March 2007
Monday, Mar 26
GOD, DO I HATE SPAM...
I had to go into this site's database and dump out all visitor comments from the very beginning (not that a lot of people have bothered), because of fucking spambots that flood people's blog commentary with hundreds of pieces of bullshit.
When I see that I have forty two comments on some of my useless drivel, I know it ain't from interested parties.
I was able to simply "Empty" the database containing all the bullshit, along with relevant and thoughtful things left by visitors. I then had to delete and recreate an individual field in a different database, that stores how many comments have been left on a particular entry.
Talk about a trip down memory lane. Anyway, everything's clean now, until I have to do it again.
Tuesday, Mar 20
More "fun" with Logic + Pro Tools, living together in harmonious bliss...well, not quite.
See this thread for more.
And if this sort of thing bores you to tears, well, change the channel.
Tuesday, Mar 6
NOTES ON PRO TOOLS AND LOGIC SIMULTANEOUS OPERATION
(not listed in specific order, applies to Mac Pro w/OS 10.4.7+, tested with PT 7.2.1, Logic 7.2.3, and Digidesign MIDI interface)
- This scenario is restricted to sampling rates 44.1, 48, and 96, in accordance with the S/PDIF spec
- In Applications>Utilities>Audio/MIDI setup, select Audio, and under Properties for Digital output, select sampling rate from pulldown menu - this must be the same as your Pro Tools session
- In Audio/MIDI setup, select MIDI, then double-click the IAC Driver icon, and check "Device is online"
- In Pro Tools Setup>Session, check "MTC to Port", then from pull-down menu, select "IAC Driver, Bus 1"
- Set Pro Tools Setup>Hardware>Clock Source to Optical S/PDIF
- Set Pro Tools Setup>Hardware>any available input pair to receive Optical S/PDIF; Toslink cable should be connected between computer output and DIgidesign audio interface
- In Pro Tools Setup>Preferences>MIDI: Delay compensation for external devices, check MIDI Time Code (and MIDI Beat Clock if external hardware sequencer is to be slaved)
- Ensure that PT and Logic are set to same BPM
- In Pro Tools, create at least one stereo audio or aux track to monitor/record Logic output
- In Logic, go to Preferences>Audio>Drivers, under Core Audio, "Enabled" should be checked, and from the Driver pulldown menu, select Digital Output/Digital Input (input choice does not matter, so long as it is Digital Output)
- In Logic, go to File>Song Settings>Synchronization>General and do the following:
1) check "auto enable external sync"
2) set timecode frame rate to that of Pro Tools session
3) Bar Position 1:1:1:1 plays at SMPTE x:x:x:x should be set to allow for pre-roll, to ensure smooth lock from beginning when slaving Logic to Pro Tools. Set SMPTE time later than Pro Tools' actual start time
- If recording MIDI from more than one controller, go to File>Song Settings>Recording: MIDI, and check "Auto demix by channel if multitrack recording"
- - observations and disclaimers, YMMV - -
It is assumed that one has correctly set up Logic's Environment in accordance with their specific hardware instruments and controllers.
Although the use of a multiport hardware MIDI interface should negate each MIDI device being set to a different channel, I found it necessary to set each of my three hardware instruments to send and receive on different channels, in spite of their being connected to separate physical ports. If only a single MIDI hardware instrument track in Logic is Record-enabled, each instrument will trigger the other, until all relative tracks are in Record-ready. The "Auto demix by channel if multitrack recording" function only happens after recording. So unless you ensure that either all, or none, of the hardware instrument tracks are in Record-ready, the simultaneous triggering of all instruments quickly becomes irritating.
When recording multiple MIDI tracks in Logic (with "Auto demix by channel if multitrack recording" enabled), upon stopping the transport, multiple regions will subsequently appear on all recorded tracks. The regions will contain the info recorded from that particular instrument...but every region will be named after whatever track happened to be highlighted at the time of recording. For example, let's suppose that three tracks are record-enabled, and you happen to have last clicked on the "Motif" track. You record, then stop - and each tracks' own regions will materialize - but they'll all be named "Motif" and a number.
To quickly clean things up, Select All (regions), then click Regions>Track Names to Regions, but WTF, you shouldn't have to.
In light of these decidedly ridiculous shenanigans, ProTools definitely wins for simplicity of multitrack MIDI recording. Unfortunately, the monumental power of Logic obviates the advantage of having both programs.
When recording a track with an Arpeggiator patch in the Virus (or anything else), make sure that Logic is the "front" application, as the arpeggiating instrument will be receiving clock from Logic. If you try to play the instrument with Pro Tools at the front, the instrument's clock will instantly get confused and trip over itself. --edit-- This can be prevented by disabling Logic's sending MIDI beat clock
If you want to play a part without experiencing MIDI latency, particularly with an electronic percussion instrument, you can set the instrument/controller to transmit on the channel set in Logic, and to receive on an unused channel. Then set Local Control to On. You'll have to re-set the receiving channel to hear playback, but it's nice to be able to record without latency.
La la la la...ain't life grand.
Saturday, Mar 3
NEWNESS...
I've owned Logic Pro for about two years. The first year, as a few faithful readers perhaps will recall, I made some progress (and some money) with it for the first few months. Then life continued to evolve, my setup and motives changed, and it fell into disuse.
Recently, it has been mentioned in the context of Le Studio, and sensing potential action, I upgraded and installed it on the studio computer.
After some effort (and additional updates), it is running in sync with Pro Tools, and sound from its softsynths and audio tracks are routed out of the Mac Pro's optical S/PDIF output via Toslink cable, and into the Pro Tools hardware interface. Then in Pro Tools, I can bring the 2-channel S/PDIF signal into a stereo audio track or stereo aux input.
By default, this means mixing the Logic material "in the box", unless you record each track into Pro Tools in real time.
Either way, this is extremely cool, as these are two "big dog" programs whose advocates frequently bash each other's choice of software - and I've got them running together in sync. This has been a prime objective for over ten years for some people.
More tools + more knowledge = more power.
Today, I dug up some old pieces of music I made in Logic the year my mother passed away. It's weird to re-visit some of these things. A couple of them I made at the old house, in Logic Express. Some I did late in the summer, several weeks after we'd begun assimilating into her home, in the room which is now the control room.
And so the wheel turns.
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