Logic Pro Unintuitive and frustrating.

Out of sheer interest, are you playing or working (like trying to earn money) with Logic? Because if it is the latter you should definitely consider a switch of DAW. Try GarageBand or better still hire an engineer who does the stupid tasks in Logic, you can be the producer, focused on the creative part of a given production. Trust me it works. Nothing more to say really, you don't seem to be the person who is prepared to change his attitude against Logic, and you are in for a long wait if you're expecting Logic to adapt your way of thinking.

Good luck and have a nice day!

What I said earlier is true.. Logic may not be for you... one thing I know for sure, Digital Performer is not for me yet I've always felt completely comfortable with Logic or Cubase/Nuendo.

Using any DAW will be a compromise, in truth... Logic is more configurable than most but it's basic design has been around for a long time. (see screenshot of Logic 5.5.1 on a PC).

What I find most attractive is Logic's sound... the combination of included plugins and instruments is the best and most creative of any currently available DAW and 9 times out of 10, I like mixes I've done in Logic over those I've done on other systems. For me, that's the bottom line, the sound.

Logic 5.5.1 (over 10 years ago) no mistaking the program is there? 😉

Ediiting Midi. recorded midi part. When in and tried to edit and it seemed nothing I did worked as expected. This happens everytime I open and use Logic.

I think Logic 9 is great, and know it well - but I agree that in terms of editing MIDI, there's a lot of room for improvement. And that's kind of weird, given that logic has a good reputation for it's MIDI features, but I guess that developing the audio editing side of Logic has gotten most of th focus the last few years.

I feel your pain!

Having said that, It's not, that Logic is un-intuitive, it just uses a dirrerent approach to doing things.

I come fromm a SONAR, ProTools, Sequoia background, and trust me, I have to remind mysely whenever I open Logic, that this is not one of the other DAWs.

Don't give up, just remember, that you now have a new girlfriend with different quirks, different tastes etc .... 🙂

I don't think you're going to get what you're looking for asking general questions. I'd recommend starting threads with the specific issues that are bugging you and hopefully people can help with those.

If you really just hate Logic (and it sounds like that may be a possibility), there may not be any advice that can change your mind and you might be happier with another DAW.

Octopusy wrote:

Again. I AM VERY open to knowing what the **** I'm missing. I OWN Logic and would have to pay to go back to Pro Tools. PT is awesome but would rather get used to Logic since it's "SO" great. Plus, I own it, I own books, I've watched a bunch of videos. It's the general workflow, editing, advanced basic functionality I'm just not getting.

C'mon man, you sound like a Woody Allen movie where continued aggravation is considered a virtue.

You want to like/learn Logc but you don't want to like/learn Logic and you expect other users to hold your hand and explain every little detail that you "don't get". It sounds like Logic is not going to work the way you expect it to and you're not "really" ready to change or be open to the Logic's method of doing things so just use another DAW that suits you, it's that simple. The easiest method of learning a complex program is to take one area at a time and explore it... a perfect example is the MIDI editing you "don't get". It's relative to the original note placement position unless you have snap selected. Maybe Logic has too many choices, it's able to be configured to work almost any way you prefer but it takes time to understand the program and it's available options. If you don't have that patience........ move on!

Yes, and another friendly word of advice: forget the Environment completely, until you understand it's potential! You will not need it anyway to explore Logic but you will love it once you have mastered the basic functionality of the program. One of the booby traps you probably already have encountered is the sheer endless list of possibilities to handle a given problem in Logic. Choose one solution and stick with it!

Good luck!

Octopusy wrote:

Thanks to those who tried to help. I DO appreciate it. I wish this software was a bit less ********

Logic may be too creative/smart for you, some software is like that, it leaves "********" users it's it's wake as it moves forward breaking new ground... don't feel bad though, you aren't the first, I've seen a few others.

Logic is fine. Apple on the other hand..........

To Octopussy,

By reading you, i'd say don't waste time with Logic if you don't like it(or get it, like you say). Those programs are made by human beings and everybody has its ways of doing/wanting things done. I've had the exact opposite experience with Logic when i purchased Micro Logic 2.0 some 10+ years ago. I had tried other MIDI sequencer(that's all you got at the time) and was never really satisfied and wasn't "getting it" like you say. I tried Micro Logic and made my first song even without reading the manual. Everything was in the right place and editing was done as it should(in my way of thinking). I didn't fight the other programs, as good as they can be, because i just didn't felt at home in them.

Those programs are tools to materialize our creativity, whether it's composing, sound design or mixing. You should find the one that you almost don't have to think about so you can focus on what's important. It's not like you don't have alternatives. If Logic isn't that program, you unfortunately lost 200$ to realize it. Welcome to the club, we've all been there. 😎

Just to add my two-peneth... There are a couple of things you should know. Logic has only been an Apple program for just over 10 years. For 10 years before that it was owned by Emagic. In all that time features have been added and added - but very infrequently, if ever, removed. For those of us who have been with Logic since the beginning that is BRILLIANT. For those coming to Logic "late" so to speak, that can be daunting. There's no easy way round that - it's Logic's compexity that makes it so brilliant. There are often 3 or 4 ways of doing the same thing. There are often many menu item you will never ever use. But that's what makes it the programme it is. The fear I share with many others is that when Logic X finally comes out Apple will address this and simplify it too much, or to be to blunt "dumb it down" - which seems to be maybe what you are after.

