Lesson 7. Editing Pitch and Time
Lesson Files
Logic Pro X Files > Media > Additional Media > Slow Drums.aif
Logic Pro X Files > Lessons > 07 Swing Groove
Logic Pro X Files > Lessons > 07 Little Lady
Time
This lesson takes approximately 90 minutes to complete.
Goals
Match a project tempo to an audio file’s tempo
Create Apple Loops
Add tempo changes and tempo curves
Apply tape or turntable speed-up and slow-down effects
Make one track follow the groove of another track
Use Varispeed effects
Edit the timing of an audio region
Edit note pitches in an audio region
The use of loops and samples has become omnipresent in modern music. New technologies encourage experimentation, and it is more and more common to find, say, a sample of a Middle Eastern instrument in a modern rock song, a sample of classical music in a pop song, or a sample of a pop song in a hip hop track.
Mixing prerecorded material into a project can lead to exciting results, but the material must be carefully selected to ensure that it seamlessly blends into the project. The first challenge is to match the prerecorded musical material’s tempo with the project’s tempo.
Even when you record your own performances, precisely correcting the pitch and timing of an individual note can help you realize the perfection expected by a demanding audience. As with any tool, you can use note correction to fix imprecisions (or mistakes) in the recording, or you can use it creatively. Furthermore, special effects such as Varispeed and tape speed-up or slow-down can provide new inspiration.
In this lesson, you will match the tempo and groove of audio files to make sure they combine into a musical whole. You’ll manipulate the project tempo to add tempo changes and tempo curves, apply Varispeed and Speed Fade effects, and use Flex editing to precisely adjust the position and length of individual notes and correct the pitch of a vocal recording.
Setting a Project Tempo by Detecting the Tempo of a Recording
While listening to various recordings, you’ve found a recording of drums you like because of the way it grooves at its original tempo. To build a project around it, you need to adjust the project’s tempo to match the recording. When the two tempos match, you can use the grid to edit and quantize regions, or add Apple Loops and keep everything synchronized.
In this exercise, you will import a drums recording into a new project, let Logic detect the tempo of the drums, and set it as the project tempo.
1. Choose File > New (or press Command-Shift-N).
2. In the New Tracks dialog, choose Audio, and click Create.
3. In the control bar, click the Browsers button (or press F).
4. With the All Files tab selected, navigate to Desktop > Logic Pro X Files > Media > Additional Media, and drag Slow Drums.aif to bar 1 on the audio track.
The new Slow Drums region spans about 25 bars at the current project tempo (120 bpm).
5. In the control bar, click the Metronome button (or press K) and listen to the drums.
At first, the metronome plays twice as fast as the drums, which were probably recorded at close to half the current project tempo (close to 60 bpm). After a few bars, the metronome and the drums drift out of sync.
6. In the workspace, with the Slow Drums region selected, choose Edit > Tempo > Adjust Tempo Using Beat Detection (or press Option-Command-T).
The “Adjust Tempo using Beat Detection” dialog opens, and identifies a resulting tempo of 123.0755 bpm. However, the drums tempo is actually half as fast.
7. In the dialog, click the Advanced Options disclosure triangle.
8. In Advanced Options, set Adjust Value By to 1:2.
At the top of the dialog, the tempo is adjusted by a ratio of 1/2 with a resulting tempo of 61.5377 bpm. It’s rare to work with a tempo that has so many digits after the decimal point, so let’s round off that value.
9. From the Rounding pop-up menu, choose 1 Decimal to create a resulting tempo of 61.5 bpm.
10. Click OK.
In the LCD display, the tempo is rounded to the nearest integer, and is displayed as 62 bpm. Let’s switch to the custom LCD display to see the exact tempo.
11. In the LCD display, click the note and metronome icons, and choose Custom.
The custom LCD display shows the exact tempo with four decimals, 61.5000 bpm.
12. Listen to the song. The drums are perfectly in sync with the metronome; in fact the metronome is often inaudible because it is masked by the drums.
13. Click the Metronome button (or press K) to turn it off.
Now that you’ve set the project tempo to match the drums tempo, you can add Apple Loops and they will automatically match the tempo of your drums. You can also use the grid in the workspace to cut an exact numbers of bars in a region, which you’ll need later in this lesson to cut a drum loop.
Using and Creating Apple Loops
Apple Loops are AIFF or CAF format audio files containing additional information that allows them to automatically match the tempo and key when they’re imported into a Logic project. They also contain descriptive information (such as instrument, mood, genre, and scale) that helps you search the vast library of loops using the Loop Browser.
Using the Loop Browser
You were introduced to the Loop Browser in Lesson 1 when you previewed and chose loops to create a project. You will now use it to add two Apple Loops to your drums track.
1. In the control bar, click the Apple Loops button (or press O).
2. At the top of the Loop Browser, from the Loop pop-up menu, choose Hip Hop.
Let’s try to find a couple of loops that were recorded at a tempo close to the current project tempo (61.5 bpm).
