The September 2000 column is about my experiences of switching sequencers after so may years of using Opcode's Studio Vision Pro. Now defunct due to the purchase and reorganizing of the company, as well as the loss of the entire programming team, I made the reluctant switch to Emagic's Logic Audio Platinum. A tough transition was made more satisfying due to the excelent features of Emagic's flagship program. The fact is, I now really love using my new sequencer, and couldn't see going back.

Here is the text of the column as well as some resources of interest

Selected Websites on Logic

If you know any other Logic websites, please let us know

THE REEL WORLD

THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME
(but how do I transpose this track?)

The time had come at last. Over time I've become a bit more shy about living on technology's bleeding edge, preferring instead to actually get my work done without an anxiety attack from bad design or unreliable performance. As well, sometimes technology fizzles out eventually, leaving me needing to look for new and better ways to do things.

So, as mentioned a few columns back, with the untimely and unfortunate demise of Opcode, makers of Studio Vision, I had to make some decisions. Though not my first MIDI/audio sequencer, I had been using Vision for several years and scores of scores. I had come to know it so well that I barely knew it was there. I had come to feel a near direct link to my music through it. Over the years I had become close with the wonderful people at Opcode, who were very receptive to my feedback and wishlists. But it had limitations and room for improvement. Opcode released their last update to the program just before shutting down "temporarily." It had several new features and fixes that I had specifically requested. I was still optimistic that Opcode would shake off the dreadful problems that Gibson, their buyer and destroyer, had put them in, and was excited about the new version. I received the CD ROM and quickly installed it. At first I was really pleased with it, it was just great. A real step forward for my beloved sequencer.

But there was a snag. It had a new bug. It would crash whenever I opened the score notation editor displaying anything more than a single track. And with the doors at Opcode closed, this was IT. So time to move on. I checked in with a number of colleagues to take a close look at the rest of the sequencers out there and see where they were all at currently. Without going into detail, I finally decided that Emagic's Logic Audio was the best one for me. I had always seen Logic as very daunting to learn and use. Everyone using typically says that its a great program, but hard to learn. The manual is big, you wouldn't want to drop it on your foot.

A friend called me about a local music store that was hosting an evening class called "Logic for Vision users." I don't like in-store demos or classes, they are way too commercial for me. But this seemed to be happening at the right time. Perhaps a few questions posed to someone who knew both programs intimately could help answer some fundamental questions. After a brief demo of Logic, it was time for questions. "In Vision I do this function this way. How do you do it in Logic?" I quickly realized that the demo guy in fact had never seen or used Vision. So much for a transition guide. But he was a true wiz in Logic and I was very impressed. I bought it and installed a day later.

I ran the included demos and goofed around with them. At once I could see this was a very interesting, and powerful program. It was certainly daunting having to look up every feature and function in the manual. Working this way is so slow, which is the opposite of how I'm used to working - have an idea and make it happen near instantly. I knew I would need to actually read the manual! I discovered almost immediately that the manual that came with the disk was in fact about two or three versions old, and the menus and options has been significantly reorganized and renamed. So I spent some time just looking through all the various (and voluminous) menus and pop ups to find the features mentioned in the manual. This threw me for a while but in a day I understood the current version.

My next task was to learn two unique functions of Logic that didn't exist in any form in Vision, the Environment and Screensets. The first allows you to create a physical and logical description of your gear that is used by the rest of Logic. The Environment also allows you to customize and process the sequencer and digital audio. It functions very similarly to OMS on steroids combined with a somewhat limited but very powerful version of MAX (both Opcode products at one time). Creating a good Environment is critical to have for Logic to work well for you. There are some resources for people wanting to learn or swap Environments. I've put together some information on getting help with Environments on my website .

Screensets are, in essence, presets of which windows are open on the screen and in what layout. So instead of opening and closing windows one at a time, you can tap one key and open a set of windows that are what you need for a specific function. Once you set these up, which was pretty simple, you are nearly ready to hit the ground. I set up about ten screensets, each for a specific task such as recording, editing in different methods, working with the scoring editor, etc. This turns out to be a very efficient way to work.

Finally I looked into all the keyboard commands in Logic. Not only does Logic allow me to assign every single function in the program to a key, but those settings can be stored and shared. There are hundreds of functions that can be assigned. A friend sent me a third party add-on program for Logic called Powerkeys that is a well thought out template for Logic key commands, and also comes with stickers that label the keyboard. Information and a link to Powerkeys is on my website

After reading through more manual, it was time to take it for a real spin - write with it. I needed to sketch some ideas for an upcoming project, and I decided that I would do it entirely in Logic. Yes it was slow going for a while, but with those first basic concepts well understood, the beast of Logic become very logical. Within a week or two I became very proficient - at about 25% of the program, which is perfectly normal. Contemporary sequencers are so stuffed with amazing features, most of which you probably will never need.

I was absolutely taken with the reliability of the program. It simply didn't crash. Eventually I found a couple of things that could crash it, but they were easily avoidable. I had always thought that Vision was the epitome of reliability, so I was really pleased to see that Logic followed in its path for that kind of excellence.

I was a bit less happy about the various types of graphic editors in the programs. There are simply too many of them. The graphic editor in Vision worked much more easily. I was afforded the fantastic opportunity to show the programmers of Logic the things I appreciated in Vision's interface, and they seem eager to find ways to make Logic have a similar elegance.

The more I work with Logic, the more I like it. I'm past the learning hump, and though I have a great deal more to learn, I am beginning to get closer to my music again. I'm starting to have fun and not need the manual in my lap every minute. The essential difference between Vision and Logic is this: Vision was a Cadillac of a sequencer, while Logic is a Farrari. One elegant and smooth, the other powerful and speedy. Logic has tremendous timing accuracy - for MIDI and audio that sounds tight and accurate.

I'm continuing to improve while having done several projects already. Technical support at Emagic can be dicey. But there are some good online sites to get more deeply into the program. I'll list them on the www.reelworld-online.com website. I'm a bit sentimental about all the music I made with Vision, and Opcode's untimely demise. But the end result is that it forced me to move up to a better working method to allow me to do my musical work in a better way. And isn't that what the technology is for?