My review of Apple’s Logic Studio (including Logic Pro 8) is now live at Macworld.com (it’ll also be in the January 2008 print issue).

Summary:

Pros: Single-window view speeds editing and setup; MainStage program ideal for playing instruments and effects live; powerful, easy-to-access editing and take management tools; bundles Soundtrack Pro but halves the price; no more dongle; can sync with others via .Mac or Bonjour.

Cons: Some MIDI features are still obscure; MainStage doesn’t integrate with Logic or ReWire.

Or, to put it more simply: take away a dongle, slash the price, and make Logic easier to use, and you’ve got a winner.

Logic Studio: All-in-one music creation package is easier to use, more playable

I do hope competitors are taking a notice of what the Logic team at Apple has done with the interface.

Logic’s Environment, a modular layer in the program for creating custom configurations, isn’t well known to many Logic users. But if you can get used to its slightly unusual interface, it’s capable of some really powerful stuff. You know, important music stuff. Like connecting Logic to your Nintendo NES game system. Jonathan Flugel writes:

The MIDINES evironment was created based on this chart:
http://www.wayfar.net/0xf00000_midi_chart.php

The environment allows for control of the 5 channels of synth/audio that the NES [supports]

Here are the 5 parts:
1-2 - Pulse Synthesizer waves
3-4 - Triangle/Square waves
5- sample channel

Since this is also my primary template for a Logic session there are other goodies I left in there:

1. NYC compression bus channel
2. 3 bus channels that I got from Hybrid (electronic group) for simple drum processing
3. MPC groove templates taken from an MPC 60
4. Ableton Live and Reason ReWire objects

There you have it: Logic + NES + MPC + Live + Reason. If that’s not a digital dream studio, I don’t know what is.

In case you want to give this file a look:
MIDINES.zip
That’s the MIDINES, Logic 8 file (if anyone has a MIDINES but Logic 7, let us know and we can share the Logic 7 file.)

If you read CDM’s last ten blog posts backwards, you might discover the following: Paul is dead. The Environment is no longer in Logic Pro 8. Neither is true.

Despite numerous rumors to the contrary, general speculation that it might go away as Apple refocuses on ease of use, and me misreading tech sheets and panicking long-time users, the Environment remains in Logic Pro 8. The Environment is an entirely modular setup that allows you to effectively rewire the way MIDI and audio are managed in Logic. There’s never been anything else quite like it in a traditional DAW, particularly when you start manipulating MIDI data note-by-note, channel-by-channel, and so on.

From the tech specs, as caught by a couple of eagle-eyed readers, under Ultimate Writing Studio:

“Creative MIDI processing and routing in the Environment”

So, there you have it: the Environment lives. This may be non-news to some of you, but having seen what Logic ninjas can do with the Environment, I am convinced it could remain beloved by power users — and even that, with proper explanation of what the heck it does, could be accessible to new audiences. It’s not Max/MSP, but then, that’s not the intention: Max is useful for building ground-up synths and interactive setups, whereas the main advantage of Logic’s Environment is its integration with your DAW. (And odds are, if you can use one, you can learn the other.)

My apologies for scaring Environment fans and generally being inaccurate, but I’m at least happy to bring this news, even if belated.

Apple has unveiled a new version of Logic Express to go along with its new Logic Studio. It’s a pretty capable program for the price, with the new, overhauled production interface, full-blown audio and MIDI editing and even notation, video playback and video scoring features, the new take management and comping features, mixing, and automation. It’s unfortunate, but I have to compare to Ableton’s recently-announced Live LE, which painfully cripples basic clip automation features and the ability to freely add effects plug-ins, audio inputs, and MIDI outputs.

So, what is missing in Logic Express? For starters, you don’t get the bundled applications in Logic Studio. In the case of Soundtrack Pro, that may not matter — like the new Logic Studio, Logic Express includes internal, sample-accurate audio editing and video scoring features in-house. But I suspect the MainStage live performance features will be reason alone for some to upgrade to the full version. There’s also no surround, though this is still a largely stereo world so that makes sense.

