Managing Complexity
There really is a lot to like about Logic 8. Don’t believe everything you read on line. One great improvement to the interface is the new management of multi timbral instruments and multi output instruments.
Multi timbral instruments no longer have to be managed and set up in advance in the Environment. There were several ways of dealing with them pre Logic 8. While the old methods are still available, there is an excellent new feature to simplify using them. There is now a key command called New Track With Next Midi Channel. The default assignment is option command M.
Basically, you create a regular Software Instrument and load in your main instance of your multi timbral plug in. Then when you are ready to address the next channel or “part” on that instrument, just invoke this new key command. A new track is created automatically. It is essentially a clone of the original, but assigned to the next midi channel. Repeat as necessary up to sixteen times.
Similarly, dealing with multiple output instruments is equally simplified. Once they are called up, + and - buttons are created to automatically generate or delete additional aux tracks that have their inputs assigned to be the discreet outputs available from the source muti output instrument.
This sort of automatic track management is one of the defining new features of Logic 8. For the most part, we can still do things manually if we want to. Old habits die hard. But they are going to die a little bit more easily with the ease of these new features. They are among the things to like about Logic 8.
Monday, October 1, 2007