3. At the top of the results list, click the Tempo column header.
In the results list, the loops are reordered by ascending tempos. Note that the first few loops do not have any tempo information, because they don’t contain any rhythmic material.
4. Click Intergalactic Beat to preview it.
That loop sounds as if it would work with the drums recording.
5. Drag Intergalactic Beat to the workspace, below the drums track at bar 1.
6. Place the mouse pointer over the upper-right edge of the Intergalactic Beat region so it turns into the Loop tool, and then drag to loop the region until bar 12.
Let’s add a synth loop.
7. In the Loop Browser, click Intergalactic Rising Synth to preview it.
Intergalactic Rising Synth plays in the current project key, which is C, by default. The loop’s original key, displayed in the results list, is B. Let’s listen to the loop in its original key.
8. At the bottom of the Loop Browser, from the “Play in” pop-up menu, choose Original Key.
The loop now plays in B.
9. Drag Intergalactic Rising Synth to bar 2 below the tracks in the workspace.
NOTE
Apple Loops are automatically transposed to match the root note of the project’s key signature. However, they do not match the tonality, so loops sound the same, for example, in C major and in C minor.
10. Loop the region until bar 13.
Listen to the song. The synth loop is once again playing in the key of the project, C.
You will now stop the drums on track 1 at the same position as the Intergalactic Beat loop.
11. Command-drag the Slow Drums region from bar 12 to the end of the region.
Make sure that your marquee selection starts exactly on 12 1 1 1, but don’t worry if the marquee selection goes beyond the end of the region (since there’s nothing to delete after the region).
12. Press Delete. This creates a click sound at the end of the Slow Drums region that you’ll fix later.
The Slow Drums region now ends at bar 12, as does the Intergalactic Beat loop on track 2.
Setting a Project’s Key Signature
Loops generally sound more natural when they’re played in their original keys. Their sound is closer to their producer’s original intention, and with no transposition to process, the timbre of the loop is closest to the original recording, and you hear fewer artifacts (distortion resulting from the time-stretching or pitch-shifting process).
Let’s change the key of the project to B minor, the original key of the synth loop you imported on track 3.
1. In the control bar, click the Lists button.
2. At the top of the Lists area, click the Signature tab.
The Signature list shows the Time and Key signatures. The default key signature is C major.
3. In the Value column, click the scale (Major).
The Key Value changes to A minor, the relative minor of C major. (Relative keys share the same notes, but have different tonal centers.)
4. Click the key (A), and from the pop-up menu, choose B.
The Key signature is now B minor.
5. Click the Lists button to close the Signature list.
6. Listen to your song. The Intergalactic Synth plays in the new project key, B. Note that rhythmic loops without pitches are not affected by the project’s key, so the Intergalactic Beat loop on track 2 isn’t transposed.
Creating Apple Loops
When you want to catalog a section of an audio recording so you can reuse it in future projects, you can save it as an Apple Loop. The Apple Loop will be indexed in the Loop Browser so that you can easily find it later, and it will automatically match the tempo (and, when appropriate, the key) of the project into which you import the loop.
In the next exercise, you will first divide the first four bars of drums, and save them as a new Apple Loop.
1. Command-drag to select the first four bars in the Slow Drums.1 region from 1 1 1 1 to 5 1 1 1.
2. In the control bar, click the Apple Loops button (or press O) to open the Loop Browser.
3. Using the Pointer tool, drag the selected section of the drums to the Loop Browser.
As soon as you click the marquee selection, it is divided as a new region. When you release the mouse button over the Loop Browser, the “Add Region to Apple Loops Library” dialog opens.
4. In the dialog, enter or choose the following:
Name: Slow Drums
Type: Loop
Scale: Neither
Genre: Rock/Blues
Descriptors: All Drums > Kits
5. Click the Acoustic, Clean, Dry, Grooving, and Part descriptor buttons. Descriptors determine which keyword buttons you’ll later select in the Loop Browser to find that loop.
NOTE
When dragging a region to the Loop Browser, you can create loops only when the number of beats in the region is an integer. This function uses the project tempo to tag the transient positions and works best for audio files that match the project tempo. If the selected region’s number of beats is not an integer, the Type parameter will be set to One-shot and dimmed, and the resulting Apple Loop will not automatically match a project’s tempo and key.
Logic bounces the section as a new Apple Loop and indexes it in the Loop Browser. You will come back to the current project shortly, but for now let’s find the new loop in a new project.
7. Choose File > New (or press Command-Shift-N) to open a new project, but do not close the current project.
8. Create a track of any type, and open the Loop Browser.
9. In the Loop Browser, in the search field, type Slow Drums.
10. In the results list, click Slow Drums to preview it.
The loop plays at the current project tempo, 120 bpm. Notice that in the results list, Slow Drums does not have a key associated with it.
