Callum Halls

1 December 2015

How to Create A Radio Advert

How to access logic
To get to logic, press CMD and space at the same time to bring up the spotlight search,
alternatively go to the top right corner to the magnifying glass and type in Logic which will
bring you to a menu where you can select what type of project you want to create.

Spotlight search in the top corner

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Cable between speakers and MIDI keyboard

Cable between Monitor and computer

USB cable from MIDI keyboard to computer

3
Connecting cable
between Mouse
and computer

Connecting cable between

Keyboard and computer

4
1 - Speakers
2 - Monitor
3 - Mac Mini

4 - Apple Keyboard

5 - Apple Mouse
6 - MIDI Keyboard

What is MIDI?
MIDI, or musical instrument digital interface, is not a sound. Indeed, it can
electronically create sounds with the use of software instruments in programs such as
Logic or garageband, however it, in itself cannot create sound. Often, music
producers will use a MIDI keyboard, such as the Alesis Photon X25. It is powered by
USB which is a huge developmental step from previous MIDI keyboards as you would
need a dedicated MIDI-in to MIDI-out cable. Using USB is much simpler and easy to
use, and takes up less storage space than the thicker, much lengthier MIDI cables.

Section A - Logic
Logic is a music production software available on Macintosh which allows you to create
any style of music. To load logic, search in the spotlight, finder window or dock and click
New Project in the top left hand corner. You will then be instructed to select where you want
to receive your audio from. You can select from
Software Instrument - A software instrument is a computer generated instrumental
sound, played through a MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface ) input, for example, an
Alesis Photon X25. The MIDI sends coding to the computer, which the computer in turn
changes into music.

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Audio - An audio track is different to Software Instrumentation as it is already an audio

file. If you drag an MP3 file into Logic, it will automatically be changed into an Audio Track.
You can still apply effects and mix this, however it will not be your own creation.
Drummer - The Drummer track is the simplest and easiest way to add a beat to your
music. The drummer track matches the BPM and tempo of your work, and can easily be
programmed to suit your style of recording. You can select different genres of music and each
come with a set number of virtual drummers who will perform to your needs. You can
customise all aspects of the drum kit, including the basic percussion of tambourines, maracas
and to the basic extremities of clapping noises.
External MIDI - An external MIDI is used when the MIDI you are using has preset
sounds. Rather than using a a Software Instrument, where you can pick the sounds created,
using an External MIDI means you have to use the sounds that are already applied on the
MIDI. You do not get as much diversity as using a trigger MIDI which just sends data to the
computer.
Guitar or Bass - This is for use when you want to use the computer essentially as an
amp. You can use a MIDI input to plug in your guitar or bass guitar and play in real time for
your project.
Section B - MIDI

MIDI, or Musical Instrument Digital Interface, is a way of inscribing data from a

device into the computer which in turn recreates electronic music. Essentially, MIDI is
a the messenger between the computer and the MIDI device. MIDI itself does not
produce sound, however it controls such things like velocity, pitch, pitch bend,
modulation and length. A singular MIDI cable can transport as much as 16 different
types of information, called channels which can all be used separately.
MIDI now operates using USB, however before usb was used
more frequently, MIDI five pin cables were used a lot. However
they have been put out of use due to the technology being used
today being more advanced.

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Section B - Software Instrument

Software instruments are tracks on Logic that you can use to
change the sound of the MIDI preset instrument. You can change
the sound to your piece, and includes many different styles such as
percussion, guitar, bass guitar, stringed, orchestral, Drum kits,
mallet, piano, synthesisers and many
more. You can use this type of
instrumentation to change the expected
effect of your music, as well as create
more emphasis on the emotion you are
trying to create.
Compared with the Apple version of
software music creation, there are many more instruments
included in the basic version of Logic, and you are able to
do a lot more with them in regards to adapting to suit your
genre of music and style.

Section C - The Transport bar

The transport bar is located at the bottom and can be
used for a majority of things. The first is keeping track of
the BPM, tempo, the transport position, any loops which
may be in motion, bars, MIDI In and Out displays, as well
as the main functions such as play, pause, stop, record, fast-rewind, fast-forward and
the CPU and Hard Drive meters. On the opposite side, there is the metronome which
can be used to keep in time with the BPM. You can set this metronome to your liking,
by right clicking and selecting Metronome Settings in which you can then change the
pitch of the clicks you hear. You can also program when you hear the different
sounding clicks, for example, you can hear the bar, the beat, and all in-between. Each
individual section of the transport bar is used in its own way.

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The rewind button (1) moves the track one bar backwards and the forward button (2)
does the opposite and moves the ruler one bar forward. The next button is to go
straight to the first bar, which is useful to listen to the track in whole. Alternatively, you
can click the enter button (3) which takes you to the start too. The most used buttons
are the two following, which is play and record. However, as with any button, there are
more simpler key commands to use. To play, use the space bar (4) and to record, press
the asterix or star button (5).

Typical Apple Keyboard

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Section D - The Tool Box

The tool box is a handy function to get your head around, as
it contains all the items you will need to use when editing
music.
Pointer Tool - The pointer tool is the bog standard, easy to
use function which allows you to move, copy, cut and paste,
shorten and loop, as well as many other uses. This is the easiest
tool to use and can be used in conjunction with the apple
keyboard for easier use even still with the use of commands and
pressing certain keys.
Pencil Tool - The pencil tool allows you to draw in notes
in the piano roll, as well as draw in empty boxes into the
window, in order to then draw music. This is the simplest method of creating music in
logic, and is one of the easiest too.

