Age 59 + Logic Pro - best way to learn?

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So I'm approaching 60 and I have Logic Pro on my MacBook, an interface, microphones, etc. and a lifetime of songs to record.

Have any of you 'mature' musicians tips on how best to get started? Any Youtube videos you recommend?
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    Groove 3 always have a good selection of content for all DAW 


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  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    You might not like this, but I do mean it in a helpful way, honest! :-) 

    I oscillate between Logic on the Mac and GarageBand on the iPad. Primarily, I'm trying to get rough demos of songs down for other people to listen to (and maybe learn). So I started on GB iOS. Then I realised it had some limitations that might matter to me in the future. So I bought Logic and started using it - because it's for pros, so it's got to be better, right?

    But, actually, although it's clearly a better DAW than GB for iOS, it's not the best for me. The things I thought would be important in the future - "when I got better at recording" - are not. And GB for iOS is much faster for getting down ideas, working on arrangements, etc. Especially since I added a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to my iPad setup. 

    So now I use GB for iOS for my own stuff and only use Logic when collaborating with my keyboard-playing mate in Plymouth. If I ever wanted to record an album for public release, then I might go to Logic to re-record everything - but TBH, I'd probably get a proper engineer in to do it, in a nicer space than my house. 

    There are zillions of free Logic courses on YouTube. I learn better from a book, so I bought Logic Pro for Dummies and used that, just dipping in to videos when I had a specific issue to overcome. 

    Good Luck! It's a fascinating journey.
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  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    I got seriously into recording quite late in life myself, and am now 56, so I can understand why you might want to take some shortcuts into Logic, I have mixed feelings about recommending it as a beginner.
    If you think of it as a complete package, to allow ideas to be formed from scratch, and worked through to completion, like the Billie Eillish demo track, you may well think it is perfect, but in reality, I found it frustrating and over complex, despite the name LOGIC.
    I moved onto it from Garageband, and it seemed like a more fully featured experience, and I did have a lot of use out of many of the features, such as Drummer.
    At around the same time, I was being encouraged to use Pro tools, as it was and is still considered 'industry standard'.
    And this is when I began to realise the limitations of sticking to one DAW.
    There are many many keyboard shortcuts to learn, with any one of them, in order to get them to work well, and some people have no problems with that.
    When you try and work across them you realise how frustrating it can be, the shortcuts don't translate.
    I am not trying to discourage you from Logic, as it has some amazing features, but I would advise caution in devoting all your time to learning the DAW, at it's core, it is a recording device, and that is where I feel there are better options available.
    I learned a lot about Logic from a channel called 'Dancetech' on YT, and his tutorials on the drummer and sampler sections are very good.
    He has done some basic beginners stuff too, which is well worth a look.
    If you have material ready to record, I would just look into the best way to capture those ideas at the best quality you can, to a tempo, and try not to get too caught up in the bells and whistles that Logic provides.
    At some point, you will hit a wall, either with hardware limitations, or upgrades, which will make you have to re-assess what you have done up to that point, and the main thing to be aware of, is that you have archived audio of your work.
    It is more important having the audio in Wav format, than having a Logic file, and the same should be said for any software instruments.
    I could go on, but then I would be inevitably recommending Reaper, which I always do.
    When you have to try and get Apple support for a problem you are having in Logic, this may become clearer.
    Good luck anyway.
     
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  • lukedlblukedlb Frets: 488
    Interesting @TheBigDipper . Just this weekend my young neighbour showed me how he uses logic as he and his friend recorded a new song in under 30 minutes. As much as I was impressed, the way my six year old messes around on GarageBand on the iPad was much the same and indeed ideal for sketching out ideas. So I’ve invited my neighbour to show my sons how to write a song. 
    The only issue is recording electric guitar. Is there a way for hooking up a guitar into an audio interface into the iPad or am I missing something? 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Groove 3 is the way to go.
    Ely is fantastic- we are sometimes on the Production Expert podcast together and he really knows his stuff and knows how to teach.
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  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    lukedlb said:
    Interesting @TheBigDipper . Just this weekend my young neighbour showed me how he uses logic as he and his friend recorded a new song in under 30 minutes. As much as I was impressed, the way my six year old messes around on GarageBand on the iPad was much the same and indeed ideal for sketching out ideas. So I’ve invited my neighbour to show my sons how to write a song. 
    The only issue is recording electric guitar. Is there a way for hooking up a guitar into an audio interface into the iPad or am I missing something? 
    My first audio interface was a PreSonus iTwo, which has a Lightning interface as well as a USB interface.  I now use an Audient Sono, which is USB, so I bought an Apple USB to Lightning interface and that works with anything that has a USB A plug on the end of the cable, including Headrush and Line 6 devices. And now I can connect USB thumb drives to the iPad, too, which has proved handy. 

