Chapter 21

Ten Tips to Speed Your Workflow

In This Chapter

Getting organized and productive

Using key commands and screensets

Saving time with patches and presets

Troubleshooting and mastering Logic Pro

Finishing a Logic Pro project is like completing a puzzle: You have to fit all the pieces together to see the final picture. Some parts of the game are more fun than others, so you need a good reason to see it through, such as the enjoyment of listening to your project come together. A better motivator is to make every moment that you create with Logic Pro a purposeful moment.

Start by giving your Logic Pro project deadlines and clear outcomes. If you don’t have a song to work on, create a learning project. I create projects to learn tools, workflows, plug-ins, and software instruments, in addition to songwriting and music producing. You’ll speed up your chops with experience, especially if your purpose is clear.

In this chapter, I offer practical tips to help you speed up your workflow and make more music.

Keep Detailed Notes

I start almost every project by opening the project notes (Option--P). I write a brief sentence about my project goal, and I sign my projects, adding my URL and copyright notice. That simple sentence alone will save you time as you search through projects for stuff. Sometimes I need to find a piece of music or an effects chain to use in a current project, and the search is much easier when each project has a short description in the notes.

Project notes are also an ideal place to list all your deliverables. In Chapter 16, I list the fundamentals of mixing; I like to collect all that information in the project notes. I list reference tracks, effects ideas, track groups, bar numbers, lyrics, and anything else I can dump out of my brain. I also use project notes as a to-do list so I can keep track of what I’ve done and what’s left to do.

Use track notes to store specific information about the track, such as instrument frequency ranges and effects chains. I also keep a change log of significant edits and patches or channel strip settings. Sometimes, I’ll change the patch or channel strip setting of a track, but I always write down the name of the current patch. Keeping notes saves you from having to commit anything to memory, so you have more mental energy for the music.

Use Key Commands

You can use more than 1,200 key commands in Logic Pro X — many more than you’ll ever need. But many Logic Pro functions can be achieved only by key command, so one key command you should memorize is Option-K, which opens the key commands window.

If there’s anything you want to do in your project, you can search through menus to find it, or you can quickly open the key commands window and search. The second way is usually faster. Open the key commands window regularly and search for commands related to your task.

Keep one key combination for ad hoc key command assignments. When you find a key command that doesn’t have an assignment, you don’t have to find a permanent home for it right away. You can assign it to your temp key command and use it immediately. My temp key command is Control-Option--K, and I can remember it easily because it’s similar to Option-K.

Use Screensets

Screensets are snapshots of your current screen layout. I use them all the time. To access your screensets, press any number key on your keyboard from 1 to 9. Hold Control for the first digit of double-digit screensets. I reserve screenset 9 for project notes and 8 for track notes, and they’re the first screensets I create. I also lock my screensets. That way, I can move them around but get them back to their locked position by pressing the screenset number.

If you’ve downloaded the templates I’ve shared with you throughout this book at http://logicstudiotraining.com/lpxfordummies, you’ve seen my detailed screensets. Each task deserves a screenset. I have a project of audio editing screensets, MIDI editing screensets, and mixing screensets, and I regularly import them to my current project, as described in Chapter 2. If you have my templates, you can import them as well.

As with key commands, keep an ad hoc screenset that you can set up and duplicate from the screenset menu. I usually reserve screenset 1 for my ad hoc workspace and then duplicate it

Save Track Stack Patches and Channel Strip Settings

Track stacks are one of my favorite Logic Pro X features. They’re easy to pass back and forth and they free your precious time. You can save groups of tracks, effects chains, instrument sounds, and so much more. I provide an entire orchestra patch in Chapter 12 that you can add to any project. Track stacks and patches are massive timesavers.

You can also save project templates to save time, but merging templates isn’t as easy as loading a few patches. Open the library (Y) and load several patches, and you have a complete band and orchestra with all the audio routing and effects you can imagine.