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Eraser Tool - The eraser tool is used to remove notes from the piano roll, to do this
you simply double click on the note.
Text Tool - The text tool is exactly what it says, it creates text. More specifically, it can
be used to name regions of your piece.
Scissors Tool - The scissor tool splits your music, where you tell it to. It will create two
separate files and then you can move, copy, paste or do whatever you like with the
individual parts.
Glue Tool - The glue tool does the opposite of the scissors tool, it
glues two or more individual parts together, to make one track. You
can highlight multiple parts and they will create one individual track.
Solo Tool - The solo tool allows you to solo out the individual
track to listen without the rest. This means that you can then alter it to
your liking without taking influence from the other tracks.
Mute Tool - The Mute tool lets you mute specific tracks to stop
them from being heard in the overall mix. You can undo this after you
are finished with it
Crossfade Tool - The crossfade tool allows you to fade out your
track, which in turn allows you to also slow down using a specific
setting found in the inspector window.
Zoom Tool - The zoom tool allows you to make big of the track
you want to see in more detail. This allows you to cut in the needed
location and allows you to see most envelopes of the track, especially
with audio tracks. It also makes software instrument MIDI tracks larger
to see, to make sure you can draw in the correct note.

Section E - Quantising
Quantisation is the method you can use to make sure your work is in time with the
tempo of the project. This is really useful as sometimes, when you are playing music
pieces, you do not always strike a key or play a note at the exact beat marker.
Quantisation allows you to make sure this doesnt affect your work by snapping the
notes to the nearest beat, or depending on where you want it. You can choose from
1/1 notes, through to 1/4 notes, all the way to 1/96, depending on how you want

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your piece of music to sound. This is really useful as alignment is key to a good
musical piece.
When I was creating a piece of music, I used quantisation as I was unable to get the
melody in time. This made my work sound more precise and fluent.

Before Quantisation

After quantisation, as you can see, in time.

Section F - Automation
Automation is a key feature of logic and it
allows you to change the music as it is
going along, instead of having to create
new tracks for different tempos and
velocities. To load up automation, click A
on your keyboard which will present you
with the automation window. Here, you
are able to define, for example, how loud
you want the piece of music to be at the
Automation Window
start, but you are then able to change the velocities throughout, by
simply dragging. You can also pan using this method, throughout the
track if you decide that a certain part would sound better in the left output, you can
set this. Then, if you feel that it should go back to middle output, you can change it
back, all without having to repeatedly stop and start.

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Section G - The Piano Roll

The piano roll is the window normally located at the bottom of the screen, by clicking
on Piano Roll above the transport bar. This presents you with a place you can draw
your own music and change velocities, length, pitch and other factors of the part you
are drawing. This is useful as it allows you to manipulate the music you are trying to
create without having to re-record every time. The piano roll also offers a neat feature
of having a keyboard vertically across the piano roll to allow you to know which note
you have played. Through this, you are also able, if you are creating a drum beat using
a MIDI keyboard, to know which key to press to receive the intended sound.
On the left, is the library in which you can
select the instruments you want to use in
your project. ranging from instruments such
as harps, cellos, drum sets and electronic
drum kits to synthesisers and instruments from around the
world.
Throughout the process of creating a track or project on logic,
you will often struggle to find the correct sound. Compared
with Apples own music generation software, Garageband,
logic has significantly more instruments available, and you can
install from the internet, plugins, which allow you to install
more aspects to Logic, thus improving your chances of
creating that melody that you want with that specific sound
you want.
Another way to change the sounds of the specific instrument
or synthesiser you are using, is to use the equaliser, also known
as the EQ. The EQ alters the audio signals through the use of
bell or shelving correction.

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Section H - The Inspector

The inspector window is a useful tool to assist you whilst you work, and it also saves a
lot of time when it comes to editing tracks as a whole. There are two small mixing
desks, which saves you from having to open the big mixer, however these control the
individual tracks.
In the inspector, you can change the equalisation of the track
by double clicking, which presents you with the EQ , from
there you can do whatever you please, whether it be creatively
influenced or to change for a purpose.
From here, you can add effects to the track to add things such
as Amps and Pedals, Delay, Modulation, you can change the
pitch of the track, reverb and other easy-to-use
items such as BPM meter, to help you discover
what BPM a audio track is in. This will make it
easier for you to remix and edit the audio track to
suit your genre and project. It saves you having to
open the mixer.
Through the inspector you can also pan, which
means changing which headphone the specified
track goes to through the use of busses. A bus is a way of
routing
one or
more
audio tracks to either an
output, or another track to
receive effects.
You then have the individual track volume, which can also be changed by using the
click and drag volume function on the track layout. Either way changes the volume
just the same. The individual track volume controls how loud or soft you hear the
track in the main mix. Next to that, on the inspector, you have the right inspector
channel strip, which shows the output for the left channel strip, however you can

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change it to show the aux used by the left channel strip. You can also here change the
pan, sends, inserts (effects), all without opening the big mixer.

Section I - The Comparison

With garageband being the basic, free-to-use music production software on Apple
products, there are many apparent weaknesses compared with Logic Pro X. However,
garageband presents some neat features that Logic cannot compete with. For example,
the ability to use a regular typing keyboard as a MIDI input, is one of the key parts of
making garageband different to Logic. As all computers need a keyboard in able for
you to type, it comes as standard with most packages meaning you almost definitely
have a MIDI input source. Logic do try to appropriately level this by offering a free
app available for the iPad, however, you do require the iPad in order to do this which
not everybody has.
Overall, I think Logic is a good price for its functions, and can provide a lot of easy to
use music production tools, with limited knowledge of how to create music. The help
guide also allows for knowledge to be expanded throughout. The layout and interface
is understandable and you can colour code the tracks suitable for rearranging certain
tracks to be together.

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