    It just works. 

    The other thing I like about GB iOS is how easy it is to use software instruments, drums, etc. 
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    Thank you so much for the wisdom and recommendations @spark240 @andy_k @TheBigDipper @octatonic @lukedlb ;
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  • spark240spark240 Frets: 2073
    Castro said:
    Thank you so much for the wisdom and recommendations @spark240 @andy_k @TheBigDipper @octatonic @lukedlb ;
    No worries, personally I'm on Studio One, ...you can record a piece in 30 mins easy on any DAW you are familiar with, Ive not come across anything I cant do in S1 yet...I originally tried Cubase and dabbled with Garage band....but Studio One just worked for me. 


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  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    Just one last thing to mention. I've never tried to use GarageBand on macOS, just the iOS version. I couldn't begin to advise anyone about it. 
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  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    @castro No worries, feel free to ask for help here, always happy to pass on advice.
    Easy to forget about the music, and get hung up on the tools.
    At the end of the day, it is a glorified tape recorder, you'll remember them.
    cheers.
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  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    This popped up on my YT feed, another person who I have learned a lot from.
    Bear in mind, it is not a tutorial, but see it more as an opportunity to sit back and watch a Logic ninja work.
    He spends a lot of time promoting his own companies free plugin, ( which I use a lot ), and there is only one instance of something recorded for the project, I find it very useful
    .

    Well worth half an hour of time, and his mum is Una Stubbs.
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  • LightB4soundLightB4sound Frets: 161
    edited March 2021
    This channel is new but has lots of very quick tutorials 
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14323
    Castro said:
    I'm approaching 60 and I have Logic Pro on my MacBook, an interface, microphones, etc. and a lifetime of songs to record.

    Have any of you 'mature' musicians tips on how best to get started?
    I am only slightly younger than you. A heavy, black and white cardboard box on a bookshelf near where I am typing these words is testament to the fact that I began (ab)using Apple Logic in 2007.

    Fourteen years later, I would not pretend to know much over one third of its capabilities. 

    Inevitably, there are certain musical approaches and processes that I prefer. These are the ones in which I have become most practiced. If I were, say, an EDM enthusiast, I would probably have made greater use of the electronic percussion and arpeggiator plug-ins.

    Each to his or her own.


    The current incarnation of Apple Garageband could be thought of as Logic Lite. It is certainly an easier way to dip a toe in the waters and get initial recordings made. Logic Pro can import GB Projects for overdubbing and the application of advanced signal processing. (I have been in a musical collaboration that works exactly like that. My colleague begins his songs in GB. I add my contributions in Logic Pro.)
    Be seeing you.
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9499
    I first started using Logic when it was called MicroLogic and made by eMagic... I came from a cassette 4-track background and started off treating it like a 48-track tape machine. Even now, I’m only scraping the surface of its potential - but routing plugins, basic automation, and editing audio/midi regions is not difficult to learn. I find parallels with some of the massive software packages I’ve used in my work life (microelectronic design for instance) - there are 101 different ways to do something, but you only need to learn the one way that makes most sense to you.

    I’ve used GarageBand on and off over the years but I must be in a minority that finds it frustrating and counterintuitive!
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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    Thanks @thermionic I'm going to give Logic my focus and see how it goes.
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  • stratman3142stratman3142 Frets: 2177
    I don't use Logic but for DAW related tuition, including plugins and recording techniques I like to learn using video tutorials. Groove 3 has excellent video tutorials. I especially like tutorials by Eli Kantzberg or Kenny Gioia.

    It's not a competition.
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  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    Castro said:
    Thanks @thermionic I'm going to give Logic my focus and see how it goes.
    I think that's a good call. You've already paid for it. Pick one and make it work for you to do the things you want to get done. My mistake (in hindsight) was to try and learn everything about Logic, even if I didn't need to use that feature at the moment. But I'm happy where I am now.

    I first started using Logic when it was called MicroLogic and made by eMagic... I came from a cassette 4-track background and started off treating it like a 48-track tape machine. Even now, I’m only scraping the surface of its potential - but routing plugins, basic automation, and editing audio/midi regions is not difficult to learn. I find parallels with some of the massive software packages I’ve used in my work life (microelectronic design for instance) - there are 101 different ways to do something, but you only need to learn the one way that makes most sense to you.