11. As the loop continues playing, experiment by changing the tempo and key of the project in the LCD display. The loop matches the project tempo, but not the project key.
12. Click the loop to stop previewing it.
13. Choose File > Close to close the new project, and do not save it.
You are back in the original project.
14. Close the Loop Browser.
TIP
You can also drag a MIDI region on a software instrument track to the Loop Browser to create a green Apple Loop. Green Apple Loops, like the blue Apple Loops you’ve already used, can be applied as audio regions on audio tracks, or as MIDI regions on software instrument tracks, giving you the additional flexibility of being able to edit the sound of the instrument and the MIDI events.
Creating Tempo Changes and Tempo Curves
When you want to vary the tempo throughout a project, you can use the global Tempo track to insert tempo changes and tempo curves. All MIDI regions and Apple Loops automatically follow the project tempo, even when tempo variations occur in the middle of a region. For non–Apple Loops audio regions (such as the Slow Drums region on track 1), you first have to turn on Flex for the tracks containing the regions to make those regions follow the project tempo.
Creating and Naming Tempo Sets
In this exercise, you will create a new tempo set, and name both the current and new tempo sets. You will create a new tempo curve in the new tempo set, and later switch between the original tempo and the new tempo curve.
1. At the top of the track headers, click the Global Tracks button (or press G).
Below the ruler, the global tracks open. For this exercise, you need to see only the Tempo track.
2. Control-click a global track header, and choose Hide Arrangement from the shortcut menu.
The Arrangement track is hidden.
3. Repeat step 2 to hide the Marker and Signature tracks.
Only the Tempo track remains. Before you start editing the tempo, you will create a new tempo set and name both the current and the new sets.
4. In the Tempo track header, from the Tempo pop-up menu, choose Tempo Sets > Rename Set.
A text field appears on the Tempo track header.
5. Enter Original.
6. From the Tempo pop-up menu, choose Tempo Sets > New Set.
A new tempo set is created with a default value of 120 bpm. A text entry field appears, ready for you to enter a name for the new set. In this set, you will make the tempo go gradually faster, so let’s name it Accelerando.
7. Rename the new tempo set Accelerando, and listen to the song.
Both Apple Loops play at the new tempo (120 bpm), but the drums on track 1 continue playing at their original tempo. To make them follow the project tempo you need to choose a flex mode for their track, but only when the track is playing at its correct tempo.
8. From the Tempo pop-up menu, choose Tempo Sets > Original. The project tempo is 61.5000 bpm, the correct tempo of the drums performance.
9. Select the Slow Drums track header (track 1).
10. Open the Track inspector, and set Flex Mode to Flex Time - Slicing.
This mode slices the audio where it detects a transient, and moves the slices without time-stretching them, which typically works great for drums.
11. In the Tempo track, from the Tempo pop-up menu, choose Tempo Sets > Accelerando. Listen to the song.
This time, all three tracks follow the default 120 bpm tempo of the new tempo set.
Creating Tempo Changes and Tempo Curves
You now have two tempo sets, and will edit the new one to create a tempo that starts at a 62 bpm tempo and progressively ramps up to about 75 bpm, dropping abruptly to 40 bpm for the last sustained note of the synth.
1. In the Tempo track, drag the tempo line down to 62 bpm.
Although the line seems to stop at the bottom edge of the Tempo track, keep dragging down until you see the desired tempo value displayed in the help tag. When you release the mouse button, the scale on the right in the Tempo track header updates and you can see the new tempo.
Let’s insert a tempo change at bar 11.
2. In the Tempo track at bar 11, position the mouse pointer above the tempo line so that it no longer looks like a hand, and then double-click to insert a new tempo change, aiming for a value of 75 bpm.
A new tempo control point is inserted at bar 11. You probably didn’t get the exact value you had in mind, but that’s an easy fix.
3. Place the pointer over the line to the right of the new tempo change so that it changes to a Hand tool. Then drag up or down to a value of 75 bpm. Listen to the tempo change.
TIP
To reposition a tempo control point, horizontally drag the vertical line below the tempo change.
The tempo changes abruptly at bar 11. To smooth the tempo change, you’re going to accelerate the tempo from 62 bpm at bar 1 to 75 bpm at bar 11.
4. At bar 11, position the mouse pointer on the control point below the 75 bpm control point. The pointer turns into the Finger tool.
5. Using the Finger tool, drag the control point to the left.
You can precisely adjust the tempo curve by dragging the control point farther to the left, up, or in both directions.
6. Listen to the song. The tempo now ramps up progressively between bar 1 and bar 11.
Let’s slow the tempo at bar 12.
7. Double-click below the tempo line at bar 12, and drag the new tempo line to 40 bpm. Listen to the ending.
Although the drums seem rather fast in bar 11, the last synth note in bar 12 plays very slowly. You can probably hear a click at bar 12, so let’s have a closer look.
