Please help, new to LPX. External Instrument Integration Questions.

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for taking time out of your day to read about my issue, I appreciate any feedback anybody can give on the matter. I started making music about five years ago on Ableton, over the years I have gotten amoog voyager :-) its my baby, well Im trying out LPX and Im running into some weird concepts with how I am interpreting how Logic handles external midi.

Is it possible to automate Midi CC + Add a Midi FX to the signal without having to add both an External Midi Track + External Midi track with external instrument plug? Sorry if I'm so new to logic, but when I click the automation on an external midi track of my instrument it gives me two cc groups in the menu that are each evenly divided between 0-127 for the proper cc functions, however, I can't add a midi fx to this. The opposite if I just put an external midi track with external instrument plug the CC groups in the automation lane are no longer there like they were for when I just had the External Midi track open without the external instrument plug.

How do you record your hardware synth? Automate its cc's? And add midi fx to the chain? I see nothing wrong with having to open two external midi tracks one with the external instrument plug, however I just want to make sure there isn't anything more basic.

Everytime I open logic, I have to go to the midi sync preferences and turn on the midi clock send and stuff, if I make a template will I not have to do that?

Also, how do you compensate for the delay of your external midi instrument?

I know these questions are noobish logic questions but I just want to figure out the correct way of working with hardware and logic.