I am an old former Big Band reed player.I fixed up a bedroom studio and using Band In A Box prepared background music for Blues and Jazz ballads then imported them into GarageBand for further editing. I then use my arrangements of saxophone quintets and enter all the tracks via microphone.I then solo.I just bought Logic Express and although the drum loops will be very useful I am having problems figuring out how,for instance,the bass loops can be used with all the chord changes and shifting key centers that most ballads have.I have the Apple Training Book but cannot find where this is addressed.Would appreciate anyone pointing me in the correct direction.

In the manual Mr.Namani says,"If you want to go further and create an arrangement using apple loops you can also insert key signature changes on the signature track to build a chord progression and all Apple loops will change according to the signature track...then nothing more.Admittedly I have only scanned the book but I can find no further development on this information.Also on page 257 he says,"The further the playback key and tempo are from the loops original key and tempo the more artifacts are introduced."Does this mean if the song's key center changes or if there is a modulation you must put up with distortion to get the correct chord.For instance Body And Soul modulates three times.I don't want to waste time pursuing a technique that is not available.I can just continue to use the external MIDI software and instruments(besides my keyboard I plan to get a wind controller) ,import into logic ,use the great drum loops and record live using my horns.It would just add so much if there is a way to use the melodic loops without artifacts.Because I have not worked through the book I may have missed what I am seeking.If so,please forgive me.

In the manual Mr.Namani says,"If you want to go further and create an arrangement using apple loops you can also insert key signature changes on the signature track to build a chord progression and all Apple loops will change according to the signature track...then nothing more.Admittedly I have only scanned the book but I can find no further development on this information.Also on page 257 he says,"The further the playback key and tempo are from the loops original key and tempo the more artifacts are introduced."Does this mean if the song's key center changes or if there is a modulation you must put up with distortion to get the correct chord.For instance Body And Soul modulates three times.I don't want to waste time pursuing a technique that is not available.I can just continue to use the external MIDI software and instruments(besides my keyboard I plan to get a wind controller) ,import into logic ,use the great drum loops and record live using my horns.It would just add so much if there is a way to use the melodic loops without artifacts.Because I have not worked through the book I may have missed what I am seeking.If so,please forgive me.

I own both Logic Express and Garage Band.I am a quite old but musically viable ex big band veteran and jazz saxophonist.When I bought my new 8 core Mac Pro I had them include Logic Express with the purchase but I have used GarageBand mostly because I mainly create backgrounds to solo & record against and GB is quite suitable(and simpler)for this purpose.Also I do not care for music created totally from loops. I do like the drum loops in Logic though because I do not have to worry about matching them to chord progressions.How do I get loops from the Logic Library to the collection in G.B.?

I have been using GarageBand for about a year.Being an old(80) retired big band reed player who lives on an Island(Maui)which is beautiful but pretty much devoid of instrumental jazz and blues.So I set up a studio in my bedroom so I could record myself playing the above with the help of backgrounds put together with the help of GB.If I do say so I have done some really pretty things but I felt I was ready to move up to the big leagues so I ordered Logic Studio and Martins Tutorial.First ,I think the lessons are fine and easy to understand.What I am disgusted about is the music(if you can call it that)that is built up using loops and other techniques.I have nothing against using software instruments and sounds as long as they are used judiciously and artistically but here we have irritating repetition and ill chosen insect sounding voices.Martin continuously reminds us that music is repetition which is true to a point but without variation music becomes vapid. Certainly,if one is not an instrumentalist it is harder to put ones stamp on a musical creation But surely there should be some way to mix in interesting variety.Perhaps this is addressed in a later lesson that I have not watched yet. Logic Studio is an amazing and powerful set of applications and I hate to see it used in such a simplistic way. This criticism is not to degrade Martin.I would just like to have a set of excellent samples on this site demonstrating the variety and beauty that can be accomplished using these applications.I also would like more instruction for the MIDI keyboardists and the like detailing how to set up the equipment such as Midi instruments through preamps to computer etc etc. Lastly,I intend to purchase the rest of the teaching CD's pertaining to Logic.

Buy,"Band In A Box"(PG Music)This is a MIDI program.You can write chord,melody etc,etc then import into Garage Band.Simple and it works great.

With GarageBand I use "real instrument"recording 90% of the time.If I record on a track,get half finished and decide to hang it up until the next day do I have to create a new track to proceed from where I left off or can I continue recording on the original track from where I quit? If so ,what is the best way to do this? If all this is beyond basic I apologize but my old brain is also beyond basic so I have an excuse. By the way,to illustrate my era has anyone out there recognized the musician who my play on words, "Barney Regard" refers to?

Barney Bigard was the great New Orleans clarinetist who ,in the twenties moved to New York and played with King Oliver and Louis Armstrong.He then joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra and stayed somewhere around twenty years. An interesting feature of his playing is that he used the older Albert fingering system which many believe gave him his rich,fat, woody tone.To check him at his height listen to the great Ellington Band of the early 1940's