More importantly, you miss out on some of Logic’s deep range of instruments and effects. The difference is that Apple is including some of the stars:

• EXS24 sampler


• ES2 synth
• EFM1 FM synth
• Ultrabeat drum machine
• Guitar Amp Pro amp modeler

The previous version I believe had only Guitar Amp (not Pro) and the EFM1 and ES2. The new version to keep the ES2 and adds Ultrabeat and the fairly powerful EXS24, which once was a standalone sampler product, even if it looks a little thin compared to the current versions of Kontakt, Dimension Pro, and others. (As noted in comments, not quite clear what EXS24 instruments are there; I’ll ask.)

The effects suite is a little more basic, and I hope they’ve included clear instructions for the confusing UltraBeat instrument, but this still gives you a rich set of stuff to play with right in the box, on top of what you get with GarageBand. And you could always round out the set later with an add-on, third-party plug-in.

This makes for what has to be the richest “entry-level” DAW for US$199 available yet. The equivalent versions of SONAR, Cubase, Live, and others tend to be more limited. I still think most will jump for the full Studio, but Logic Express appears thoughtfully assembled for those on a budget.

Logic Express 8

My inbox and IM queue is full today. After a long wait, rumors, and buzz, Logic Pro 8 is here. It’s a huge overhaul, from UI to features, but the big news for many will be the price: US$499 now buys you Logic Pro Studio, which now also includes Apple’s Soundtrack Pro audio editor.

We’ll be spending some quality time with the new Logic over the coming weeks, but here’s the mile-high overview:

• New user interface: Logic’s UI has been rebuilt from the ground up with a new, single-window view, evidently largely inspired by Soundtrack. You never have to switch windows to make an edit. Digital Performer, Cubase, and SONAR have all found their own ways of doing this, and single-window editing is part of what many Pro Tools users say makes them loyal. Apple’s implementation is unique, though, so it’ll be interesting to see it in action.
• Set up tracks more easily: Just configuring tracks and routing was often a challenge in earlier releases of Logic, partly because of the sophisticated Environment, a modular audio and MIDI system, lurking beneath. The good news: there’s a new track setup, streamlined channel strips, and Apple Loop-like channel strip preset management. The bad news (for Logic 7 ninjas): the Environment is a casualty.
• Reworked audio editing and recording: Again, taking from Soundtrack but expanding upon its ideas, you get new features for multi-take editing, comping, sample-accurate waveform editing right in the main window, snap-to-transient editing, and other enhancements.
• MainStage: This new tool is designed to make live performance easier with virtual racks of instruments and effects (including Guitar Rig effects for guitarists). Automatic-mapping hardware support (as seen in Reason, Live, Novation’s ReMOTE SL and others) makes it easier to plug and play controllers. Put them together, using templates or your own design, and you can set up live performance rigs, with a full-screen mode that’s easy to see without hunching over your laptop. On that note, there’s also–
• Mobile file sessions so you can move easily to your laptop on the road. Pack that and –
• Leave your dongle, because it’s gone — serial number authentication only.
• Bigger bundle, lower price: Logic now includes Soundtrack Pro, plus the new onstage features, and still has all of the instruments, effects, and sound library as before, all for half the price: US$499 list.
• The Environment Lives! And to its naysayers, I’ll just have to call up Steve Horelick, get together with Logic 8, and put together a whole bunch of new tutorials demonstrating how cool this is.

What isn’t in Logic 8: The overhaul for Logic Pro 8 already looks really huge. At the same time, there’s a lot I’ll want to get hands-on with, and from what I can tell, there are some things you won’t find (some of them welcome, some of them not, depending on who you are):

At the 1985 Grammies, Thomas Dolby played alongside Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Howard Jones. It was the golden age of synths and keyboard-driven pop. (Yeah, I know, some of us kinda miss those days.) But Thomas Dolby is significant, as well, as one of the pioneers of the computer-driven one-man band. Almost a decade into the age of soft synths, at a time when Logic Pro’s most punishing physical-modeling synths and convolution reverbs run just fine on a $1000 laptop and Ableton Live is becoming commonplace, musicians still struggle with some of the technical details of how to actually make the one-man band work onstage.