8. At the top of the track headers, click the Global tracks button (or press G) to close the global tracks.
9. At bar 12, zoom in closely on the end of the last Slow Drums region on track 1.
If you zoom in close enough, you can see that the attack of the next drum hit is still inside the region. You need to shorten the region a tiny bit to remove that attack.
10. Position the mouse pointer at the bottom right of the region, and drag to the left to hide the unwanted attack.
11. Zoom out and listen again. The click at bar 12 is gone.
You can create complex tempo maps to add excitement to your arrangements. Sometimes, a chorus that’s a bit faster than the rest of the song is all an arrangement needs to really take off. Or you can use tempo curves to create the classic ritardando at the end of a song. All your Apple Loops and MIDI regions will automatically follow the tempo map, and you can use a flex mode for each audio track you want to follow along.
Adding a Turntable or Tape Slow-Down Effect
When you stop a turntable with the stylus on the record, or stop a tape machine while keeping the playhead in contact with the magnetic tape, the result is a sound that drops in pitch as it slows down. This highly recognizable effect has recently regained popularity along with its opposite—the sound rising in pitch as speed increases when the tape transport or turntable starts.
You will now apply the turntable stop effect to the last sustained synth note at the end of the song. First, you need to turn that last loop into an individual region.
1. Using the Marquee tool, Command-drag over the last loop on the synth track (from 12 1 1 1 to 13 1 1 1) to select it.
2. Using the Pointer tool, click the Marquee selection.
The last two loops are turned into regions.
3. Control-Shift-drag over the region end to create a fade-out.
Let’s turn that volume fade into a speed fade.
4. Control-click the fade-out, and choose Slow Down from the shortcut menu.
In the workspace, the fade-out turns orange, indicating that it is now a speed fade.
5. Listen to your fade. It sounds just like a tape stopping!
You can adjust the length and curve of the speed fade just as you would a volume fade.
6. As you listen, adjust the fade’s curve and length as follows:
Control-Shift-drag the middle of the fade to adjust its curve.
Control-Shift-drag the left edge of the fade to adjust its length.
7. Choose File > Close Project without saving the project.
You just used a speed fade to create a realistic tape slow-down effect, but you can use speed fades for many kinds of effects. Try applying multiple rapid speed fades to short regions to create DJ scratching effects. Or add a speed fade at the end of a kick sample to make it drop in pitch.
Making One Track Follow the Groove of Another Track
Playing all tracks at the same tempo is not always sufficient to achieve a tight rhythm. You also need to make sure they play with the same groove. For example, a musician may play slightly late to create a laid-back feel, or he may add some swing to his performance by delaying only the upbeats. On yet another track, notes may be placed on a rigid grid.
To learn how to get your tracks in the same groove, you will open a new project with a drummer playing a swing groove, and then make a shaker on another track follow the groove of the drummer.
1. Open Logic Pro X Files > Lessons > 07 Swing Groove, and listen to the song.
Even though both tracks play at the same tempo, they are not synchronized. The drums (track 1) are playing a hip hop shuffle groove while the shaker is playing on a straight sixteenth note grid. Feel free to solo the individual tracks to clearly hear each instrument’s feel.
Let’s zoom in so you can see the individual drum hits on the waveforms.
2. Press Return to go back to the beginning of the project.
3. Press Command-Right Arrow nine times to zoom in on the first two beats (so you can clearly see 1 and 1.2 in the ruler).
Below the 1.2 grid mark in the ruler, you can clearly see that the waveforms on the two tracks are out of sync.
To make the shaker follow the groove of the drums, you need to set the Drums track as the groove track.
4. Control-click a track header, and from the shortcut menu, choose Track Header Component > Show Groove Track.
At first glance, nothing seems to have changed in the track headers.
5. Position the mouse pointer over the track number (1) of the Drums track.
A gold star appears in place of the track number.
6. Click the gold star.
The gold star appears in a new column on the track header, indicating that the Drums track is now the groove track. On the Shaker track header, in the same column, you can select the checkbox to make that track follow the groove track.
7. On the Shaker track, select the Match Groove Track checkbox.
The waveform on the Shaker track updates so that the notes are in sync with the notes on the groove track.
8. Listen to the song. The shaker now follows the groove of the drums, and they play in sync.
9. Solo the Shaker track.
10. While listening to the shaker, deselect and select the Match Groove Track checkbox to compare the original performance with the new groove.
When the checkbox is deselected, the shaker plays straight eighth notes and sixteenth notes.
When the checkbox is selected, the shaker plays the same hip hop shuffle feel as the drums.
11. Unsolo the Shaker track.
12. Choose File > Close Project without saving the project.
Groove tracks work with all track types (audio, software instrument, and Drummer tracks). Experiment by applying the groove of a sample to your MIDI programming, or making a Drummer track follow the groove of a live bass recording.
