Great teaching Jono. Just got my first synth, Take 5 and have been struggling with this for two days. This is the best presentation of this subject that I have found. Now to start with episode 1 of your series and work on my logic skills.
As always, clarity and learning in the right order. I so much appreciate your excellent pedagogy. I’m hoping you’ll also cover using external effects units such as a reverb.
Just come across your videos and you've got yourself a new subscriber. This was clearly explained and I now have full confidence I can manage this in my instance of Logic when I need to. I've now just got to watch the other 120 or so videos you've put out. Cheers mate!
I am a bit behind with watching your videos, Jono, sorry for that. I was very busy producing my new album which is ready at last! As always this is a very useful video in which you give a very clear demonstration of how to work with external synths in Logic Pro X! I really appreciate your excellent videos and I promote them wherever I can. Thank you very much!
Thank you, Mr. Buchanan, this is exactly the topic that helps me a lot as I have 2 external keyboard modules (Korg TR-Rack and Yamaha Motif ES-Rack) that I sometimes use. I managed that already some years ago, but have forgotten everything again. Afte4 watching this video I think I’ll be able to use them and save the sounds (some very good ones) in the DAW by recording the Midi-Track into an Audiotrack. Thanks so much . 👏🏻🙏🏻👍🏻. By the way, this is a super sound from this Synth.
I would like to add that if you have few hardware synths that you have connected. You can save a preset and or channel strip with the "external instrument" and or the channels changes to recall each synth with ease. Saving the channel strip will allow for say an EQ and or comp that you may always have on each synth. The preset will just save the synth and MIDI channel within the the "external instrument"
Freeze track is also a good quick way to render the External MIDI Synth as audio, especially if you are not planing to manipulate the rendered audio. Simplifies the track count.
Ecellent! Again. I’ve been battling with that midi-malarkey for a while now with a similar setup, only my ext. synth is a desktop module so I have a 2nd midi controller to play the Cobalt. I’d love if you went deeper in possible future episodes to dig deeper in midi CCs and all these baffling settings in Logic. Thanks again for your work _/\_
Thank you Jono! This has made my day!!! I am so happy I can now connect my Yamaha reface CP piano to Logic and record an audio file and midi file. I am wondering if you have already made a video which mentions how to connect a midi controller like for exemple, the Arturia Keylab Essential 49 to a synthesiser like in this context to extend the key range of a synth that has a short keyboard. My reface has inputs for audio L-R, a USB port and a Midi in-out, cable. I would really like to understand what can be done with these ports and input/output to better maximize the potential of the external instruments I have. Connecting pedals and effects to external instruments is also on my list of things to know better... And this always in the Logic Pro ecosystem. Again you are my best tutor on RUclips!
Hi Daniel. I'm glad the video was helpful. I will certainly make more videos around connecting together various pieces of technology but, broadly... Connectivity falls into two categories - data, for carrying control messages from one device to another, and audio, to allow for the flow of sound signals. These days, lots of MIDI keyboards and keyboard controllers have a USB port to send MIDI messages from a controller keyboard to a computer (for example) but you can almost think about the USB port and the MIDI ports doing the same job in this example. As computers don't have MIDI ports, USB-over-MIDI is extremely convenient, as it saves having to buy a USB-MIDI interface. However, if you want to connect several keyboards to your computer, you'll soon run out of USB ports, in which case you could either use a USB hub, or you might decide to obtain a MIDI interface - a dedicated device for MIDI connectivity. MIDI ports come in 3 types - In, Out and Thru. MIDI Out sends messages (example: controller keyboard to DAW), MIDI In receives messages (example: DAW to external hardware synthesiser) and MIDI Thru allows messages to pass 'through' one device as they head to another. In the good old days when dinosaurs walked the earth (!), some hardware synths only offered, for example, 4 or 6 active MIDI channels at a time. So if you had two of these and used MIDI Thru, you could send messages from a hardware sequencer, 'Thru' the first MIDI hardware module (set up for channels, 1-6, for example), to the second (set up for channels 7-12, for example). Think of MIDI Thru as a 'passing on' of MIDI information to somewhere else. Computers don't usually have Audio inputs either. So if you want to send audio signals from a synth to your computer, you'll need an Audio interface as I've explained in this video. Again, your audio interface is likely to need a USB port to connect to your computer (or Thunderbolt in some cases), whilst the Audio outputs from your synth will need connecting to its inputs. That way, you can make audio recordings from any hardware you have which 'makes a noise'. Dedicated controller keyboards, of course, often don't have internal sounds. I will certainly make videos about these topics but I hope that helps.