    I’ve used GarageBand on and off over the years but I must be in a minority that finds it frustrating and counterintuitive!
    The iOS version? It's taking advantage of the touchscreen and aimed at a different group of users. 

    What all these DAWs need (IMHO) is a cookbook. It's one thing to be taught how to cook at college as an academic subject. Then, armed with all the tools and techniques, you take them out into the kitchen and try and use that knowledge to get the job done - deliver a meal under pressure. The trick can be knowing which approach to take, which tool or technique to use and which one to ignore as inappropriate for the task at hand.

    I think it's the same for DAWs. There's lots of info available to help learn the features but not so much explaining way the feature is a good thing which will help you. Or how to structure your work to take advantage. Maybe that's just me... 
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  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    My earlier hesitancy in recommending Logic was really to try to explain to the OP that the real investment in 'learning' any DAW is time.
    My own journey started many years ago with 4 track tape, and the simple aims of getting ideas down and developing them.
    Over time this led to music software, and inevitably Mac and Logic.
    I had already began to feel the strain of the constant upgrade path by the time I did a degree in music production, and was 'encouraged' to learn and use PT, with the explanation that it was 'industry standard', and this allowed me to do my first direct comparisons, as I had to have both pieces of software running on the same machine.
    This was also about the same time I began to use Reaper regularly, over both the others.
    I started to see some of the elitism that has been going on for years, yes PT IS industry standard, it is highly integrated into most recording studios, and post production, and if I wanted to go in that direction I would have to learn to be able to use it, and to be quick with it.
    Most of the other students were far more familiar with Logic, as they had just come from 3 years of music education using some of it's more contemporary features, but my own investments at that point had been to buy the most expensive Macbook pro I could afford, using the more affordable Logic9 studio version.
    When Logic proX was made available, as a free upgrade, I obviously hoovered that up, and hit another barrier.
    Logic offers massive additional libraries, which are useful to some extent, but do start to take up a lot of space-which puts a strain on hardware resources.
    During my degree, I was luck enough to be able to get a particular ere of MBP that allowed RAM to be upgraded, and also was easy to install an SSD for the system and a second large format hard drive for storage, which I did, and stll use as my main music making machine.
    Also, at this point I had to look at the problem of having a back up machine if something went wrong.
    By now, Apple would only supply MBPs with soldered ram, and un-upgradeable hard drives. To spec a comparable machine would be far beyond my means, which meant I would have to use a Windows PC as a back up machine, and also means Logic is unavailable.
    I am not making a windows vs mac comparison here, The OP has a Mac and Logic, so it makes sense to use it to it's fullest potential, and I am really only trying to point out some of the potential problems if a lot of time is invested in one particular piece of software or hardware.
    At some point, it will have to be replaced, either through mechanical obsolescence, or software support.
    At that time, the only thing that will matter to him will be the audio, and that is always cross platform format ( or should be )
    A simple illustration, is the way Apple recently completely removed, or rather replaced, the EXS sampler, which was limited to a later OS, on one of my machines I could do the update, but on an older one I am stuck.
    Dancetech did a few really good videos showing the features of the new version, and I made an attempt at using it.
    There was a point where I found a bug, which was unresolved, and which I had wasted an awful amount of time trying to fix, I simply gave up at that time and resented the effort i had wasted.
    I wasn't trying to find a fault, it was something stupid that Apple had missed, and Dancetech had made similar points in other of his tutorials, silly bugs that one comes across, you hit a problem, and only then find out it is a known bug.
    This is common across all platforms though, it just seems even more ridiculous in something like Logic Pro X.
    My current set up revolves around Reaper, and templates I have made which are specific to certain tasks, ie-recording with 8 inputs, or with 2, and sessions that are purely for mixing or mastering.
    I try and make all sessions end with audio stems, and I still use Logic for tasks like auditioning midi files and using the Drummer tracks to generate song ideas. Drummer was also recently 'updated' to use more contemporary drummers and beat makers, which is of no interest to me.
    sorry if this seems negative, it is not meant to be, it is only to give some food for thought at an early stage in someones journey with Logic, and inevitably Mac.
    cheers

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  • CastroCastro Frets: 510
    @andy_k your contribution is invaluable, honest and not at all negative.

    My MBP has 32GB RAM 2TB storage i9 processor. I'm hoping that will enable me to use Logic for some time without upgrade concerns.
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