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• Recording MIDI in Logic Pro's Cycle Mode
• by Darren Burgos
• There's hope if your keyboard skills can't keep pace with your musical ideas! Darren Burgos explores how recording MIDI in Logic Pro's cycle mode can alleviate stress and make you more creative.

• Logic Pro's Balancing Act
• by Peter Schwartz
• Panpots in Logic don't behave the same for mono and stereo channel strips. Peter Schwartz gets to the heart of the mix in Logic Pro and demystifies pan and balance in this excellent article.

• Setting Up Logic for Scoring to Video
• by David Earl
• Never used Logic for scoring to video, or have found your projects grinding to halt? This article by experienced composer, David Earl, explains how to set up all the basics and optimize performance!

• Using Ringshifter For Pitch Effects in Logic Pro
• by Toby Pitman
• Check out this excellent tip on how to use Logic Pro's Ringshifter plug-in to create a variety of guitar effects like the Boss Octaver and the Octafuzz. Toby Pitman gets creative.

• Logic Pro: Get Creative with Region Parameters
• by Darren Burgos
• Once you've recorded MIDI notes into Logic Pro there's a host of ways to alter the performance. Darren Burgos examines how to make use of the Region parameters area. + download Logic Project.

• Pro Tools 10 113
• Pro Mixing Techniques
• Mixing sounds to create a cohesive and inspiring piece of music is an art. Join MPV trainer and Pro Tools expert Mike Watkinson as he reveals his favorite mixing techniques and shows you how you can bring your musical canvases to life...

• Pro Tools 10 112
• Advanced Editing Techniques
• Becoming a Pro Tools editing Ninja requires mastering the tools of the trade. Join Certified Avid trainer Mike Watkinson as he explores the art of editing and managing clips in Avid’s Pro Tools 10...

• Pro Tools 10 110
• Session Setup Techniques
• Setting up your Pro Tools session correctly can save you tons of time and frustration. Let Pro Tools Expert Mike Watkinson show you techniques the pros use to prepare for their sessions...

• Pro Tools 10 111
• Exploring Tracks
• Explore the multitude of ways tracks can be created in this collection of AVID Learning Partner tutorial-videos by Pro Tools Certified trainer Mike Watkinson...

• Media Composer 6 105
• Creating Titles
• Master the tools of title creation in this 32-video Media Composer 6 tutorial by Avid Certified trainer Jeff Greenberg...

• Logic 409
• Dubstep Essentials
• MPV trainer Nigel Broad is back with another great electronic dance music exploration, Dubstep Essentials . Join Nigel in this 25-video collection as he takes you under his wing and creates a full-blown Dubstep track from Drum and Bass to final mix…

• Motion 5 401
• Creating 3D Text Fly Bys!
• Watch and learn how to create a complex 3D text flyby effect in this 26-video series taught by motion graphics expert, Iain Anderson...

• Reason 6 107
• Beat Design Basics
• Making solid beats is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration. In this 33-video collection you’ll work up a good sweat as you develop a strong foundation in the art and science of building beats in Reason 6...

• Reason 6 403
• Designing Dubstep: Beat by Beat
• In this latest Reason 6 tutorial, Dubstep producer Hollin Jones takes you on a journey from the first note to the final master. Learn how to produce a Dubstep track in Reason!

• Pro Tools 10 107
• Exploring the Mixer
• The Pro Tools mixer is legendary –and mixing in Pro Tools is a required skill for anyone who wants to make it in the recording business. Learn all about basic mixing, signal flow and automation in this Pro Tools 10, Avid Learning Partner tutorial: Exploring the Mixer...

• Logic 209
• EVD6 and EFM1: User Guide
• The EFM1 and the EVD6 are two of the coolest Software Instruments in the Logic collection. Get beyond the presets in this awesome 2-for-1 tutorial by Logic master and SFLogicNinja David Earl...

• Pro Tools 204
• Beat Detective
• Got some drum loops to edit? You need Beat Detective! These tutorials will help you slice beats like a pro ...

• Pro Tools 401
• Mastering In Pro Tools
• Produced by Multi-Grammy Award winning Mastering Engineer Phil Magnotti, this tutorial shows you how a world-class Mastering Engineer creates BIG sound ...