@@jonobuchananmusic Thanbk you for this very detailed explanation of midi. I do have an interface (Apogee Quartet) and I have connected my external instrument (Yamaha Reface CP) into input 1-2 and I the Reface USB into my Mac, so this is understood. What I would like to do now, is to use my Arturia midi controller to control the Reface so I can have a bigger keyboard in this case 88 keys as opposed to 32 small ones on the reface. I am already connecting the Reface via USB and I was just wondering how I can connect the Arturia to the reface. Or do I just use a USB cable from the Arturia to the computer and that's it!
best explanation on the internet that makes understand the use cases to newbe. Please let us know as hardware analog are awesome but have limitations if we can combine the sound IN REAL TIME (playing the synth) of another digital synth in logic and the analogic synth(for ex minilogue xd) via a trackstack so that we can improvise new sonorities
Thanks for the kind words. Absolutely, you can do this. Create your External Instrument track as explored in this episode, then create one or more Software Instrument tracks using plug-in synths. Then select all of those Tracks and create a Track Stack. If you then click on that Track Stack in the Main Page and play some notes, all of those Tracks will trigger together, creating a monster synth! You can also do this using the MIDI In routing capabilities in Logic 11. I've made a couple of videos about that too. Part 1 is here: ruclips.net/video/cNeTUR3IFH8/видео.html and Part 2 is here: ruclips.net/video/4T1eYxI15qA/видео.html
Thank you for your wonderful tutorial recording from external midi to audio is something I’ve been doing as of late and it would appear I’ve been using the same method as yourself. I watched another tutorial sometime ago, and it suggested bounce track, I found, when I went to play it back there was no sound so therefore, I will stick with your method.
Thanks so much. Logic 11 has introduced a Bounce-In-Place option for capturing audio from External Synths, so this is a topic I'll look at again. But the method explored in this video is - and will always be! - fail safe. Glad it was helpful.
Always a joy to have it explained.... Great one Jono !!! I have an old Korg Trinity that I use through a Scarlett 4i4 using a usb uno midi interface.... No sound allocation or does it find the Korg... Via Midi in & out from the Trinity...
Hello, Jono! I love the way you transmit information 😊 I came looking for an answer but I couldn’t find it. Do you actually have a video explaining how to record synths like the micro freak or a guitar using the line input of the audio interface? Been doing it for months but these past weeks it’s giving me troubles. The signal is flat and I hear nothing even though I have checked everything. I even bought a Scarlett 18i8 thinking my audio interface was broken… Anyways, lovely video. Subscribing now
Sorry to hear you're having that trouble. It's near-to-impossible to diagnose situations like this from a distance, particularly if it was working before but isn't now. I don't have that specific video but it's certainly possible that I'll make a series of videos to cover audio recording at some stage in the future.
Great video Jono. I have the same set-up as you, a Hydrasynth Explorer and Logic, only the Explorer does not appear as an external instrument in Logic. I have connected the audio and midi the same as you in the video. The Hydrasynth does appear in Logic settings under Midi Inputs. Any ideas what to do when Logic not recognizing USB external synths?
Sorry to hear you're having that issue, Jim. Two thoughts come to mind. Firstly are you running Logic with the Advanced Features switched on? Go to Logic Pro > Settings > Advanced, and make sure that option is ticked on. Secondly, have you tried hot-swapping in the keyboard (pulling out the USB cable and putting it back in), whilst Logic is running? Does that make it appear as an External Instrument? Otherwise, I'm wondering if there's a Privacy preference set outside Logic which is preventing full integration of the Hydrasynth. Try those things and let me know. I'll do some more digging this end too - I'm sure we can get it fixed.
Another very useful and interesting video. I have lots of virtual instruments on my iPad and I know that there is something called IDAM that should help get midi and audio from iPad to Mac and into Logic. I have seen a few videos about that but not where Logic is being used and they were not particularly clear explanations. Your explanations are usually very clear and well explained. Do you have any plans to look at setting up IDAM for recording instruments on an iPad or iPhone into a Logic Pro session?
Thanks so much, as always. Yes, Logic on the iPad is coming up as a more regular source of questions, so it’s absolutely time for me to pay it a little more attention! I’ll happily add your request to the list and I’ll hope to get you some answers. Leave it with me.
Thanks Jono, that was helpful. The issue i am having is that i have an external synth (Behringer Pro 1) set up exactly the same way, being triggered by a midi keyboard (which is hooked up via USB direct to the computer too). When i turn the fader down on the External Instrument track, it won't turn the sound down to the point of mute - i have to hit the mute key, and it almost sounds like its overloading with the fader up. It makes it hard to mix with other tracks. I could bounce it to audio (as per this video) but i was wondering if there is something i am missing?
Hi Tim. Sorry to hear you're having that problem. I don't know the Pro 1 well enough to be able to advise but it sounds like a couple of things might be happening. Sometimes if you have an Audio track set up in anticipation of the External Instrument track being recorded as Audio, you'll hear the monitor input from within the External Instrument as well as it being monitored through the Audio track, which means you'll hear it twice (and that will certainly sound like overload). A good way to test this is to do an audio recording of the Pro 1. If the recorded level is significantly lower than the 'monitor' version, it may well be that you're hearing it twice. Lastly, does adjusting the output level on the front of the Pro 1 to compensate fix the problem? Sorry I can't be of more direct help.
Is there a way to add multiple instances of external midi running from the same piece of hardware? Without printing to audio for each new track? Kind of like a multi-out in omnisphere? I'd like to use my new Yamaha MX61 as a sort of workstation to compose.
