In Session
As we said, one of the main new features is the addition of two new Session Players. Now, in addition to the already existing Drummer, we have a Bass Player and a Keyboard Player, which function on a similar principle except that they are based on a Chord Track. As soon as a new Session Player part is created, you choose between the three possibilities, and Logic generates a loop that you can modify through various parameters.
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In the Details area, in addition to managing dynamics and humanization, you determine the use of the instrument’s various articulations, which is relatively basic on a piano (and limited to Grace Notes) but more consequential on bass (slides, dead notes, intensity of muffling, etc.). Last but not least, the Manual tab lets you simply enter the steps to be activated on a step sequencer in order to guide the generation rhythmically. In short, all this promises you quite a lot of combination and experimentation to generate parts that hold up pretty well. See an example of what it looks like starting from a guitar loop:
- Source00:32
- Drums00:32
- Bass00:32
- Piano00:32
- Mix00:32
Look how well Logic does, knowing that you can either use these clips as simple audio loops, or turn them into fully editable MIDI clips.
We’ll also deplore the absence of chord suggestions for building progressions (no notion here of the fifths cycle), while recognition of a progression or rhythmic placement from audio seemed to me less refined than in the EZ range, and the tool is somewhat buggy. On many settings, in particular on slightly olé-olé rhythmic signatures, the software grinds along without producing anything, to the point where you sometimes have to restart the session for a setting to be taken into account in the part generation. Above all, Smart Players can hardly compete with the wealth of MIDI and sample resources available in the Toontrack ecosystem. But let’s face it, we’re not in the same price bracket either, as Toontrack’s accumulation of sound and groove banks quickly makes the solution extremely expensive. Considering that these capabilities are included in a comprehensive DAW like Logic at its comparatively low price, Apple comes out on top. Indeed, these new features widen its lead over its competitors, most of whom have very little to offer in this area: only Steinberg provides a few elements, between its Chord Track and HALion’s Flex capabilities, but it remains very rudimentary compared to what Apple has done.
Down with the Mixes!
- Why Did You Do It_03:30
- Logic (Chant)03:30
- Logic (Basse)03:30
- Logic (Batteries)03:30
- Logic (Autre)03:30
- Vocal03:30
- Bass03:30
- Percussion03:30
- Other Instruments03:30
Obviously, we’re a long way from being able to do what can be done with Steinberg Spectralayers, whose specialty it is, but let’s acknowledge that implementing the function is a very good thing and that we hope it will soon be in all DAWs to the delight of remixers.
On an equally interesting note, we look forward to the arrival of ChromaGlow.
Afterglow
Thereafter, the range goes from discreet soft clipping to much more pronounced coloration, which is just as relevant as a track insert as it is on a bus or master. Designed using Machine Learning and featuring a simplistic interface, ChromaGlow is in fact a really good addition to Logic’s arsenal, which will allow you to add brightness (hence the name) to a somewhat dull signal, or on the contrary to bring density with a nice low end and very musical harmonics that develop in the treble.
And the rest…
And, of course, a host of more secondary additions such as new Producer Packs (The Kount drum/percussion-oriented, Corey Wong funk-oriented obviously, and Hardwell plugged into EDM/Electro), more in-depth management of metadata, rendering and monitoring in Dolby Atmos, more advanced MIDI routing — so that sequences generated by one instrument can now be used to control another instrument — real-time bouncing of external instruments, keyboard shortcuts for selections and MIDI legatos, and much more.
Bref, the upgrade is worth it, all the more so when it’s free. Now it remains to conclude on Logic as a whole.
