LOGIC PRO X - Advanced Beat Programming With Step Sequencer

[@davidpharo]

Wow, hadn't appreciated just how much variation was possible until watching this, thanks for another great video!😀

[@jonobuchananmusic]

You're welcome DP. Thanks for watching, as always.

[@ranife]

I didn't realize the step sequencer had so many features. We can create endless patterns with it. Thanks a lot! :)

[@real-sloth]

I am new to Logic and watch some videos about it and yours are the most helpful for me. Thanks!

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Delighted to hear that. Thanks so much.

[@andrew6889-p5c]

Once again, pure gold. I have been doing some of this by clicking on the dropdown arrow on each track. That has the "benefit" that you can see several of these values at once. But for most of what I do, this is a far better approach. Much appreciated.

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Many thanks Andrew.

[@velanche]

Your videos from awhile back were some of the best Logic tutorials I’ve seen. Just subscribed, so many thanks and keep up the great work you do!

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Thank you so much and welcome. There should be plenty in the back catalogue of this channel to catch up on (!) and lots more planned too. Really great to have you with us.

[@nikitasavcenko3666]

Thx very helpful

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Delighted to hear that - you're welcome.

[@victorRodriguez-oy1ri]

JONO esta tutorial brutal. Tu deberias estar haciendo regueaton. gracias.

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Gracias. ¡De nada!

[@estebanlopezlimon1346]

I don't how this feature went off my radar all this time. This is a game changer for me and will save me a ridiculous amount of time. Question: What would I be better off using: Drum machine designer (or Track Stack + Samplers, whatever) or Ultrabeat? Which option offers more flexibility and which one goes less hard on the CPU? I see plenty of EDM guys sticking with Ultrabeat. But Generic Drum Machines just feel more natural to me, more intuitive, less chaotic. And having seen this video, I must say I'm even more partial in this topic now. Can I ask what's your personal preference, Jono? What's your take on this dilemma? I don't even know if Ultrabeat is even worth the risk of doing Automation in. Looks like parameter hell to me, haha. Really intimidating for a beginner. I assume Ultrabeat is more fitting to those who haven't worked their samples yet and want to produce them within the same plugin. Other than that, I don't see the point.

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Hi Esteban. I would say that what matters most is how things sound and what is of next most importance is how intuitive an instrument is and how it facilitates creativity. If any instrument is frustrating to use, it won't encourage a free-flowing approach to music-making. Objectively, great sounding results are possible with both DMD and Ultrabeat, so it's entirely down to personal preference. Ultrabeat in part lives on because it pre-dates DMD and plenty of producers have older sessions which rely on it. But others choose it because it suits the way they program beats. Like you, I find DMD more intuitive and I'd probably reach for it more frequently than Ultrabeat. But sometimes I find that mixing things up and choosing a different approach triggers new, fresh ideas. Great to have both options!

[@Cuban_Knight]

Another Gem. I’d imagine you would duplicate the regions to build up an arrangement. Is it possible to use the format to record the audio in a separate track and adjust the beats o the fly?

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Hi Tes. Exactly that - every time you want to develop the arrangement, copy the Pattern Region and alter its contents accordingly. If you set the output routing to an Aux and then create an Audio track with that Aux number as the input, yes, you could manipulate sequences on the fly and record the results.

[@champnessjack1154]

Nice, thanks. Here's a workflow question: suppose I've programmed a sequence I like in 8th notes, but I need to add some 16th notes. If I just change the step rate from 8ths to 16ths, the pattern plays back twice as fast. Is there a simple way to keep the old pattern and timing?

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Hi. You can copy a Pattern Sequence by holding down 'Option' whilst dragging, so the first thing I'd suggest would be to copy and paste your current Pattern, in case you prefer the original and want to go back to it. You're right, the Note Resolution determines the playback speed, so if you switch from 1/8th notes to 1/16th notes, the notes will play twice as quickly. But it usually doesn't take long to double-click notes to switch off any you don't like. Remember too that a 1/16th note sequence made up of steps 1, 3, 5, 7 etc will effectively give you your 1/8th note pattern back, so I'd recommend starting out by doing exactly that - retaining only the odd-numbered steps - before filling in the gaps with any 1/16th notes you want to introduce.

[@mohanshiva_musical]

Hpw to convert all. Pattren into multi track audio files for mixing

[@jonobuchananmusic]

If you're working with Drum Machine Designer, this Instrument is arranged as a Track Stack in Logic's Main Page. Click the arrow next to the Drum Machine Designer kit name so that the Stack opens to reveal the Lanes for each piece of the kit. Click on the first of these tracks (probably the Kick) and then hold down Command before clicking on each sequential Track until all of the ones you're using are selected. Then go to File > Export and about two-thirds of the way down the list you'll see (x) Tracks As Audio Files. The x will be whichever number of Tracks you've selected. In the following window, don't Normalize the Volume of the Tracks as you Export them.

[@paulbarrett4533]

How do split dmd step sequencer between its retrospective tracks in the actual projects

[@jonobuchananmusic]

Hi Paul. I hope I've understood your question correctly. If I have, the thing you'll need to do is to Control-Click the Pattern Sequence and select Convert > Convert To MIDI Region. The resulting, regular MIDI region can then be chopped and copied/moved/assigned to whichever tracks you like. Hope that helps.

[@paulbarrett4533]

@@jonobuchananmusic thats exactly what I was asking I thought there might be an option to just auto assign the individual steps onto there retrospective tracks.

[@jonobuchananmusic]

@@paulbarrett4533 Hi Paul. Great, that makes sense. Effectively, the routing of a DMD kit does that assignment for you. By limiting each note to a specific instrument, it gets its own track. So whether you use a Pattern region, or a regular MIDI region, each snare drum you program, for example, will only be assigned to the snare track. That means you can open the DMD Track Stack, assign Insert effects to that track, set up bespoke Auxiliary sends from each one etc. But the convert and copy approach definitely works too, if you want to see a lane of MIDI notes for each instrument.

[@paulbarrett4533]

Yeh that’s what I was after so I could move the midi for different instruments within the stack around in the project instead of having to open up the step sequencer re program the steps but I’m sure I’ll find a way of getting efficient with it