• Pro Tools 402
• Mixing Pop in Pro Tools
• Have you heard Sarah McLachlan's music? Then you've heard Chris Potter's skills—he's Sarah McLachlan's Engineer!

• Pro Tools 205
• Elastic Audio
• Warp beats, pitch shift, and match recorded audio to the tempo of your track ... elastic audio is the tool for you!

Preview these Logic Pro Tutorial-Videos

Beat Detective in Pro Tools is a very powerful tool, useful for a whole range of beat-based editing and tempo manipulation activities. This is the first Quick Tutorial in a series that aims to show you each of these processes, and how to replicate each one in Logic Pro, which doesn't have a comparable dialogue window.

Step 1 - Creating a Template Map in Pro Tools

One of the most useful things you can do with Beat Detective is to analyse a region (or regions) that were played without reference to a click track, in order to discover and create a timing grid based on the performance. The easiest way to begin this process in Pro Tools is to edit the performance into meaningful musical chunks, that is, four or eight bar sections, for example.

This 8 bar section was recorded without click, and requires a tempo map to make it fit 8 bars exactly on the timing grid

Step 2 - Create Beat Markers in Pro Tools

In Beat Detective (Event > Beat Detective), click Bar/Beat Marker Generation in the Operation section. In the Selection section enter the start and end points of the selected region, so for the 8 bar region in this example you would enter 1 1 and 9 1. Check that the time signature and division settings match the musical material e.g. leave it set to 1/16ths if that is the fastest subdivision of the beat that is played.

In the Detection section choose Bars, Beats or Sub-Beats depending on how many tempo events you want to generate. As a rule of thumb it is not necessary to have more than one tempo event per beat unless the performance is extremely complex from a tempo perspective!

Beat Detective with appropriate settings to detect Beat Markers for this region



Step 3 - Edit Beat Triggers in Pro Tools

The Sensitivity slider will adjust the number of trigger points detected. If some appear to be incorrect, then you can delete them by Option-clicking with the Grabber tool. 

Step 4 - Generate Tempo Events

Now click the ‘Generate’ button and a series of temporary events will be created in the Tempo ruler. Create a click track and audition the result to check that the process has been correctly executed.

Clicking ‘Generate’ creates Tempo Events at each Beat Marker; the region now fits 8 bars exactly on the timing grid

Step 1 - In Logic Pro 

In Logic, the process is much more manual. The first step involves detecting transients in the Beat Mapping Global track, so configure your Global tracks to show Tempo and Beat Mapping. Then click the ‘Detect’ button to detect the transients in the selected region. You can increase or decrease the number of transient markers with the plus and minus buttons.

Step 2 - Drag Beats to Transient Markers in Logic Pro

For each transient marker for which you wish to create a tempo event drag the yellow line that appears when you click in the upper half of the Beat Mapping track, from the beat on which the detected event should end up, to the appropriate transient marker in the lower half. So, if you think that the snare should be on beat four of the third bar, drag the yellow line from that beat to the transient marker for the snare drum. 

Drag the intended beat to the transient that should be on that beat, connecting them with the yellow line that appears. In this example the third kick drum should be on the third beat of the bar

If you do this correctly, a tempo event will be created, and the audio event should shuffle onto the correct beat. Repeat this process to create as many tempo events as are required to keep the timing grid in sync with the recorded material.

A tempo map created by repeating the above step

Learn more about Logic’s Beat Detection and editing processes in Logic 201 - Steve H’s Logic Masterclass and the Logic 104 - Flex Time Editing. Get deeper into the Pro Tools side of things with Pro Tools 204 - Beat Detective.

Preview these Logic Pro Tutorial-Videos

Mike Watkinson

Mike has been obsessed with music software since he first saw Fairlight's Page-R, and has tracked its development through his work as a performer, composer and producer. As a writer he has contributed articles to Sound On Sound since 1999, and currently writes their Apple Notes column. As well as being a certified Logic Pro and Pro Tools trainer he is also an Apple Distinguished Educator.

Beat detective, Tempo map, Tempo, Logic beat detective, Logic beats, Logic vs pro tools, Pro Tools drums, Pro tools audio, Global track

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