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The new Logic Pro for iPad 2 and Logic Pro for Mac 11, introduces some powerful new feature including Stem Splitter and new Virtual Musicians.
A lot of the more powerful new features are driven by AI as Apple starts positioning itself as the home of all things of that ilk ahead of next month’s WWDC. That means some very decent tools become available though with Stem Splitter at the top of the list. This lets users separate ‘nearly any’ mixed audio recording into four distinct parts: Drums, Bass, Vocals, and Other instruments, right on the device. With these tracks separated, the company says it’s easy to apply effects, add new parts, or change the mix.
Apple talks about using the feature to isolate and recover lost performances, but there are plenty of other uses as well. Presumably as a drummer I’d be able to dump (or at least mix down) the drum track then and export a song so I can play along with whatever I want rather than having to rely on buying them in. Danny Carey and Neil Peart here I come. All I need now is to grow a few more limbs…
Stem Splitter lets you separate out different instruments in a track
Elsewhere, users can dial in the perfect tone with the new ChromaGlow feature. This adds five different saturation styles to add ultrarealistic warmth, presence, and punch to any track. They can also choose from modern clean sounds, nostalgic vintage warmth, or more extreme styles that can be shaped and molded to taste.
And there’s been an expansion of the Session Players. Beforehand there was just Drummer, which Apple now claims as one of the world’s first generative musicians when it was released. A decade later a new virtual Bass Player and Keyboard Player join the line-up.
Bass Player was trained in collaboration with today’s best bass players using advanced AI and sampling technologies. Users can choose from eight different Bass Players and guide their performance with controls for complexity and intensity, while leveraging advanced parameters for slides, mutes, dead notes, and pickup hits. Bass Player can jam along with chord progressions, or users can choose from 100 Bass Player loops to draw new inspiration.
Using Chord Track, users can define and edit the chord progressions to a song, and the virtual Bass Player will follow along perfectly. Plus, with Studio Bass plug-in, users gain access to six new, meticulously recorded instruments, from acoustic to electric — all inspired by the sounds of today’s most popular bass tones and genres.
With Keyboard Player, users can choose from four different styles, again designed in cooperation with top studio musicians and made to accompany a wide variety of music genres. Keyboard Player can play everything from simple block chords to chord voicing with extended harmony — with what Apple says are nearly endless variations. Like Bass Player, Chord Track adds and edits the chord progression of the song, so Keyboard Player follows along.
Using Studio Piano plug-in, users can select additional sound-shaping options, with the ability to adjust three mic positions, pedal noise, key noise, release samples, and sympathetic resonance.
The pricing is similar to the new Final Cut Pro. Logic Pro for Mac 11 is available next week as a free update for existing users and for $199 for new users on the Mac App Store. Logic Pro for iPad 2 is available on May 13 as a free update for existing users, and available on the App Store for $4.99 per month or $49 per year, with a one-month free trial for new users.
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