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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.

• 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...

• 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...

• Motion 5 108
• Creating Content For Final Cut Pro X
• One of the most important new features of Motion 5 is the ability to create content for Final Cut Pro X. Think of Motion as your very own "FX incubator" where everything you create can be saved as a custom plugin for FCP X. No more shopping around for those 3rd-party FX. In this tutorial Michael Wohl will teach you how to “roll your own”...

• Motion 5 105
• Animating Effects
• Got a behavior problem? Motion 5‘s got a solution. Learn how to animate using Behaviors, Keyframing and Tracking with the always animated Motion expert, Michael Wohl...

• Logic 210
• Vocoding With EVOC
• Logic’s EVOC 20 PolySynth is one of the coolest Software Instruments in Logic's EV series of vintage synths. Let David Earl (a.k.a. SFLogicNinja) show you how he uses it and why you need to master this awesome, sonically rich plugin...

• Motion 5 104
• Effects, Particles and Replicators
• Motion comes jam-packed with a huge variety of very hot motion graphic effects. This tutorial shows you how to ignite these awesome Filters, Particle Systems and Replicators to fill your frames with kinetic energy and action...

• Photoshop CS5 404
• Lighting & Light Effects
• Join Film Industry Pro Mark Stope as he shows you how to light scenes and create dramatic lighting effects using Photoshop CS5.

• After Effects CS5 303
• More Cartoon Animation Basics
• Learn to use Adobe After Effects' Puppet Pin tool to animate characters in the "squash-and-stretch" style seen in the classic cartoons of the 30s & 50s in More Cartoon Animation Basics by After Effects expert Richard Lainhart...

• Logic 208
• Exploring the EVP88 and the EVB3
• In this exclusive, full length, “made-for-macProVideo” tutorial by sflogicninja David Earl, you’ll uncover the inner workings of Logic’s physically modeled soft synths: the EVP88 and EVB3. Learn how, with a little tweaking, these synths will rock your productions...

• Final Cut Pro X 106
• Titles, Effects and Compositing
• Final Cut Pro X incorporates very powerful tools for creating titles, visual effects and complex composite shots. Join star trainer and video editor Michael Wohl, as he explores each of these techniques and shows you how they are created, customized and edited to perfection. So if you're wondering how create stunning effects in FCP X, this tutorial will get you going down the right path!

• After Effects CS5 302
• Cartoon Animation Basics
• Learn how to animate photos and create basic characters in the style of “South Park”, “Monty Python” and “Jib Jab” in this tutorial, Cartoon Animation Basics, by After Effects expert Richard Lainhart.

• Live 8 202
• Live's Effects: Plugged In!
• Join Mo Volans as he takes you on an overview of Live’s amazing bundled plug-ins! This tutorial, filled with tons of audio examples, is a treasure-trove of information on how to use and master all of Live's included effects!

• Logic 407
• Producing With Folders
• Did you know that you can record into Logic’s folders, edit with folders, mix with folders and even rearrange your tune with folders? You can! ... and David Earl (a.k.a. sflogicninja) shows you all of this and more in his maiden tutorial for macProVideo.com!

Preview these Logic Pro Tutorial-Videos

We looked at gating synth sounds in a previous article. As you saw, quite interesting results can be had working merely with audio files and manipulating them. I will be taking this a bit further and showing you how you can use gating techniques on your beats and loops to also create interesting results. I will be working in Logic, but these techniques can be applied in any DAW.

Step 1 – Find a Loop

Let's find a beat or loop we want to work with first. I have used a Drum n' Bass beat from the Apple Loop Library. I am working with the ‘DnB Floating Beat’ from the Apple Loops Browser. I have opened this Loop as a Software Instrument and have then bounced the audio down, so I can work with just the audio file.

Here is what the loop sounds like before we start editing it:

Step 2 – Cut It Up and Pull It Back

Let's cut this loop up. First I have used the Scissors tool (Esc-5) to cut the loop in half. The first half of the loop will be untouched, while the second half will be gated. 

Now I am going to cut the second half of the loop into 1/32 note segments. Use the Scissors tool, hold down Option and cut the first 1/32 note segment, this will cut up the rest of the region equally. 

I have selected the following segments, and deleted them.

Now select the remaining segments. Use the trim tool and trim back the regions. To trim the segment back, hold your pointer over the bottom right corner of the region. This will turn the pointer into a trim tool allowing you to trim back bits of the audio. If you hold down the Control key you can trim back at finer increments. This will create the gated effect I am after. This is a similar technique used in Drum n Bass to create those broken style Drum n Bass beats.

Step 3 – Create Manual Gated Stutters

These gated beats really come into their own when you apply the same technique to other instruments in the mix. I have written a simple synth bass line and have applied the same exact cuts and trims to it.

Here is what the bass line sounds like before I cut and gate it:

Now here is what it sounds like with the two elements together in a mix after they have both been gated:

Step 4 – Gated Stutter Beats

Beat Repeats and Stutter Edit plugins are all the rage right now. Sure you can throw one of these plugins on your audio channel. But sometimes it is better to have more control and apply the gated stutter edits manually. Here is how you can create the same gated effects on your loops like heard in BT and Trifonic tracks.

I have used the same loop I was working with before. Cut the loop in half. Then with the second half of the loop cut away the rest of the loop after the 1st 1/32 note.

Now the next step may be a bit of luck and trial error. Change your Snap setting to Samples; I don’t want the following steps to conform to a grid.

I want to copy the 1/32 note across the remainder of the loop. At first the gaps between the copies will be small. Each time you copy the region, increase the space between each segment . Here is what my loop looks like:

As you can hear it creates that similar stutter effect but now you have more control over it through the audio segments:

I have applied the same gated technique to the bass line again.

Here is what it will sound like with the gated effect described earlier and the gated stutter effect I have just explained. You can hear it creates a simpler effect as to when a turntable slows down. It is also similar to the Doppler effect as well except without the pitch drops. 

You can apply the opposite effect where the track sounds like it is speeding up do doing the reverse as well. Start with big gaps between the regions, and the then start making the gaps smaller:

Conclusion

These Gated techniques can really spice up your tracks. It will give life to your beats that may sound a bit static. When you apply similar gated techniques to your other elements in the mix, it really starts becoming quite prominent in the mix.

Try these techniques in your future productions and see what results you get. You may surprise yourself.

Preview these Logic Pro Tutorial-Videos

Gary Hiebner

Gary Hiebner is an enthusiastic South African Sound Designer and Apple Tech Head! Gary has been involved in the South African music industry for the last 10 years, and in this time has also been involved in the sound design and music production for many advertising agencies and media houses. Gary has been a devoted Logic and Ableton user for the last 7 years. He also dabbles in ProTools, and esoteric sound design tools, such as Max/MSP and CSound.

Logic Pro gated synth, Gate, Stutter, Stutter & glitch, Stutter edit, Stutter edits, Stutter logic, Stutter effect

Comments

Feb 26, 2012

fredwardo

Good stuff Gary! Thanks for the tips!

Reply