Work with advanced tools and additional options

Work with advanced tools and additional options

Logic Pro X provides the power and flexibility of previous versions of Logic Pro, while allowing you to turn groups of features on or off to streamline your workflow. Advanced tools and additional options can be turned on or off in the Advanced preferences pane.

For experienced users who have upgraded from Logic Pro (8 or 9) or Logic Express (8 or 9), all advanced tools and additional options are turned on by default. When you open an existing project in Logic Pro X, any additional options used by the project are turned on automatically.

You turn on advanced tools by selecting Show Advanced Tools in the Advanced preferences pane. Turning on advanced tools (without turning on any of the specific additional options) lets you do the following:

User interface

  • Access the Event, Marker, Tempo, and Signature Lists.

  • Access the Project Audio Browser and All Files Browser.

  • Access the Step Editor (formerly Hyper Editor) to graphically edit MIDI events.

  • Customize the control bar and toolbar with additional buttons and controls.

  • Access the Marker, Signature, and Beat Mapping global tracks.

  • Customize key commands in the Key Commands window.

  • Access additional preferences and project settings.

  • Access additional track header controls in the Tracks area: On/Off switches, Hide and Protect buttons, track numbers, and color bars.

Editing

  • Use MIDI Draw (formerly Hyper Draw) to graphically edit MIDI notes and controller information.

  • Use step input recording to manually enter MIDI events rather than recording them in real time.

  • Export MIDI regions as standard MIDI files.

  • Use additional recording functionality: Quick Punch-In, advanced recording commands, automatic coloring of takes when recording).

  • Use drum replacement and doubling.

Mixing

  • Choose between different views in the Mixer.

  • Access additional channel strip controls: Gain Reduction meter, EQ display, Group slot, and Automation Mode button.

Score

  • View and edit multiple tracks.

  • Access additional score view options.

  • Add notes and symbols from the Part box.

  • Add lyrics and other text.

  • Customize staff styles and score sets.

  • Edit the score layout.

Projects

  • Open and work on multiple projects.

  • Manage different versions of projects called alternatives.

  • Revert to automatically saved versions of a project called backups.

  • Save assets either inside the project or in a project folder with subfolders for different asset types.

When Show Advanced Tools is selected, additional options providing further expert capabilities become available, and can be selected individually depending on the type of tasks you want to perform.

Additional options include:

  • Audio: Audio File Editor for destructive editing of audio files and advanced configuration options

  • Surround: Surround mixing and processing capabilities, including a collection of surround plug-ins

  • MIDI: Environment window that allows for MIDI signal flow control and real-time processing of MIDI data

  • Score: Additional features in the Score Editor, including the ability to assign staff styles to individual regions and customize the chord grid library

  • Control Surface: Create and edit control surface assignments

  • Advanced edit: Advanced editing capabilities including the Tempo Interpreter and the ability to create aliases

While you’re working, if you find that any advanced features you need are not available, open the Advanced preferences pane and select the Show Advanced Tools checkbox, then select any additional options to turn them on.

In Logic Pro Help, features that require Show Advanced Tools to be selected have this icon . Features that require Additional Options to be selected have this icon . For more information, see Advanced tools and additional options.