Change the Playback Pitch and Speed with Varispeed
In the days of analog tape recording, engineers performed all sorts of tricks by changing the tape speed. Many major albums were sped up ever so slightly during the mixing process to add excitement to tracks by raising their tempos. This simultaneously raised the pitch, giving the impression of the vocalist reaching higher notes in the most emotional passages of the song. On the other hand, engineers would sometimes slow the tape during recording, so that a musician could play a challenging passage at a more comfortable tempo. When played back at its regular speed during mixdown, the recording created the illusion of the musician playing faster. DJs are probably the biggest users of Varispeed techniques, which gives them control over the tempo and pitch of a track, allowing for seamless transitions from one track to the next.
Logic takes this concept a step further, offering both the classic Varispeed—which, like a tape or record player, changes both the pitch and the speed—and a Speed Only mode, which allows you to change the speed without changing the pitch.
1. Open Logic Pro X Files > Lessons > 07 Little Lady, and listen to the song. In the LCD display in the control bar, you can see that the song is in the key of A minor and its tempo is 152 bpm.
To use the Varispeed feature, you must add the Varispeed display to the control bar.
2. Control-click the control bar, and from the shortcut menu, choose “Customize Control Bar and Display.”
In the LCD column of the “Customize Control Bar and Display” dialog, the Varispeed option is dimmed. To be able to turn it on, you first need to choose the custom LCD display.
3. In the LCD column, from the pop-up menu, choose Custom.
4. Below the pop-up menu, select Varispeed, and click OK.
A new Varispeed display appears in the control bar.
5. In the Varispeed display, drag the 0.00% value up to 6.00%.
The Varispeed display is shaded in orange. The tempo value turns orange, too, indicating that the song is no longer playing at its normal tempo due to the Varispeed feature. To the right of the control bar, the Varispeed button turns orange to indicate that the feature is enabled.
6. Listen to the song.
The song plays faster, but retains its original pitch. Let’s check the song’s current tempo.
7. In the Varispeed display, click the % symbol, and from the pop-up menu, choose Resulting Tempo.
The Varispeed display shows the resulting tempo of 161.120 bpm. You can now use the display to set the desired playback tempo.
8. Double-click the 161.120 tempo value, and enter 140 bpm.
The song plays slower, but still at its original pitch. This would be perfect for practicing a part by playing along with your instrument. You could even record your part at this speed, and then turn off Varispeed to play the whole song (including your newly recorded part) at the normal speed.
Now let’s apply the classic Varispeed effect that changes both the playback speed and pitch.
9. In the Varispeed display, click Speed Only, and from the pop-up menu, choose Varispeed (Speed and Pitch).
10. Listen to the song.
Now the song plays both faster and higher in pitch. This is the classic Varispeed effect available on tape machines and turntables.
11. In the Varispeed display, click the bpm symbol, and from the pop-up menu, choose Detune (Semitones, Cents).
12. Double-click the –1.42 detune value, and enter –2.00.
Now the song plays slower and pitched down by two semitones. If your vocal soloist isn’t at the top of his game that day and can’t reach his usual high notes, you could record at this slower speed, and later turn off Varispeed to play the whole song at the higher pitch.
14. In the control bar, click the Varispeed button to turn it off.
Editing the Timing of an Audio Region
You were introduced to Flex Time editing in Lesson 3 when you used it to tighten the rhythm of a few dead notes on a guitar. You will now go further and explore other Flex Time editing techniques while examining what happens to an audio waveform “under the hood.”
Time Stretching the Waveform Between Transient Markers
You will dive deeper into Flex Time editing by using it to correct the timing of a guitar.
1. From the global Marker track, drag the Breakdown marker (at bar 75) into the upper half of the ruler.
A cycle area is created that corresponds to the Breakdown marker.
2. Solo the two Gtr Bridge tracks (tracks 13 and 14).
3. Listen to the first three bars of the Breakdown section.
The two guitars on the soloed tracks play the same rhythm, but in two places (bar 75, beat 2; and bar 77, beat 2) the guitars are not hitting the notes together.
4. In the Tracks area menu bar, click the Flex button (or press Command-F).
The Tracks area is zoomed in vertically, and each track header shows a Flex button and a Flex pop-up menu.
5. Zoom in and scroll the workspace so you can see the beginning of the Gtr Bridge L region (at bar 75) at the upper left of the workspace, right below the ruler.
6. Click the lower half of the ruler at bar 75 to position the playhead. Click track 13 to select it, and drag the zoom sliders (or press Command-Arrow keys) to continue adjusting your zoom level so that you can see the three first beats of bar 75 in the ruler (the 75, 75.2, and 75.3 grid marks).
Remember that zooming with the zoom sliders or the Command-Arrow keys keeps the playhead at the same horizontal position in the workspace, and the selected track at the same vertical position in the Tracks area. Here, the beginning of the Gtr Bridge L region stays anchored at the upper left of the workspace.
7. In the Gtr Bridge L track header (track 13), click the Flex button.
Flex editing is turned on. The region on the track is darker, and transient markers appear where Logic detected the attack of a new note. Logic automatically detects the most appropriate Flex Time mode for the track, which is set to Monophonic.
