Headline Feeds
It used to be a rule of thumb in software that the power of a program was directly proportional to its complexity. The rule was the silicon version of "no pain, no gain." Then Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) came along and turned that rule on its head with applications that were as easy to use as they were powerful. What's more, they made the process of creation as much fun as the finished creation.
Apple aims to continue that spirit with the latest release of its mid-level digital music production program, Logic Express 9 (US$199; $99 for upgrade). The application is targeted at music makers who may have cut their teeth on an entry-level program like Apple's iLife suite offering GarageBand, or those who need robust production tools at an attractive price.
"It's for people who want access to very professional tools, but not at professional prices," Apple's Music Application Product Marketing Director Xander Soren told MacNewsWorld.
"The cool thing is that GarageBand is built on the same exact technology as our hobbyist and professional software, which is Logic Express and Logic Studio," he added.
That makes it facile for GarageBand users to take their creations with them should they upgrade to Logic Express because it will import projects created with the iLife app.
"Logic Express sits between GarageBand and Logic Studio," Soren explained. "It's almost functionally identical to the Logic Pro application within Logic Studio."
Studio Tools, Express Label
Some of the major new features of Studio ($499), which is used by artists like Herbie Hancock and Madonna, have been incorporated into Express.
There's the Flex Tool. It lets you move audio snips forward and backward in time with drag and drop ease. Parts of a musical phrase can be stretched or compressed to change their rhythmic feel. The speed of multiple tracks in a project can be increased and decreased without perspiration expenditure. Speed fades can be performed to emulate turntable effects.
There's an amp emulator that allows you to recreate the sound of various amplifier heads and speaker cabinets. Moreover, you can get creative by mixing and matching the 25 amp heads and cabinets included with the package.
There's Pedalboard, with 30 stompbox effects. What's more, the effects can be triggered by a MIDI or USB controller.
Another new feature is "bounce in place." It permits you to combine multiple tracks or regions into a single track at a point in your timeline.
The new features complement the powerful tools found in prior editions of the application, features like a mixing console with faders and mix groups, a notation editor, MIDI export and programmable synthesizers and drum machines.
Cannibals Be Damned
Although Studio has features absent from Express -- such as 50 gigabytes of content, Mainstage 2 for managing live performances and Soundtrack Pro 3 for movie soundtracks -- selling two programs with core functions as similar as these two have would make some marketers cringe. That doesn't seem to be the case with Apple.
"What we try to do is build great tools for our customers," Soren observed. "If you look at GarageBand, GarageBand is a really powerful application, but we think that it's important to give that as part of the Mac experience. Other companies might think that's cannibalizing our products, but we're trying to provide the best technology that we can to our users."
He maintained that some companies develop products exclusively for professional markets. It's only when they tap out those markets that they redirect their efforts at consumers.
"Then they start turning off features, crippling the product, and try to sell a professional product to hobbyists and novices," he explained.
"We've taken the opposite approach," he continued. "We have great technologies that we share across all our applications, and we offer them where it makes sense."
