Logic Pro is getting some serious AI — and version optimization — for Mac and iPad

If you watched yesterday iPad-a-palooza event From Apple, you’ve probably seen the clip about the cool new features coming to the iPad version of Logic Pro, Apple’s professional audio recording software. But what the event didn’t make clear is that all the same features are coming to the Mac version of Logic Pro, and both the Mac and iPad versions will be newly numbered. After many years, the Mac version of Logic Pro will be upgraded from X (ten) to 11, while the latest iPad version will increase to 2.

Both versions will be released on May 13, and both are free upgrades for existing users. (Sort of – iPad users have to pay a subscription fee to access Logic Pro, but if you do pay, you’ll get the upgrade. This has led many people to speculate online that Apple will move the Mac version of Logic to a similar subscription model; thank goodness (This is not the case yet.)

Both versions will get an identical set of new features, which were briefly touched upon in Apple’s event video. But long thanks press release published by Apple after the event, along with its own updates Apple’s logic home pageNow we have a better idea of ​​what these features are, what systems they require, and how much Apple is contributing to AI. We also get some pictures.

Artificial intelligence is everywhere

One of Logic’s great features is the Drummer, a producing player who can play in many different styles, can follow recorded tracks, and can provide a lot of fills and other human variations. For a tool that comes free with your digital audio workstation, it’s a great product, and has received many quality-of-life improvements over the past decade, including production suites that let you go out and control each individual percussion element. But what we haven’t seen in 10 years is… new Generative session triggers, especially for bass and keys.

However, the wait is over, because Apple is adding a bass and keyboard player to Logic. Apple says the new Bass Player was “trained in collaboration with today’s best bass players, using advanced AI and sampling techniques.” Logic will also come with Studio Bass, a set of six new musical instruments.

Keyboard Player works similarly and gets a new Studio Piano plug-in that provides features common to paid virtual instruments (multiple mic positions, pedal and key noise control, sympathetic resonance, and release samples). Apple says Keyboard Player can handle everything from “simple block leads to string voicing with extended harmony—with nearly endless variations.”

The secret to Drummer’s success is how easy it is to connect to a basic drum pattern. Identify a drummer who plays in your style, choose the kit you prefer, then choose a variation; Then, just place a dot on a large trackpad-style display that balances complexity with size, and you’ll have something usable and complete with fill. Bass and Keyboard players can’t work this way, of course, but Apple is bringing a feature found in some other DAWs to Logic in order to power both of its new session players: Chord Track.