Here’s the comforting news: it’s not easy for Thomas Dolby, either. Normally when you write a print interview, invariably there’s a point where you get way off talking about technicalities and they don’t all fit. But because this is online, I’ve decided to reprint most of what Thomas had to say about making the tech work in its original form. These are just the technical details — gear stuff rather than art — but the important thing is that they have to support his performance. Part of why he’s able to bring such great presence to the stage is the gear in back is largely working — and he’s the one in control, rather than backstage techs. Here are all the gritty details:

We’re pleased to announce a new series on CDM, in which we get the chance to talk — and learn from — some of the people who inspire us. CDM Gurus features artists who push the envelope of technology and expression.

Song writer. Synth builder. Amateur meteorologist? Thomas Dolby’s uncanny ability to reinvent technology and predict the direction of the music business makes this equally talented songwriter one to watch, as much in 2007 as 1996 and 1982.

Want a glimpse at how the business of being a creative musician is evolving? Ask Thomas Dolby. He’s the master of Music Industry 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 … you name it. He certainly danced with the pre-Internet industry hitmaking machine. The cheeky, warm-hearted “She Blinded Me With Science” exploded to mega-popularity — and could easily blind the uninitiated to a string of other terrific songs that somehow failed to make it on MTV’s hit parade. In the early days of the dot-com boom, Dolby’s surprise second act was shaping the cellphone as a market for music. His start-up Beatnik introduced technologies for polyphonic MIDI ringtones, and odds are, each time you hear a modern ringtone, you’re either hearing Beatnik tech or technology impacted by it.

Now, the test for Thomas Dolby is what can happen to a gifted songwriter and music technologist when he guides his own destiny, without the mechanisms of the industry behind his back. The new Dolby plan started about a year ago, with a tour co-headlining with dance music idol BT. “I could play these gigs and fill it with die-hard fans and I could sort of sneeze and they would be happy,” Dolby says. “I felt the need to expand.” The new tour and album reintroduce the best of Dolby’s songwriting to a new audience — and yes, audiences cheer for “Science” just as passionately as ever. (The difference: many weren’t born in 1982, and they shout along with the enthusiasm of a generation originally deprived of this kind of music.) But as the crowd is equally rapt from tune to tune, it’s clear something new is happening. “It definitely doesn’t feel like a sort of eighties nostalgia trip,” says Dolby. “If anything, the frame of reference is more late 70s underground electronic, which is where I started out.” And Dolby himself is still a one-man band, but he’s got the tools of the Web behind him: forums, blogs, YouTube, MySpace. Unlike many successful artists, who talk about the empowering effect of these tools for other, less-fortunate artists, Dolby is actually re-making his own career using the new technology.

But enough about 2007. What’s really remarkable is the promo bio from The Golden Age of Wireless In May 1982, it reads like a manifesto for where live performance with computers could go today:

DOLBY’S ONE-MAN STAGESHOW IS A BIZARRE HYBRID OF COMPUTER-GENERATED MUSIC. VIDEO MONTAGE AND SLIDE AND FILM PROJECTIONS, BORDERING ON PERFORMANCE ART THEATER. WILL TOUR MAJOR CITIES AROUND THE WORLD. CONCENTRATING ON ALTERNATIVE VENUES AND PUBLIC PLACES.

When I met up with Thomas Dolby on Christmas Eve of last year, I was struck by how elegantly this vision of technologically-aided performance was coming to fruition. The promise glimpsed in 1982 — the digital one-man band — seemed to just now be having its real moment.

Now comes the interesting part. Next week, Thomas will release a new EP, backed by brass (and, if we’re really lucky, heralding a new renaissance of computers-with-live-brass combos). Thomas Dolby and the Jazz Mafia Horns Live is the latest of a string of releases converting the vibrant stage shows into commercial products, from albums to EPs to DVDs to blog entries and videos. It’s also intended to be the end of an era. Thomas writes on his blog:

I expect these to be the last ‘legacy’ releases before I transition into my new musical era. With them out of the way I’ll be focusing 100% on new material. I’m very excited about several songs I’m working on already, and I’ll be going to England this summer to start recording them. One day they may show up in the form of an all-new studio album. When will that be ready you ask? WHEN IT’S READY!

This is not your father’s Thomas Dolby. We got to chat about the technology of music performance, the technology of music business, and how to make sure all of that disappears and the songs re-emerge.