Great question. Yes, this is absolutely possible. The External MIDI plug-in contains the option to select a MIDI channel, so if you set up multiple Software Instrument tracks, instantiated the External Instrument plug-in on each one, setting the desired MIDI channel for each new channel sequentially, you'd just need to set up the MX61 with each sound you wanted on the corresponding MIDI Channel. That should do it!
great explanation, but i'm stuck with a problem : my hardware synth records and gives audio when i play, but when i play back the track, there's no sound.. am i missing something?
Hi. Sorry to hear you're having this problem. Hm, slightly that's tricky to diagnose from a distance. Are you seeing an audio waveform on the Audio track you're recording to in Logic?
Dear Jono, do I need an additional audio interface, if I connect my Yamaha PSR sx900 to Logic Pro? Or would the USB midi cable be enough to transmit midi "voice" back to Yamaha? Thank you very much in advance
Hi. A USB cable will carry MIDI data in both directions. So via your keyboard, you’ll be able to play Logic’s range of instrument plug-ins and via External Instrument, you’ll be able to route MIDI back to your Yamaha to trigger its sounds. The issue arises when you want to ‘hear’ both at once. If you plug headphones/speakers into your computer, you’ll hear Logic’s instruments. If you plug headphones/speakers into your Yamaha keyboard, you’ll hear its sounds, but not Logic’s. So unless your Yamaha can act as an audio interface, yes, you might want to consider buying an audio interface. I hope that helps!
Hi Gustavo. Sorry to hear you're having this problem. A few questions from me... Which synth are you using? Is it connected via USB? When you play notes on the keyboard, does the MIDI receive light show up in the Transport bar in Logic? Does your synth need a driver to run (which you will be able to download from the manufacturer's website)? Do you have Advanced Settings switched on (Logic Pro > Settings > Advanced > Enable Complete Features)? Let me know and let's try and get you sorted.
@jonobuchananmusic hello mate, thank you for the help. I used to be able to use many synths and e drums in the past. Now ive been trying to use roland td27 via usb and i downloaded the driver... I forgot to mention that my logic pro x version is an old one and if im not mistaken i got a msg from logic about it stopping to be update months ago, my IOS is monterrey 12. I got all tools enabled
This is something I'll need to revisit once I get Logic lol. Gr8 vid! I assume, if you then loaded up the project and it contained all the elements thus far and your synth wasn't turned on - you'd get a warning from Logic? Thanks!!
Thanks for your question. The External Instrument plug-in will still open but, yes, you won't hear any of the notes from your External synth if it isn't switched on. But the track will remain active - so if you switch on your synth, you'll be back in business!
@@jonobuchananmusic Thanks for the clarification, and at least once you record the audio - that part of the process is committed to a track. Cheers Jono.
Hi Paul. Bounce In Place is an offline process which looks to render MIDI to Audio quickly. There’s no way to do that with External Audio as the source audio signal doesn’t reside within Logic. So it’s possible Bounce In Place will let you record External MIDI (I’ve actually never tried) but it would be no faster as the audio would need to be recorded in real-time. I hope that makes sense.
Hi Jono, thanks for the great video but the problem I always had with Logic is that when I record audio from external synths or drum machines the recording is a little off beat...and the start of audio is truncated because anticipated. Usually I record from half measure before and then adjust on grid. Any tip? Thanks
Hi Matt. That’s a latency issue. As processing needs build up as more effects are added to a project (particularly lookahead FX like the Adaptive Limiter), Logic will ‘take a moment’ to ensure it has enough power to playback your audio. That approach works well until it butts up against real-time processes… like recording. The best way round this is to engage Low Latency Mode before making a recording. To do this, Control-click anywhere ‘grey’ around the Transport bar and choose the option to configure. Check the box for Low Latency Mode, which will be added as a button to your options at the top. Press this On before making a recording and turn it Off again when you’re finished. Let me know if that helps. Thanks!
Hi Tom. If the synth's USB port is for carrying MIDI (rather than audio), it might be a case of installing a driver on your computer from the manufacturer's website. If the USB port is for audio interfacing only, you'll need to use the 'regular' MIDI connectors on the back for MIDI data transfer. This in turn means that you'll need a simple (and inexpensive) MIDI Interface for your computer. Connect the synth's MIDI ports to the interface and connect the interface to your computer. Then, using the I/O plug-in, select whichever port number on the MIDI Interface you've connected the synth to and you should be good to go! I hope that helps.
I hope this works. I have been trying to get this working for a better part of a day. Another video says to send the external midi down a buss and bring it back in an audio track for recording. When I record that way I get an empty track. Another video says the do a real time bounce...again empty track. From your video I think it may be that I don't have an audio interface yet. I was thinking maybe that's the problem. My synth connects, and I can create the external midi track so printing is the issue right now. I can also use my Fantom as a DAW control. Keyboard seems fine. Right now I monitor through the Fantom headphone jack. I think maybe that connection is giving me a false sense of being full connected to Logic.