NOTE
Monophonic mode is intended for instruments that produce only one pitch at a time (vocals, wind). Polyphonic is used with instruments that play chords (piano, guitar), and Slicing is for moving notes without time-stretching any audio (good for drums).
On track 13, the second note in the region is late. It should be in time with the second note of the Gtr Bridge R region on track 14 (under the 75.2 grid mark in the ruler).
8. In the upper half of the waveform, place the mouse pointer over the transient marker of the second note.
The mouse pointer turns into a Flex tool and looks like a single flex marker. This symbol indicates that clicking or dragging will insert a flex marker on the transient marker. When you drag the flex marker, the waveform is stretched between the region beginning and the flex marker, and between the flex marker and the region end. Let’s try it.
9. Drag the Flex tool to the left to align the flex marker with the second note of the track below.
When the mouse pointer is positioned over a flex marker, a flex drag indicator in the region header above the flex marker shows how the flex marker was moved from its original position. You can click the X symbol inside the flex drag indicator to delete that flex marker (and return the waveform to its original state).
After you release the mouse button, the flex marker looks like a white vertical line.
The waveform to the left of the flex marker is blue (time-compressed) and the waveform to the right of the flex marker is white (time-expanded). As a result, all the notes to the right of the flex marker have changed their positions, which is not what’s wanted here.
10. Choose Edit > Undo (or press Command-Z).
11. In the lower half of the waveform, place the mouse pointer over the transient marker of the second note.
The Flex tool looks like three flex markers. Clicking it creates three flex markers:
On the transient marker you’re about to drag
On the transient marker before (which will not move)
On the transient marker after (which will not move)
12. Drag the Flex tool to the left to align the note with the second note of the track below.
The first note is time compressed, the second note is time expanded, and the rest of the region remains unaffected.
13. Listen to the edit.
The timing sounds much better than in the original. However, the first note is now slightly shorter, and the second note longer. It’s a subtle difference, but in the next exercise you will use another technique to get a tighter result.
14. Choose Undo > Dragging (or press Command-Z) to undo the change.
Moving Waveform Sections Without Time-Stretching
In the previous exercise, you applied the Flex tool to time-stretch a waveform using either the previous and next transient markers or the region’s beginning and end points as boundaries.
Now you will use the Marquee, your current Command-click tool, to select a section of the waveform, and move it without time-stretching any of the audio region.
1. In the Gtr Bridge L region, Command-drag the second note, starting on the transient marker.
Positioning the mouse pointer in the upper half of a marquee selection turns the pointer into the Hand tool, which lets you move the selected waveform without time-stretching any of the material around it.
2. Drag the upper half of the marquee selection to align the selected note with the second note in the guitar track below.
3. Listen to the result. The two guitar tracks sound really tight together until the second note of bar 77 when the Gtr Bridge L plays early.
4. Scroll to the second note of bar 77. Select the note using the Marquee tool, and then drag it to the right to align it with the corresponding note on the track below.
5. Listen to the result. Now both guitars sound tight.
In the next exercise, you will edit the timing of the bass tracks in the Dropdown section, so keep your current zoom level.
Time Stretching a Single Note
Let’s use the Flex tool to lengthen a bass note.
1. In the workspace, scroll up to see the two bass tracks (tracks 9 and 10).
You will stretch the single note at bar 79, first in track 9, and then in track 10.
2. Scroll and zoom as necessary so you can see the single bass note at bar 79.
3. In the Bass track header (track 9), click the Flex button.
At bar 79, you can see a transient marker at the beginning of the note.
4. Position your mouse pointer in the lower half of the waveform, over the end of the note.
The mouse pointer looks like three vertical lines because it is not located over a transient marker. Clicking creates three flex markers:
At the location you click
On the transient marker before (which will not move)
On the transient marker after (which will not move)
5. Drag the Flex tool to the right to end the note on 79.3.
The three flex markers are created, and the note is lengthened. The flex markers on the transient before (at bar 79) and after (end of bar 82) ensure that the rest of the region before and after the lengthened note stays unaffected.
6. Turn on flex for the Bass Grit track (track 10), and lengthen the corresponding note by the same amount.
7. Listen to the result.
The bass note at bar 79 is sustained for a longer time. Don’t hesitate to solo the two bass guitar tracks, and to turn the Flex buttons on and off in the two bass track headers to compare the before and after results.
8. Click the background, and press Z to see the whole song.
Tuning Vocal Recordings
Hitting pitches perfectly on every single note can be a challenge for singers. Tuning software allows you to correct pitches in a recording. It can be useful for saving an emotional take that contains a few off-pitch notes, or even to refine the pitch of a good performance.
