New In Logic Pro 8: Single-Window Design

I’m Joel Falconer, a musician and writer and of course, Mac user. I was recently signed on at MacApper to provide you with news, up-to-date information and practical tips and tutorials for musicians who use the Mac.

Late last year Apple released Logic Studio 8 and we’re all still getting to know it, from the upgrade of the audio workhorse Logic Pro, to the newest app, MainStage. What better way to start off this column than by discussing Logic Studio’s newest features?

In older versions of Logic, the dockable multi-window design annoyed me to no end. It was annoying enough when the Transport bar’s buttons froze and you had to open a new one, despite the other frozen bar remaining there unless you quit the application. It was worse when the new one popped up in a shape designed for some other screen size. What bugged me even more was when Logic’s pop up windows got lost in the corners of Expose, never to be seen again.

Actually, you could see them if you hit the Expose key. But like ghosts, you could never get them back on the screen.

Maybe there was some bug in my system, but it seemed to me that the multi-window design just wasn’t working out. So when Logic Pro 8 arrived, forget the improved multi-take recording; it was the new single window design that grabbed me.

And single window design really does mean single window design. I’ve been looking for a window to pop up. It’s hard, aside from the usual Audio Unit plugins.

The sample editor, piano roll, and score all sit in a tabbed interface below the Arrange window. Logic has acquired a media browser much like the iLife programs, and it pops out from the right hand side of the screen, with further tabs; you can access your channel strip settings, loops, virtual instruments, and a whole slew of other things.

One window. No problems. I’m really happy with this modification, and I think most other Logic users will agree. And there are no ghosts in Expose anymore, either.

Logic Pro 8 (currently at 8.0.1) is a part of Logic Studio by Apple, and retails for $499..