That’s absolutely right. You’ll need an audio interface to record the sounds from the synth into Logic. There are two types of ‘message’ required to record sounds from External synths. The first part, MIDI, is letting you send Control messages to/from your synth. But to record its sounds, you’ll need an audio interface, with the outputs from your synth plugged into the interfaces inputs.
Hi Jono, great video! What's the best way to record a workstation synth, for example a JV1080 in Performance Mode? I always end up stacking all the MIDI on the same audio inputs and outputs, which quickly becomes unmanageable as all the repeated signals just become too loud.
Hi. Thanks for your question. The answer, ultimately, depends on what you want to do. If you’ve made a track in the JV1080, you love the mix you’ve created internally and you want to use Logic’s Mastering capabilities, for example, you can simply record the main stereo output of the JV1080 (in the same way I have in this episode) and capture every part as a mixed stereo file in one pass. But if you want full flexibility over each part, with the capacity for independent processing of each JV1080 ‘voice’, you’ll need to record them into Logic separately, one after another. You can still use the Stereo Output for each part. Just solo each one in turn. I hope that answers your question.
Great video as always. I've a question however. Could you use Logic to sample the Hydrasynth and create a sample instrument of it to use if away from the external device?
@@jonobuchananmusic Can I ask, are you using an iMac? I'm thinking of purchasing one for my home studio and was wondering what level of spec you would recommend for moderately demanding home music production? Could I consider a 2015 model running Logic? Thank you.
You sure can! You're now the second person with clairvoyance who has anticipated the subject of next week's episode! But it's also worth saying that, frequently, printing a whole pass of an external synth, as we have in this week's episode, is quicker and more useful than 'deeply' sampling an instrument. Understanding both techniques/approaches is certainly worthwhile.
@@jonobuchananmusic No arguments there. Plus it has the side benefit that you stop tinkering as much as when things are still in midi. Rarely worth the additional time.
Hi Michael. This channel is primarily devoted to encouraging people to learn and engage with their DAW rather than stay away from it, with each episode unlocking a specific technique to be applied musically and creatively. I kind of feel that if this technique is quite simple and over-complicated at the same time, it's hopefully going to be helpful to plenty of people. ; )
Ok, that's what happens with an external instrument- the midi track boosts the instrument I'm recording in parallel through my audio interface. But what about when I want an audio track from a virtual instrument i.e. a plug-in?
Morning! The easiest way to turn a virtual instrument into Audio is to use Bounce in Place. Select the MIDI region(s) you want to convert to audio and then Control-click. From the 'Bounce and Join' menu, select 'Bounce In Place'. There are a few options here. You can decide whether to include any audio effects you're using, and/or whether you want to fold Automation down into the resulting Audio File too, or you can leave those boxes unchecked, in which case Logic will simply copy the effects routings and Automation data across to the new Audio Track. Press 'Bounce' and you'll have the Audio equivalent of your MIDI track. If you select the option to 'Mute' the original MIDI, you can always go back to it if you need to.
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Great teaching Jono. Just got my first synth, Take 5 and have been struggling with this for two days. This is the best presentation of this subject that I have found. Now to start with episode 1 of your series and work on my logic skills.
Thanks so much and welcome! There are new episodes here every Wednesday and a new Short every Saturday.
Wow, that must be the best explanation I have seen on RUclips... Thank you so much.😊
Thanks so much, very kind words!
As always, clarity and learning in the right order. I so much appreciate your excellent pedagogy. I’m hoping you’ll also cover using external effects units such as a reverb.
Thanks Gary. Absolutely, external processing via outboard effects will certainly be added to the list.
I just found your channel today, I truly appreciate the clarity of how you explain things, thank you!
Welcome! Thanks so much for the kind words. New episodes on this channel every Wednesday and a new Short every Saturday.
Best explanation of External Midi for Logic on the internet, brilliant thank you
That's so kind, thanks very much.
I’ve been trying to figure this all out for weeks! Wish I’d come across your video first of all - thank you! Have now subscribed too!
Thanks so much, delighted to have you here with us!
Just come across your videos and you've got yourself a new subscriber. This was clearly explained and I now have full confidence I can manage this in my instance of Logic when I need to. I've now just got to watch the other 120 or so videos you've put out. Cheers mate!
Great to have you with us! Glad this video was helpful and, absolutely, have fun catching up. 🙂
You are an excellent teacher! This was so helpful
Thanks George, glad to hear it was helpful.
Love your tutorials john.. ur one of the best out there❤️❤️❤️… learning a lot from you
Everyone’s allowed to call me John once. After that, it’s Jono… 😉 All jokes aside, huge thanks for the kind words. They’re greatly appreciated.
I am a bit behind with watching your videos, Jono, sorry for that. I was very busy producing my new album which is ready at last!
As always this is a very useful video in which you give a very clear demonstration of how to work with external synths in Logic Pro X!
I really appreciate your excellent videos and I promote them wherever I can. Thank you very much!
No problem at all, BF. Delighted to hear it's been a productive time and huge thanks for your support as always. Hugely appreciated.
