Welcome to mastering in Logic’s overview of Logic Pro X 10.4! 

Apple have released a brand-new version, Logic Pro X 10.4 and it’s a big one!  

Is it to steal Ableton’s thunder with their new release? Is it to put to bed all the Logic users that spread doom and gloom on facebook saying Apple will soon stop supporting us Logic users? Or is it because the development team have spent time working behind the scenes to bring the Logic community something special?  

Who cares there’s some really neat new features! 

Before I go into an overview it’s important to point out this is a free upgrade for Logic X users and with all the new features that have been added any other DAW maker I would imagine would have charged for such a big upgrade.  

Considering over the past few years Logic has given me and you Alchemy, Drummer, Drum Machine Designer, VCA’s, true Stereo panning, selection-based processing, loudness metering and much more all free, that makes us Logic Users pretty spoilt I’d say! 

So what do we lucky Logic lovelies get with 10.4? 

In this video we’ll look at a brief overview of Smart Tempo, Vintage EQ, Direction Mixer, Mixer and Plugin Undo and Reverb. I’ll cover other stuff new features in another video. 

SMART TEMPO 

We get Smart Tempo, which has powerful new tempo analysis and editing capabilities, you can record a new part or drag and drop a loop and Logic will automatically flex the recording to sync with the tempo of your project. This is going to make remixing and importing audio with different tempos an absolute breeze.  

This feature also allows you to adapt the tempo of the session to match the tempo of an imported audio file. 

Another cool feature that I love is that recorded audio will now adapt to the tempo changes. If like me you’ve ever been writing and have recorded in different audio parts live, say a bass or guitar and later down the line decide the tempo is wrong it was a real pain to either time stretch, quantize audio or re-record guitars etc. Now with Smart Tempo Logic will adapt you recorded audio to fit new tempos. 

 

VINTAGE EQ 

We all know the holy grail for a lot of 3rd party plugin manufactures is hardware emulation. Logic have joined the party with the addition of some very nice looking new EQs. Neve, API and Pultec style emulations have been added to the EQ bundle and it’s a very nice addition indeed. I have some Neve hardware as well as the plugins from Waves and UA, I’ve not compared and probably won’t but I’m sure they’ll be plenty of discussion about it on various forums. 

Apart from the fact that they sound great the idea here is to add some vintage character to your mixes and one thing that makes a hardware EQ stand out is the gain stage where you can saturate and drive the signal. So Logic have added an on/off switch internally so you can drive the signal but bypassing the EQ stage. This is cool because you can add colour to the mix without actually adding any EQ. 

However, add some EQ to the equation combined with the drive and you’ll not only shape the frequency but you can decide on how much distortion and colour you want add.  

Not only that but you can further shape the sound by selecting different types of vintage modelling by clicking on the Output Model drop down menu where you can select from Silky (tube), Punchy, (graphic), Smooth (console) and Off if you don’t want any Output modelling. You can also select either natural or linear phase modes which affects how the drive interacts with the EQ. 

Logic have really thought about developing a plugin which not only emulates vintage classics but gives you the ability to shape the tone colour and add harmonics as well as simply shaping and correcting frequency. 

It’s a great plugin set that I’m sure you’ll find plenty of use for. 

Direction Mixer 

This is one not many people will be talking about but I think is going to be a really useful tool. The Direction Mixer can now be split into two frequency bands. This allows you to set a crossover point and then independently adjust the width of the band. 

For example you could have a drum loop and widen the hats and top end frequencies by setting a high crossover point and then dragging out the High spread slider out to the sides. 

This is a great way to add width to a loop in the top end without affecting the lows such as kicks. It would also be great on pads and synths too where you may want the lower frequencies to stay in the middle of the stereo image but add more width and spread the higher you go in pitch.  

Mixer and Plug-in Undo 

This proves Apple listens and we got there eventually, it’s something users have been asking for for a long time and it’s finally here. We can now undo plugin and mixer-based moves making life quick simple and easy. 

We’ve all been there, you’re working on a patch tweaking and fine tuning a sound that is perfect but before you know it you’ve continued tweaking and the patch now sounds awful. With the addition of plugin undo you can always find your way back to that perfect patch. 

Also, with mixer undo you can not only go back to individual track positions but it works for multiple selected tracks.  

Andrew Schepps once said the advantage of working in a DAW is if the meters are pushing into the red then you can grab all the tracks and bring everything down relative to each other to see how it sounds at a lower level. If it works great if not, and now with mixer undo, you can undo and go back to the original position. 

To enable this feature simply open the mixer and select edit and ensure Include Mixer Undo Steps in Project Undo History is selected. 

Reverb 

ChromaVerb 

Logic has done the double with reverb, not only has the GUI of Space Designer been updated but they have also added a brand-new reverb called Chromaverb. 

So the Logic manual says: 

“ChromaVerb features fourteen discrete algorithms that provide a different tonal color.”… 

“The fundamental approach behind ChromaVerb diverges from other methods of reverb creation. It is based on the principle of a circular structure in which the sound is gradually absorbed, much like in a real room. The absorption characteristics are dependent on the chosen room type and reverb parameter settings. 

Each room type offers a unique tonal color, ranging from dense rooms to wide spaces and large halls.” 

I’ve bought a lot of different reverb plugins in my time and I’d say for the quality of this reverb and the creative possibilities of just this plugin alone is worth the whole cost of Logic.  

It’s a really good reverb and I think it will be a go to plugin for a lot of producers.  

The reason I think that is because it seems to work with only a few tweaks. What I mean by that is I’ll often load a reverb up and it will take some time to find the right preset to get it to work in the mix. Creating space is a complex process and choosing the right reverb can be hard at times and can really make or break a sound or mix.  

The idea of focusing the plugin on absorption is great and actually seems to give much more control. It won’t be perfect for everything but having loaded it up on a few sounds already I think you’ll find a great deal of use for this plugin and let’s not even mention that cool graphic display jumping and dancing around. 

Obviously, this isn’t a detailed view of the plugin but two features I think are plugin highlights of ChromaVerb are the Decay and Distance features. 

Logic have added the ability to set the decay time based on rhythmical values, which is a great feature. Perfect for sound design, dance, pop and urban styles of music where the rhythm of the music is crucially important. 

The distance feature is brilliant and really allows you to tailor the sound so that it fits perfectly with in the mix. IT allows you to push instruments back by dialling in a greater distance or bringing sounds forward in the mix by shortening the distance.  

This effectively allows you to place instruments in room together but will apprear to be either further forward or further back in the room. That is a true plus for both putting sound in a sound stage and for mixing quickly and efficiently. 

So that’s it for the moment I will do my best to cover some of the other features to and share my thoughts on the new Multi-Effects and I’m very excited to hear just how good Studio Horns and Studio Strings sound. 

Until next happy mixing and mastering, enjoy the new version of Logic Pro X 10.4!