Editing Note Pitches in the Workspace
In Logic, Flex Pitch allows you to automatically correct the pitch of all the notes in a region, or to precisely edit the pitch curve of a single note, along with the amount of vibrato. In this exercise, you will use Flex Pitch to tune the vocals on the Verse track (track 24).
1. Solo the Verse track (track 24), and listen to the second verse (at bar 43).
The singer has a bluesy singing style with some sung parts and some spoken parts. You can hear the pitch glide between notes, and she usually applies vibrato at the end. Some of the pitches are slightly off and will benefit from pitch correction.
2. Zoom in on the second Verse region (at bar 43).
3. Click the Verse track header to select it, and then click its Flex button.
Transient markers appear over the region.
4. In the Verse track header, from the Flex pop-up menu, choose Flex Pitch.
On the region, the transient markers disappear, and you see vertical bars of various heights that represent the pitches detected for each note:
A line in the center of the waveform indicates a perfect pitch.
A bar going up indicates that the note is sharp.
A bar going down indicates that the note is flat.
The height of the bar represents the deviation of the detected pitch from the perfect pitch.
5. Drag the Verse 2 marker into the upper half of the ruler to make the cycle area match the position of the marker.
6. Control-click the Verse region, and from the shortcut menu, choose “Set all to Perfect Pitch.”
All the bars in the region snap to the center of the waveform, indicating that all the notes are in tune.
7. Listen to the results.
The notes are corrected to the closest pitches on a chromatic scale while retaining their original pitch drift and vibrato. This fix works well for most notes, but a few issues remain. At the beginning of bar 44, the words “get on” were corrected to the wrong pitch and sound flat.
8. Control-click the Verse region, and from the shortcut menu, choose “Set all to Original Pitch” to return the notes to their original pitches.
You can edit the pitch of individual notes in the region.
9. At the beginning of the region, Control-click the first bar (for the word “pack”), and from the shortcut menu, choose “Set to Perfect Pitch.”
The bar becomes a line in the center of the waveform, indicating that the note is tuned to a perfect pitch.
You can also drag bars up and down to manually tune a note.
10. At bar 44, drag up the horizontal line corresponding to the words “get on.”
The singer is bending her pitch at the beginning of those two words, so it’s best to tune them by ear.
11. Drag horizontally from the beginning to the end of each word (“get” and “on”). You can hear the pitch ramp up on each word as the singer bends the note. Find the horizontal position to hear the highest pitch at the end of the first word (“get”), and then try to drag only vertically to hear the pitch as you adjust it. You may need to zoom in closer.
You need to drag farther up than the top of the region to tune this note. As you do so, the help tag no longer shows a D#3, but an E3, and the upward bar turns into a downward bar. Flex Pitch no longer considers the note to be a sharp D#3, but a flat E3.
12. Listen to Verse 2.
The singer alternates sung lines with spoken lines. It’s best not to tune the spoken lines. You can continue tuning the desired notes by selecting a few at a time. You may need to zoom out a bit for the next step.
13. Drag the Pointer tool in bars 47 and 48 to select the words, “Tell me why, you still hang around.”
14. Control-click one of the selected bars, and from the shortcut menu, choose “Set to Perfect Pitch.”
All selected notes are tuned to the perfect pitch.
15. Zoom out to see the whole song.
Editing Note Pitches in the Audio Track Editor
Tuning notes in the Tracks area is quick and easy. However, you sometimes need more flexibility and control over the exact pitch curve of a note. The Audio Track Editor gives you that control over the amount of pitch drift at the start or end of notes, and the amount of vibrato you want to retain.
1. Drag the Verse 1 marker into the upper half of the ruler.
2. On the Verse track (track 24), select the first Verse region (at bar 11).
3. In the control bar, click the Editors button (or press E), and click the Track tab to open the Audio Track Editor.
In the Audio Track Editor menu bar, the Flex button is on, and the Flex Pitch mode is selected.
As in the Piano Roll Editor, the note pitches are represented as beams on a grid. (You may need to scroll up or down to see the note beams.) On the grid, light gray lanes correspond to the white keys on the piano keyboard, and dark gray lanes correspond to the black keys. The section of a note beam that intersects with the closest lane is colored, while the height of the hollowed-out section of the beam represents the amount of deviation from the perfect pitch. When a note plays at the perfect pitch, it sits exactly on a lane, and the beam doesn’t have any hollowed-out section.
On top of the frame, a light-gray line represents the pitch curve so that you can see pitch drifts and vibrato.
4. Play the first three notes of the verse (“Here you come”).
The first two notes (the words “here you”) are short and their pitches sound good so you will leave them unchanged.
The third note (“come”) goes sharp at the end, and you will fix that.
5. Control-click the beam, and from the shortcut menu, choose “Set to Perfect Pitch.”
The beam snaps to the closest lane, and the entire beam is colored, indicating that the note plays at the perfect pitch.
Note that at the beginning of the note, the singer raises her pitch to the correct pitch, holds the pitch fairly straight for a short amount of time, adds a wide vibrato, and then drops in pitch at the end.
