I had one day to install Logic Pro X, learn the program, and score a mini-doc/advertisement... this is the final scored product (without any other audio). Feel free to see the full-rez final product for Primary Childrens Hospital with the link below. It's not very often I get the chance to work on such rewarding and humbling projects like these: http://youtu.be/RGJr6U0uG6w I directed and shot this beast with my extremely talented (everything) guy Josh by my side. He edited it, designed and implemented the graphics, and sent a low-res version to me for composing the tunes. I know Garageband, and was ok at using Logic Pro 8. But LP8 acted funny when the computer was upgraded to Maverick... that, combined with a micro-budget for music, created the scenario where I get to write music again (it's been a long long long time) with a program I've never used before, while racing the clock. I don't use pre-made loops, other than what I create and loop myself, and I had most of the "Jam Packs" from Garageband from like... 2006 to present. They imported awesomely, which game me some familiar sounds to work with. Plus I got some new toys in the plugins to play with. And to be honest, I really don't know what all the knobs and buttons do on a lot of the plugins and thingies... I just play with them, and stack stuff until I get a sound that feels cool, and a little original. If somebody were to ask me how I created a sound... I'm pretty sure I couldn't recreate the process on another project. I used my old Yamaha PSR-510 as the keyboard... and we're talking old. I bought it when I was in Junior High back in 1992. It's got what I need with MIDI, pitch bend, and volume control (though I wish it had weighted keys) and that's all I used to play the keys. It took a while to try and mimic the strumming and picking sounds of guitars with a keyboard (they pick up around the 2:55 mark), along with trying to make the string section sound... less synth-y (which I still haven't totally mastered). It ends with a pre-produced song by my friend Jarrett Burns "Easy On My Soul". I know I played with the timing wrong, and probably did things the hardest way possible (adjusting the rubber bands in timing to speed up and slow down the whole project until the beats synced), but eventually I got the timing to match up with the edit and the song so I could write a transition in the fourth movement into Jarretts song, that reflected the style of music at the beginning of the doc (though the beats started on the 2 count for the final movement... which made the metronome tricky to follow). In the end, I've gotta say it... I love this program. And I will get better. I'm in pre-production for a low-budget film right now, and I'm fully confident I'll be able to handle basic composing with Logic, along with Directing and Editing the film (I want to see how it handles live instruments in a studio session too). For this video, I wish I'd had time to send it to an engineer who could clean up some competing sounds and frequencies but the mix worked out, especially when the dialogue is added. When it comes to LPX, my 1992 Yamaha Keyboard, a 2011 iMac, and smacking old plastic keys till the sun rises... Logic Pro X is awesome for this creative.

• published: 20 Mar 2014
• views: 24