Thank you, Mr. Buchanan, this is exactly the topic that helps me a lot as I have 2 external keyboard modules (Korg TR-Rack and Yamaha Motif ES-Rack) that I sometimes use. I managed that already some years ago, but have forgotten everything again. Afte4 watching this video I think I’ll be able to use them and save the sounds (some very good ones) in the DAW by recording the Midi-Track into an Audiotrack. Thanks so much . 👏🏻🙏🏻👍🏻. By the way, this is a super sound from this Synth.
Thanks so much - I’m delighted to hear it was helpful. And I’m glad you like that synth sound… stay tuned for more on that.
@@jonobuchananmusic of course, thanks!
Well done. Thanks for the attention to details, just what was needed in my opinion.
You're welcome!
Excellent explanation. I had been working on figuring out a workflow for external synths.
Great, so glad to hear it was helpful.
I would like to add that if you have few hardware synths that you have connected.
You can save a preset and or channel strip with the "external instrument" and or the channels changes to recall each synth with ease.
Saving the channel strip will allow for say an EQ and or comp that you may always have on each synth.
The preset will just save the synth and MIDI channel within the the "external instrument"
Absolutely, that works a treat. Thanks!
Super useful thanks … enjoy your clear, easy to follow, explanations
Thanks so much. Glad it was helpful.
Freeze track is also a good quick way to render the External MIDI Synth as audio, especially if you are not planing to manipulate the rendered audio. Simplifies the track count.
That’s a great tip, thanks!
Great work, Jono!
Thanks as always, Chris. Hope all's good with you.
Ecellent! Again. I’ve been battling with that midi-malarkey for a while now with a similar setup, only my ext. synth is a desktop module so I have a 2nd midi controller to play the Cobalt. I’d love if you went deeper in possible future episodes to dig deeper in midi CCs and all these baffling settings in Logic. Thanks again for your work _/\_
Thanks as always, Didier. Happy to have a wider look at MIDI Control and its assorted possibilities. Added to the list!
Thank you Jono! This has made my day!!! I am so happy I can now connect my Yamaha reface CP piano to Logic and record an audio file and midi file. I am wondering if you have already made a video which mentions how to connect a midi controller like for exemple, the Arturia Keylab Essential 49 to a synthesiser like in this context to extend the key range of a synth that has a short keyboard. My reface has inputs for audio L-R, a USB port and a Midi in-out, cable. I would really like to understand what can be done with these ports and input/output to better maximize the potential of the external instruments I have. Connecting pedals and effects to external instruments is also on my list of things to know better... And this always in the Logic Pro ecosystem. Again you are my best tutor on RUclips!
Hi Daniel. I'm glad the video was helpful. I will certainly make more videos around connecting together various pieces of technology but, broadly...
Connectivity falls into two categories - data, for carrying control messages from one device to another, and audio, to allow for the flow of sound signals. These days, lots of MIDI keyboards and keyboard controllers have a USB port to send MIDI messages from a controller keyboard to a computer (for example) but you can almost think about the USB port and the MIDI ports doing the same job in this example. As computers don't have MIDI ports, USB-over-MIDI is extremely convenient, as it saves having to buy a USB-MIDI interface. However, if you want to connect several keyboards to your computer, you'll soon run out of USB ports, in which case you could either use a USB hub, or you might decide to obtain a MIDI interface - a dedicated device for MIDI connectivity. MIDI ports come in 3 types - In, Out and Thru. MIDI Out sends messages (example: controller keyboard to DAW), MIDI In receives messages (example: DAW to external hardware synthesiser) and MIDI Thru allows messages to pass 'through' one device as they head to another. In the good old days when dinosaurs walked the earth (!), some hardware synths only offered, for example, 4 or 6 active MIDI channels at a time. So if you had two of these and used MIDI Thru, you could send messages from a hardware sequencer, 'Thru' the first MIDI hardware module (set up for channels, 1-6, for example), to the second (set up for channels 7-12, for example). Think of MIDI Thru as a 'passing on' of MIDI information to somewhere else.
Computers don't usually have Audio inputs either. So if you want to send audio signals from a synth to your computer, you'll need an Audio interface as I've explained in this video. Again, your audio interface is likely to need a USB port to connect to your computer (or Thunderbolt in some cases), whilst the Audio outputs from your synth will need connecting to its inputs. That way, you can make audio recordings from any hardware you have which 'makes a noise'. Dedicated controller keyboards, of course, often don't have internal sounds. I will certainly make videos about these topics but I hope that helps.
@@jonobuchananmusic Thanbk you for this very detailed explanation of midi. I do have an interface (Apogee Quartet) and I have connected my external instrument (Yamaha Reface CP) into input 1-2 and I the Reface USB into my Mac, so this is understood. What I would like to do now, is to use my Arturia midi controller to control the Reface so I can have a bigger keyboard in this case 88 keys as opposed to 32 small ones on the reface. I am already connecting the Reface via USB and I was just wondering how I can connect the Arturia to the reface. Or do I just use a USB cable from the Arturia to the computer and that's it!