As you position the mouse pointer in the vicinity of the colored beam, hotspots appear around the beam that allow you to perform various adjustments.
6. Drag the lower-mid hotspot to set Vibrato to 0%.
The pitch curve of that note is flat lined.
7. Listen to the result.
The word “come” now has a constant pitch without any drift at the beginning or end, and without any vibrato. The pitch is perfect, but it sounds unnatural.
8. Drag the lower-mid hotspot to set the Vibrato to 50% to halve the pitch deviations around the perfect pitch.
9. Drag the upper-left hotspot to set the Pitch Drift to 0.62 at the note start.
10. Listen to the result.
It sounds as if the singer attacks the note with the correct pitch, which works well if you want a straight pitch. However, for this verse, it sacrifices the bluesy feel imparted by the pitch slurs and wide vibrato.
11. Control-click the note, and choose Reset Pitch Curve from the shortcut menu.
The pitch curve is back to the original, but the note stays on its perfect pitch.
12. In the Tracks area, drag the left edge of the cycle area to bar 17.
13. Unsolo the Verse track (track 24), and listen to a few bars at the beginning of the cycle area.
On the first beat of bar 18, the beginning of the word “sun” is very flat. In fact, the note is so flat that Logic detected its correct pitch as D#3 below, even though the singer meant to reach the E3 above.
14. Drag up the upper-mid hotspot to set the Fine Pitch to 0 on an E3 note.
As you drag the Fine Pitch hotspot vertically, you can hear the pitch of the point in the pitch curve at the location of your mouse pointer. In this case, after you click the Fine Pitch hotspot, you can drag to the right about halfway between the middle of the note and the end of the note, where the pitch curve is fairly stable in the middle of the beam. Then drag up while listening to the pitch.
NOTE
Sometimes, pitch correction can alter the timbre of a sound, especially when you play a note several semitones away from its original pitch. At some point, pitching up a vocal makes the singer sound like a chipmunk, whereas pitching it down makes the singer sound like a hulking monster. Dragging the Formant hotspot up or down helps you adjust the timbre to make it sound more realistic.
15. Feel free to correct more note pitches in the two regions on the Verse track, using the different hotspots around the note beams to adjust the fine pitch, the pitch drifts at the start and end of the note, and the amount of vibrato in the pitch curve.
16. In the Tracks area menu bar, click the Flex button (or press Command-F).
The Flex display is hidden, but all your Flex edits remain active.
You now have a large repertoire of techniques you can use to edit the tempo of a project and the timing of its regions, and you can make a track follow the groove of another track. Mastering these techniques will give you the freedom to use almost any prerecorded material in your projects, so keep your ears tuned to interesting material you could sample and loop for your future songs.
Flex Time and Flex Pitch editing can help you correct imperfections in a performance, bringing your material to a new level of precision. Using Varispeed, turntable speed-up and slow-down effects, and Flex Time and Flex Pitch editing techniques, you have a full palette of special effects that can add ear candy to your productions.
Lesson Review
1. How do you detect the tempo of an audio region and apply it to your project?
2. How do you create an Apple Loop that follows the project tempo?
3. How can you add tempo changes and curves?
4. How do you apply a tape or turntable speed-up or slow-down effect?
5. How do you make one track follow the groove of another?
6. How do you turn on Flex editing?
7. How do you time stretch an audio region using the region’s start and end points as boundaries?
8. How do you time stretch an audio region using the previous and next transient marker as boundaries?
9. Using Flex Pitch, where can you edit the pitch of notes inside an audio region?
10. When Flex Pitch is turned on for a track, how do you quickly tune an entire audio region?
11. How can you edit the pitch curve?
Answers
1. Select the audio region in the workspace, and choose Edit > Tempo > Adjust Tempo Using Beat Detection.
2. Select a region in the workspace, ensure that its length has an integer number of beats, and drag it to the Loop Browser.
3. Open the global tracks, and on the Tempo track, double-click away from the tempo line to create a tempo change. Drag the control point that appears at the vertical of your tempo change to the left and/or up to adjust the tempo curve.
4. Add a fade-in or a fade-out, control-click it, and from the shortcut menu, choose Speed Up or Slow Down.
5. Ensure that the track headers show groove tracks; then click over the track number to set the groove track, and select the Match Groove Track checkbox in the other track(s).
6. Choose a flex mode for the selected track in the Track inspector, or turn on the Flex button in the Tracks area menu bar and enable the Flex button for the desired track.
7. Assuming there are no pre-existing flex markers in the region, drag the Flex tool on the upper half of the waveform.
8. Drag the Flex tool on the lower half of the waveform.
9. In the workspace, or in the Audio Track Editor
10. Control-click the region, and choose “Set All to Perfect Pitch” from the shortcut menu.
11. Using Flex Pitch editing in the Audio Track Editor, drag the six hotspots around a note beam.
Keyboard Shortcuts