ProTools was created for Tape Ops and Mixing engineers who didn't like computers but realised they were going to have to start using them - it's simple. At it's core it's a Tape Machine and Mixing desk and for years it was completely usuable as a compositional tool. Ableton Live is built for DJs and EDM musicians, as is Reason. So if you want "simple", pick one of these.

The only real alternatives (on a Mac) - like for like - to Logic are Cubase/Neundo, Digital Performer and more recently PreSonus Studio One. PreSonus is a great programme, apparantly quite simple and intuative; but it's fairly early days for it at the moment. Digital Performer is much closer to Logic - but does take a slightly different approach to many things - including a different plugin format and tends to be a little niche - finding particular favour with US film composers - altough Nuendo is making big inroads there. Which really leaves Cubase. When it moved from VST to SX in 2002 it was a complete re-write of the code and it became much more like Logic. I moved to Cubase SX3/4 for couple of years in 2005/6/7 as I didn't want to buy an Apple computer and my PC version of Logic was showing it's age. It was very, very frustrating. I'm ashamed to admit I had to buy at least 3 new qwerty keyboards as they got pummeled under angry fists. But I got there - I had to, I was earning my living using it. In the end I got quite proficient at it. But in the end, when Intel found there way into Apples i went back to Logic and have never looked back.

Some days I hate Logic, with all it's silly little bugs that Apple never get round to fixing - IMO Apple have been quite an unworthy owner of Logic - I'm sure if Emagic still owned it we would be in a very differnt position. There have been a lot of major problems recently and I have considered many times moving my production studio away from Logic. But I always come back to the same problem - there really is nothing else out there that does what Logic does - IN THE WAY THAT LOGIC DOES. And that's the crux - you can use any software you want if you have to. But, ff you REALLY want to use Logic, then persevere and I promise you that one day the penny will suddenly drop - you'll have that EUREKA moment. Then you'll understand WHY Logic does the things it does the WAY it does them. But you'll only ever get to that point if you want to, apply yourself, and approach the task with an open mind.

Logic just isn't a prgramme for simpletons - and I'm not implying that you are; but consider this. When I get into my wifes car I turn the key and it just starts.. There are no more than 6 controls on the dash and that includes the radio. If I climbed into a Formula 1 car I wouldn't even be able to start the thing - let alone drive it or know what the sea of controls on the stearing wheel do - so that makes it CRAP does it? Admitedly - it might make it unsuitable to the task of going down the shops for the milk - but not crap I think you'll agree.

With all due respect, I like the fact that I can have the score window and the list window up at the same time - I read music, so for me it's great being able to select the notes I want to turn down in the score window but reduce the velocity of the highlighted notes in list view which I have open simultaneously on a single screen as well as the arrange window and inspector. Most DAWs default to the piano roll - I never use it, but that's just me. I love it that when I cut a region I can decide whether the notes that extend beyond the end of the region are shortened or not - because I know what the right answer to the question is depending on the situation and I understand what Logic is doing. I espeically LOVE that I can create a custom environment object that play 4 separate plugin instruments at once, with 1 transposed down an octave and with the mod wheel data filtered out of the last 2 - and that it takes me about 30 seconds to achieve... But with possiblities comes complications - that's the nature of it.

So I feel your pain of learning a new, complicated piece of software with a myriad of possibilites - but to be honest - toughen up! I love all of this and I don't want it taken away, or dumbed down or turned into a programme for EDM DJs. The reason I stick with Logic is that my production schedule is VERY varied and Logic, for me, is the only programme that can handle ALL of these different tasks, from remixing to production to film/ad scoring to composition to location recording ALL with equal aplomb.

So in summary, my advice would be, if you want to use one of the most powerful and popular tools available on the market to make music and you have a real reason (need) to do so - then persevere. You won't be disappointed when you finally get there - and I've no doubt that once you've really mastered Logic you'll find most other DAWs pretty simple to get around should you need to.

But, as the others have said, if you just want to hate Logic and bash Apple for the sake of it then you'd be better off spending the time learning another DAW. Honestly, the only reason to use ProTools is if you need to take you sessions to other professional recording studios or you need the ability to open ProTools sessions in you own studio - or you want to brag you have "professional" ProTools down the pub (and pay over the odds for your plugins). Other than that there is NO point. For dance/hip hop/loop based music use Ableton Live, for general production composition use Cubase or Studio One. End of story.

But please - for the most part the people on this forum fall into 2 catagories. Those who use Logic every day to earn a living and those who would like to, but don't know how to and are here asking how to; and of course we all help each other, discuss bugs, workarounds, best practises and pickup brilliant tips and advice. Some of the posters here really should be on a retainer from Apple for the job the do...

Oh, there is a 3rd catagory actually... Internet Trolls.

Here's hoping Logic X is nice and streamlined on the surface, but knarly and powerful under the hood.

Peace.

You are suffering from a self fulfilling negative convictions loop - you keep repeating the word "********" so often, making it impossible for you to look at things as they really are.

This does not necessarily make you ******** (many people do this in many situations), but it does make you a lot less intelligent. Also, using these kind of terms repeatedly could be indicative of a deepseated inferiority complex.

Mental retardation (MR) is [...] characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors.

The terms used for this condition are subject to a process called the euphemism treadmill. This means that whatever term is chosen for this condition, it eventually becomes perceived as an insult. The terms mental retardation and mentally ******** were invented in the middle of the 20th century to replace the previous set of terms, which were deemed to have become offensive. By the end of the 20th century, these terms themselves have come to be widely seen as disparaging and politically incorrect. and in need of replacement.