Apple turns Logic Pro up to 11 with Mac and iPad update
Apple has updated its industry standard music creation suite, Logic Pro with powerful new features including the new Mastering Assistant and a sophisticated choir of advanced tools on both Macs and iPads.
It’s a real sign of the extent to which iPads have become creative machines, even as the Apple Silicon Macs continue their inexorable progress between one strength and another. And users can work easily between Mac and iPad with project round-tripping.
New Features Coming to Mac and iPad
Mastering Assistant helps musicians add final professional polish to their mix. Once a mix is complete, Mastering Assistant can instantly analyze the audio and make expert refinements to the sound, adjusting elements such as the dynamics, frequency balance, timbre, and loudness. Creators can also use Mastering Assistant’s initial processing as a starting point and then fine-tune each setting for best results in different settings.
Logic Pro now supports 32-bit float recording when used with compatible audio interfaces. It means even recordings made at lower levels can easily be amplified without increasing the noise floor, providing studio-quality audio and flexibility in post-production.
Additional new features in the release include:
- Logic Pro for Mac now gets incredible sample manipulation with Sample Alchemy.
- Beat Breaker tool lets musicians and produces shape, reshape, and shuffle their beats.
- Logic Pro for iPad offers even more powerful features, including Quick Sampler Recorder mode, which allows users to quickly capture “found sounds” using the built-in microphone in iPad and instantly create custom playable instruments.
- Producers and beat makers with their own collections of samples can quickly build kits or custom instruments using improved multitasking features such as Split View and Stage Manager.
New in Logic Pro for Mac
Introduced on Logic Pro for iPad earlier this year, Sample Alchemy and Beat Breaker are now available in Logic Pro for Mac. Sample Alchemy allows users to transform a single audio sample into a playable instrument using a variety of techniques, including granular, additive, and spectral synthesis.
Beat Breaker empowers musicians by enabling them to reshape and reshuffle audio in real time, slicing audio, rearranging it, and adding scratching effects. By altering the speed, direction, volume, and number of repeats for each slice, musicians can effortlessly define complex patterns that can be changed on the fly.
The Tools menu in the Tracks area and time-based editors now includes Slip and Rotate tools.
Today’s update to Logic Pro for Mac also introduces two new sound packs:
- The Hybrid Textures sound pack includes a collection of 70 patches, as well as over 80 Apple Loops featuring Sample Alchemy.
- Vox Melodics contains a diverse collection of over 475 lyrical phrases, hooks, layered harmonies, FX, and one-shots.
- Users can download all of the app’s free sound packs using the Sound Library.
New in Logic Pro for iPad
The Quick Sampler plug-in allows users to quickly create sampler instruments from virtually any sound. With the new Recorder mode, users can create instruments and drum kits by directly recording audio with the built-in microphone or a connected audio input, allowing for instrument creation to happen just about anywhere. You can also bounce into other apps from within the app to grab files and other audio assets.
Logic Pro adds to its popular in-app Lessons with additional instruction covering a broad range of topics, including Mastering Assistant, Sample Alchemy, Beat Breaker, beat making, automation, sound packs, and Play Surfaces. The Hybrid Textures sound packs also come to Logic Pro for iPad, offering creators new material to explore the power and depth of Sample Alchemy.
Pricing and Availability
- Logic Pro 10.8 is available today as a free update for existing users and for $199.99 (U.S.) for new users on the Mac App Store. Logic Pro for Mac requires macOS Ventura 13.5 or later.
- Logic Pro for iPad 1.1 is available today as a free update for existing users, and available on the App Store for $4.99 (U.S.) per month or $49 (U.S.) per year, with a one-month free trial for new users. Logic Pro for iPad requires iPadOS 17 or later, and an iPad with Apple A12 Bionic chip or later.
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