I like to save channel strip settings almost as much as patches. Adding a common set of plug-ins to a channel strip is easy from the mixer. Open the mixer (X) and save the channel strip settings from the Setting button at the top of the channel strip. When I get a good sound going, I save it as both a channel strip setting and a patch in the library. They make great starting places for future projects.

Choose a Tool and Master It

If you spend an entire week focusing on a new tool while you work on your projects, you’ll know its strengths and weaknesses and you’ll know exactly when to use it. Press T to open the tool menu. Press T twice to select the pen tool, the most common tool.

Master the pointer, pencil, marquee, scissors, and zoom tools. You’ll use them a lot. Editors can be tools too. Spend a week using the step editor in your projects, and you’ll master it. Spend a week working on flex time, score editing, smart controls, and the other powerful features and you’ll dominate Logic Pro.

Choose a Tool and Ignore It

Logic Pro is so deep that you’ll probably never touch some of its features. You might never need to open the score editor if you don’t read music. You might never mix your own music. Whatever your situation, feel free to ignore what you don’t need.

Many new Logic Pro users come to me wanting to learn it front to back. I always question their motivation because I’ve never known a music producer who uses Logic Pro that way. The goal isn’t to master Logic Pro; the goal is to have Logic Pro help you master making music.

Use the Fastest Way, Not the Right Way

I’ve wasted a lot of time trying and failing to do something that I knew should be possible. Instead of beating your head against the desk like I do, if something isn’t working, ask yourself whether there’s another way to accomplish the same goal. Sometimes what seems like the right way isn’t always the fastest way.

A long time ago, I tried to create a template that was perfectly connected to my studio environment. I added external MIDI instruments for all my synths, audio tracks for all my inputs, software instruments that I always used, and a detailed MIDI controller setup so I could control every knob and fader. It should have worked, but it never truly did. And I didn’t make a whole lot of music during that experiment.

There’s no such thing as perfect software. But there is such a thing as software used well. My motto is: A proper project is a finished project.

Establish a Troubleshooting Strategy

It’s not often that I have to troubleshoot Logic Pro. But when I do, I use the following strategy:

1. Is the problem with the hardware?

   Test all your hardware, including instruments, cables, audio interface, speakers, and anything else that could be connected to your system. Check the computer’s audio system preferences.

2. Is the problem with the software?

   Test different projects and new projects. Check the Logic Pro preferences and the I/O buffer size.

3. Is the problem with the project?

   Import parts of the project into a new project. Gradually add more parts of the project.

4. Is the problem with a project component?

   Test your third-party effects and software instrument plug-ins.

I almost always find a solution by searching in this order. If I don’t, I then search online and visit the Apple discussion forums. Set a time limit for troubleshooting before you ask for help online. Then set a time limit for your online search before you call Apple or visit a local Apple store.

Save and Back Up Frequently

In Chapter 19, I plead with you to back up your work. One of the greatest productivity tips of all time is don’t lose your data. Digital storage is getting cheaper and cheaper, and you can find many free storage services online. Back up your data.

I’ve had hard drives fail. I’ve dropped hard drives. I’ve deleted things by mistake. But I don’t lose time. I have onsite and offsite backups plus I sync my core projects. I call this process abundance by redundancy. Backing up doesn’t take much time to set up and is easy to automate. Search for cloud storage and backup or something similar and you’ll be presented with competitive offers.

I don’t like to brag about my backup system, but I do think it is great. I can vouch for its effectiveness, and I’ve most certainly needed it.

Don’t Lose Sight of the Music

Sometimes you have to make things more complicated before you can make them simple. When you have a song that you’re going to record, you have to break it into parts and rebuild it so you can share it. When you compose, you essentially break your ideas apart and rebuild them. Logic Pro is a tool to help you compose, record, mix, and produce your own music.

Songs are waiting to be written. Singers are waiting for you to record them. Bands are waiting for you to mix them. Listeners are waiting for you to produce music for them.