This was so helpful! Thank you very much!
You are very welcome. 🙏
best explanation on the internet that makes understand the use cases to newbe. Please let us know as hardware analog are awesome but have limitations if we can combine the sound IN REAL TIME (playing the synth) of another digital synth in logic and the analogic synth(for ex minilogue xd) via a trackstack so that we can improvise new sonorities
Thanks for the kind words. Absolutely, you can do this. Create your External Instrument track as explored in this episode, then create one or more Software Instrument tracks using plug-in synths. Then select all of those Tracks and create a Track Stack. If you then click on that Track Stack in the Main Page and play some notes, all of those Tracks will trigger together, creating a monster synth! You can also do this using the MIDI In routing capabilities in Logic 11. I've made a couple of videos about that too. Part 1 is here: ruclips.net/video/cNeTUR3IFH8/видео.html and Part 2 is here: ruclips.net/video/4T1eYxI15qA/видео.html
@@jonobuchananmusic this is fantastic you made my weekend!
Thank you so much! This is a very useful video on a very useful topic.
You’re most welcome. Huge thanks.
Thank you for your wonderful tutorial recording from external midi to audio is something I’ve been doing as of late and it would appear I’ve been using the same method as yourself. I watched another tutorial sometime ago, and it suggested bounce track, I found, when I went to play it back there was no sound so therefore, I will stick with your method.
Thanks so much. Logic 11 has introduced a Bounce-In-Place option for capturing audio from External Synths, so this is a topic I'll look at again. But the method explored in this video is - and will always be! - fail safe. Glad it was helpful.
Always a joy to have it explained.... Great one Jono !!! I have an old Korg Trinity that I use through a Scarlett 4i4 using a usb uno midi interface.... No sound allocation or does it find the Korg... Via Midi in & out from the Trinity...
Great! I’ve got a soft spot for that synth too. Thanks!
Super helpful as always. Thank you
You’re most welcome!
Hello, Jono! I love the way you transmit information 😊
I came looking for an answer but I couldn’t find it. Do you actually have a video explaining how to record synths like the micro freak or a guitar using the line input of the audio interface? Been doing it for months but these past weeks it’s giving me troubles. The signal is flat and I hear nothing even though I have checked everything. I even bought a Scarlett 18i8 thinking my audio interface was broken…
Anyways, lovely video. Subscribing now
Sorry to hear you're having that trouble. It's near-to-impossible to diagnose situations like this from a distance, particularly if it was working before but isn't now. I don't have that specific video but it's certainly possible that I'll make a series of videos to cover audio recording at some stage in the future.
Great video Jono. I have the same set-up as you, a Hydrasynth Explorer and Logic, only the Explorer does not appear as an external instrument in Logic. I have connected the audio and midi the same as you in the video. The Hydrasynth does appear in Logic settings under Midi Inputs. Any ideas what to do when Logic not recognizing USB external synths?
Sorry to hear you're having that issue, Jim. Two thoughts come to mind. Firstly are you running Logic with the Advanced Features switched on? Go to Logic Pro > Settings > Advanced, and make sure that option is ticked on. Secondly, have you tried hot-swapping in the keyboard (pulling out the USB cable and putting it back in), whilst Logic is running? Does that make it appear as an External Instrument? Otherwise, I'm wondering if there's a Privacy preference set outside Logic which is preventing full integration of the Hydrasynth. Try those things and let me know. I'll do some more digging this end too - I'm sure we can get it fixed.
Another very useful and interesting video. I have lots of virtual instruments on my iPad and I know that there is something called IDAM that should help get midi and audio from iPad to Mac and into Logic. I have seen a few videos about that but not where Logic is being used and they were not particularly clear explanations. Your explanations are usually very clear and well explained. Do you have any plans to look at setting up IDAM for recording instruments on an iPad or iPhone into a Logic Pro session?
Thanks so much, as always. Yes, Logic on the iPad is coming up as a more regular source of questions, so it’s absolutely time for me to pay it a little more attention! I’ll happily add your request to the list and I’ll hope to get you some answers. Leave it with me.
Thanks Jono, that was helpful. The issue i am having is that i have an external synth (Behringer Pro 1) set up exactly the same way, being triggered by a midi keyboard (which is hooked up via USB direct to the computer too). When i turn the fader down on the External Instrument track, it won't turn the sound down to the point of mute - i have to hit the mute key, and it almost sounds like its overloading with the fader up. It makes it hard to mix with other tracks. I could bounce it to audio (as per this video) but i was wondering if there is something i am missing?
Hi Tim. Sorry to hear you're having that problem. I don't know the Pro 1 well enough to be able to advise but it sounds like a couple of things might be happening. Sometimes if you have an Audio track set up in anticipation of the External Instrument track being recorded as Audio, you'll hear the monitor input from within the External Instrument as well as it being monitored through the Audio track, which means you'll hear it twice (and that will certainly sound like overload). A good way to test this is to do an audio recording of the Pro 1. If the recorded level is significantly lower than the 'monitor' version, it may well be that you're hearing it twice. Lastly, does adjusting the output level on the front of the Pro 1 to compensate fix the problem? Sorry I can't be of more direct help.
