Surprise! Apple Updates Logic Studio
This morning Apple surprised everyone by announcing major updates to Logic Studio and Final Cut Studio. None of the rumor sites had a clue the announcements were coming. Only a few development partners who were sworn to secrecy were in on it, so it appears that Apple did an especially good job of keeping their news under wraps this time around.
The new Logic Studio comprises Logic Pro 9, MainStage 2, Soundtrack Pro 3, and Compressor 3.5. Logic Pro 9 is all about enhanced workflow, new plug-ins, and new capabilities. Apple says it’s easier than ever to share setups and track content between projects. With a single command, you can now turn a selected audio region into a sampler instrument triggered by its own MIDI track. (I’ve wanted to do that for years.) Enhanced take folders let you edit take regions, color-code your takes, and punch in and out of takes without creating new lanes. With Logic Pro’s collection of Flex Time tools, you can nondestructively manipulate the timing and tempo of audio events in real time, using algorithms tailored to specific track types. Quickly quantize audio, apply varispeed, and slice drum tracks. You can even export selected audio tracks from one project to another with automatic tempo matching. 
Two of Logic Pro’s new plug-ins, Amp Designer and Pedalboard, emulate real gear that includes 25 amps, 25 cabinets, 30 stompboxes, and more. One standout feature of Pedalboard is the ability to rearrange effects in any order you wish. More than 450 new impulse responses for Space Designer deliver warped effects for new audio-processing possibilities. Additional new features in Logic Pro 9 include Drum Replacer and the Voices Jam Pack, which previously was only available separately.
In MainStage 2, the new Playback plug-in plays backing tracks you can trigger while performing live. With the Loopback plug-in, you can build loop-based jams by endlessly layering your live performances. Now you can more easily record your performances and change multiple parameters with a single MIDI controller. MainStage 2 also offers full ReWire support.
One of the new features in Soundtrack Pro 3, Voice Level Match, takes the volume data from one audio clip and applies it to another to correct mismatched volume levels. An improved File Editor lets you make changes to specific audio events without affecting simultaneous audio in other frequency ranges. Advanced Time Stretch gives you three new algorithms for stretching and compressing audio.
For thousands of Logic Studio users and for me personally, this news is particularly exciting. I look forward to getting my hands on the update and putting it through its paces. Look for a review by Len Sasso in a future issue of EM.
Like most Apple software, Logic Studio is for Mac OS X only. It’s available now for $499, and upgrades are $199. For more information, point your browser to apple.com.
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Logic Express 9 has Surround Sound mixing now!!!!!
July 30th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Very cool. One correction, though. Delay Designer (although very, very cool) is not a new feature. It’s part of LS8.
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