Logic Pro X 305
Voiceover Recording and Editing
This course was a bit of a lifesaver for me. I needed a thorough yet straightforward course that would guide me through the basics of the recording, editing, mixing, and bouncing workflow on LogicPro for voiceovers. Practically all of the other paid and free Youtube courses covering the fundamentals of Logic Pro X out there are directed at people who want to create or produce music. In other words, they're far too convoluted and confusing for the uses of most voiceovers. Other than this course, there are no comprehensive LogicPro 101-style courses for voiceovers.
What I especially appreciated in this course were instructor Jonathan Slatter's careful and clear explanations and demonstrations of how to do specific tasks with LogicPro, even to the point of setting up specific templates. It felt as if he were in my studio with me, guiding me as I worked through the various exercises. That's precisely what I needed.
With Jonathan Slatter's help, I was able to create audio files to send out to a client for a professional project, submit files to a voice coach, and even diagnose some of my previous recording mistakes (before using LogicPro).
I do have a few minor gripes though. Because this course was evidently created prior to 2020, one or two of the tools and methods Jonathan described have been updated in LogicPro. But with a few minutes of fiddling around with my version of Logic Pro X and consulting LogicPro's online manual, I was able to find the tools that Jonathan was describing.
Jonathan's three chapters on voicing to picture (or videos) were good. But I'd have appreciated a more careful explanation and demonstration of how to properly mix voiceovers with background music, so that the voice cuts through the mix. Jonathan's discussion of working with music soundtracks just glided over this important topic as if it wasn't even an issue.
With the chapter on EQ, it would have been very helpful if Jonathan had also included a lesson explaining and demonstrating the use of EQ when mixing a voiceover with music. Both of these latter skills are ones that many voiceover artists have to master.
More generally, I think a round up of the various mixing methods, with a discussion of the specific plug-ins and approaches best recommended for particular voiceover assignments would have been very helpful. For example, on one recent project I used Wave's Clarity Vx plug-in along with LogicPro's legacy Speech Enhancement tool to remove background mic noises, pops, clicks, and other minor imperfections to help my voice cut through a music mix. Yet after using these tools, I wasn't sure I needed to supplement them with Jonathan's tips on EQ, compression, and adding a Limiter and Gain. To be honest, I was rather afraid that I'd mess up all the work I'd put into improving my voice sound on this project. And yes, I know that editing is mostly non-destructive. But nevertheless, there were several instances on this project when the template did not work the way it was supposed to work, and it buggered up the quality and format of my audio recording.
As I discovered on the project I described above, the process of setting up a reliable voiceover template is a tricky one. It would have been helpful had Jonathan provided a careful summary of all the steps involved in setting up the template. A handout on setting up the basic template would also have been helpful.
However, putting all of these relatively minor gripes aside, I can honestly say that this course on LogicPro X for voiceovers is indispensable. It's by far the best course of its kind out there. I will be sure to mention and plug it in my social media. Thank you, Jonathan Slatter!
-Dennis L., May. 29, 2023