Is there a way to add multiple instances of external midi running from the same piece of hardware? Without printing to audio for each new track? Kind of like a multi-out in omnisphere? I'd like to use my new Yamaha MX61 as a sort of workstation to compose.
Great question. Yes, this is absolutely possible. The External MIDI plug-in contains the option to select a MIDI channel, so if you set up multiple Software Instrument tracks, instantiated the External Instrument plug-in on each one, setting the desired MIDI channel for each new channel sequentially, you'd just need to set up the MX61 with each sound you wanted on the corresponding MIDI Channel. That should do it!
great explanation, but i'm stuck with a problem : my hardware synth records and gives audio when i play, but when i play back the track, there's no sound.. am i missing something?
Hi. Sorry to hear you're having this problem. Hm, slightly that's tricky to diagnose from a distance. Are you seeing an audio waveform on the Audio track you're recording to in Logic?
Dear Jono, do I need an additional audio interface, if I connect my Yamaha PSR sx900 to Logic Pro?
Or would the USB midi cable be enough to transmit midi "voice" back to Yamaha?
Thank you very much in advance
Hi. A USB cable will carry MIDI data in both directions. So via your keyboard, you’ll be able to play Logic’s range of instrument plug-ins and via External Instrument, you’ll be able to route MIDI back to your Yamaha to trigger its sounds. The issue arises when you want to ‘hear’ both at once. If you plug headphones/speakers into your computer, you’ll hear Logic’s instruments. If you plug headphones/speakers into your Yamaha keyboard, you’ll hear its sounds, but not Logic’s. So unless your Yamaha can act as an audio interface, yes, you might want to consider buying an audio interface. I hope that helps!
Excellent!! Thank you 👍
You’re welcome, Peter. 🙏
5:38 thats my problem, doesnt show any midi destination etc
Hi Gustavo. Sorry to hear you're having this problem. A few questions from me...
Which synth are you using? Is it connected via USB? When you play notes on the keyboard, does the MIDI receive light show up in the Transport bar in Logic? Does your synth need a driver to run (which you will be able to download from the manufacturer's website)? Do you have Advanced Settings switched on (Logic Pro > Settings > Advanced > Enable Complete Features)?
Let me know and let's try and get you sorted.
@jonobuchananmusic hello mate, thank you for the help. I used to be able to use many synths and e drums in the past. Now ive been trying to use roland td27 via usb and i downloaded the driver... I forgot to mention that my logic pro x version is an old one and if im not mistaken i got a msg from logic about it stopping to be update months ago, my IOS is monterrey 12. I got all tools enabled
This is something I'll need to revisit once I get Logic lol. Gr8 vid! I assume, if you then loaded up the project and it contained all the elements thus far and your synth wasn't turned on - you'd get a warning from Logic? Thanks!!
Thanks for your question. The External Instrument plug-in will still open but, yes, you won't hear any of the notes from your External synth if it isn't switched on. But the track will remain active - so if you switch on your synth, you'll be back in business!
@@jonobuchananmusic Thanks for the clarification, and at least once you record the audio - that part of the process is committed to a track. Cheers Jono.
Jono….could you also bounce the external midi in place to get the audio version below it?
Hi Paul. Bounce In Place is an offline process which looks to render MIDI to Audio quickly. There’s no way to do that with External Audio as the source audio signal doesn’t reside within Logic. So it’s possible Bounce In Place will let you record External MIDI (I’ve actually never tried) but it would be no faster as the audio would need to be recorded in real-time. I hope that makes sense.
@@jonobuchananmusic Perfect sense thank you….I assumed there was a good reason you didn’t go that route!
Hi Jono, thanks for the great video but the problem I always had with Logic is that when I record audio from external synths or drum machines the recording is a little off beat...and the start of audio is truncated because anticipated. Usually I record from half measure before and then adjust on grid. Any tip? Thanks
Hi Matt. That’s a latency issue. As processing needs build up as more effects are added to a project (particularly lookahead FX like the Adaptive Limiter), Logic will ‘take a moment’ to ensure it has enough power to playback your audio. That approach works well until it butts up against real-time processes… like recording. The best way round this is to engage Low Latency Mode before making a recording. To do this, Control-click anywhere ‘grey’ around the Transport bar and choose the option to configure. Check the box for Low Latency Mode, which will be added as a button to your options at the top. Press this On before making a recording and turn it Off again when you’re finished. Let me know if that helps. Thanks!
@@jonobuchananmusic Cool...I'll try and tell you. Thx!
Hi jono! I have a Vermona mono lancet but it does not appear in MIDI destination. What can i do???
Hi Tom. If the synth's USB port is for carrying MIDI (rather than audio), it might be a case of installing a driver on your computer from the manufacturer's website. If the USB port is for audio interfacing only, you'll need to use the 'regular' MIDI connectors on the back for MIDI data transfer. This in turn means that you'll need a simple (and inexpensive) MIDI Interface for your computer. Connect the synth's MIDI ports to the interface and connect the interface to your computer. Then, using the I/O plug-in, select whichever port number on the MIDI Interface you've connected the synth to and you should be good to go! I hope that helps.
@@jonobuchananmusic Thank you so much for your help 🙏🏼🙏🏼
I hope this works. I have been trying to get this working for a better part of a day. Another video says to send the external midi down a buss and bring it back in an audio track for recording. When I record that way I get an empty track. Another video says the do a real time bounce...again empty track. From your video I think it may be that I don't have an audio interface yet. I was thinking maybe that's the problem. My synth connects, and I can create the external midi track so printing is the issue right now. I can also use my Fantom as a DAW control. Keyboard seems fine. Right now I monitor through the Fantom headphone jack. I think maybe that connection is giving me a false sense of being full connected to Logic.
That’s absolutely right. You’ll need an audio interface to record the sounds from the synth into Logic. There are two types of ‘message’ required to record sounds from External synths. The first part, MIDI, is letting you send Control messages to/from your synth. But to record its sounds, you’ll need an audio interface, with the outputs from your synth plugged into the interfaces inputs.
Hi Jono, great video! What's the best way to record a workstation synth, for example a JV1080 in Performance Mode? I always end up stacking all the MIDI on the same audio inputs and outputs, which quickly becomes unmanageable as all the repeated signals just become too loud.
Hi. Thanks for your question. The answer, ultimately, depends on what you want to do. If you’ve made a track in the JV1080, you love the mix you’ve created internally and you want to use Logic’s Mastering capabilities, for example, you can simply record the main stereo output of the JV1080 (in the same way I have in this episode) and capture every part as a mixed stereo file in one pass. But if you want full flexibility over each part, with the capacity for independent processing of each JV1080 ‘voice’, you’ll need to record them into Logic separately, one after another. You can still use the Stereo Output for each part. Just solo each one in turn. I hope that answers your question.
Can this be done using synthesises on an iPad thank you so much. If so, is the principal the same i.e. hooking it up?.
Hi, I've answered this for you on your other post. Thanks!
@@jonobuchananmusic ok thank you.
Great video as always. I've a question however. Could you use Logic to sample the Hydrasynth and create a sample instrument of it to use if away from the external device?
It’s almost as if… you’ve seen next week’s video. 😉 Stay tuned!
@@jonobuchananmusic Ha! Oh...! ;)
A very helpful video, thank you. May I ask what audio interface you use?
Thanks so much, Spencer. The interface used for this video is a Universal Audio Volt 276. For my main composing rig, I use a UA Apollo 8p.
@@jonobuchananmusic Thank you very much for this information, Jono.
@@jonobuchananmusic Can I ask, are you using an iMac? I'm thinking of purchasing one for my home studio and was wondering what level of spec you would recommend for moderately demanding home music production? Could I consider a 2015 model running Logic? Thank you.
Fantastic
🙏
You can create a sampler instrument directly from the hardware, using the "auto sampler" insert fx.
You sure can! You're now the second person with clairvoyance who has anticipated the subject of next week's episode! But it's also worth saying that, frequently, printing a whole pass of an external synth, as we have in this week's episode, is quicker and more useful than 'deeply' sampling an instrument. Understanding both techniques/approaches is certainly worthwhile.
@@jonobuchananmusic No arguments there. Plus it has the side benefit that you stop tinkering as much as when things are still in midi. Rarely worth the additional time.
Thank you
You’re welcome, Lee.
Do you ever hide or label what’s not being used - such as calling the synth 1 midi and synth 1 audio ?
You can absolutely do that if it helps you keep tabs on what’s what in your project. Good idea. 👍
🤍🤍🤍
Thanks!
You’re kind of making something that’s quite simple and over complicated for beginners really. That’s why musicians stay away from DAW .
Hi Michael. This channel is primarily devoted to encouraging people to learn and engage with their DAW rather than stay away from it, with each episode unlocking a specific technique to be applied musically and creatively. I kind of feel that if this technique is quite simple and over-complicated at the same time, it's hopefully going to be helpful to plenty of people. ; )
Ok, that's what happens with an external instrument- the midi track boosts the instrument I'm recording in parallel through my audio interface. But what about when I want an audio track from a virtual instrument i.e. a plug-in?
Morning! The easiest way to turn a virtual instrument into Audio is to use Bounce in Place. Select the MIDI region(s) you want to convert to audio and then Control-click. From the 'Bounce and Join' menu, select 'Bounce In Place'. There are a few options here. You can decide whether to include any audio effects you're using, and/or whether you want to fold Automation down into the resulting Audio File too, or you can leave those boxes unchecked, in which case Logic will simply copy the effects routings and Automation data across to the new Audio Track. Press 'Bounce' and you'll have the Audio equivalent of your MIDI track. If you select the option to 'Mute' the original MIDI, you can always go back to it if you need to.
@@jonobuchananmusic thanks ❤️