Learn Logic Pro: The Ultimate Free Beginners Course

Now let's actually open Logic Pro, and start to work within the DAW.

However, before we start making music we need to do some small housekeeping tasks within Logic Pro.

The latter two are optional, but if you have the storage space for the additional content and an external hard drive, I strongly recommend downloading it to make use of.

How to Turn on Advanced Settings in Logic Pro

This is not GarageBand. Take off the training wheels and learn Logic Pro with all of the features and capabilities the DAW has.

1. Open Logic Pro
2. In the top left of your screen go to Logic Pro > Settings > Advanced
3. Check the box labelled 'Enable Complete Features'

How to Download the Logic Pro Additional Content

Logic Pro comes with approximately 80GB of additional content for you the download for free. This includes loops, software instruments, samples, and more. These are really high quality sounds made by some of the world's top sound designers.

1. Open Logic Pro
2. In the top left of your screen go to Logic Pro > Sound Library > Download All Available Sounds

Make sure that you have a strong WiFi connection when you do this. I recommend leaving this overnight as it is a massive download.

How to Move Logic Pro Sound Library to External Hard Drive

When working with large files in programs that use a lot of CPU, the best practice is to use your computer to take the CPU load of the program you are using, and an external hard drive to store the files that you are using in the program.

This helps even out the CPU load. Rather than having your computer hold the files and run the program at the same time, you can distribute the CPU load it bears by using an external hard drive to store the files, giving your computer breathing room to run the program.

This is very common when working with creative programs for music production and video editing. If you have the means to get yourself and external hard drive, I strongly recommend you do so.

Here's how to move the Logic Pro Additional Content to your external drive:

1. Open Logic Pro
2. In the top left of your screen go to Logic Pro > Sound Library > Relocate Sound Library
3. Select your external hard drive and start the moving process

The amount of time this takes is dependent on the type of external hard drive you have. I recommend getting an SSD with at least 500GB of storage.

The first time you open Logic Pro it is overwhelming.

Without knowing the different sections and how a typical DAW works, I understand how getting started with music production is confusing simply by opening the program.

Below I am going to explain the windows and features inside Logic Pro. Knowing each of these and what they are used for is how you can create your own workflow and feel confident inside the program.

Arrangement Window

Build and arrange your tracks in this area to create full songs and productions.

Tracks/Track Inspector

Tracks are the broken pieces of a full arrangement, think of them as building blocks of songs. The reason we build songs using tracks is we are able to effect the sounds differently and change parameters of very specific parts of the song without affecting the other parts.

This is what makes professionally produced songs sound so good! Every track is tailored to sound exactly the way it needs to in order to fit with the other tracks.

The Track Inspector is where we can add, remove, and change different parameters specific to the selected track.

How to create a new track/Types of tracks you can create

To create a new track, click the small 'plus' icon above the track list.

Types of Tracks You Can Create

Software Instrument

A track type that synthesizes sound using MIDI from inside the computer. The instrument that makes the sound comes from a program rather than live audio.

Audio

Used for recording anything with a microphone, direct line-in, or printing synthesized audio. Audio is printed sound from the original source and cannot be changed. You can alter it using audio distorting software but it's not the same as changing the sound source.

Printing your tracks to audio is a popular technique for mixing because it uses much less CPU than synthesizing the audio each time you play it.

Drummer

A rhythmic algorithm that can create drum tracks of different styles and genres based on different parameters set in your project. It is helpful for people that do not know how to play drums or do not have access to a live drummer.

External MIDI

Used to connect specific external hardware to your computer. I have never used this.

Guitar or Bass

A preset based track for direct line-in guitarists or bass players. I usually just use an audio track and add my own plugins to get the desired sound I want. But I can see this being useful if you are not very familiar with designing your own sound using audio FX.

Instrument Library

A browser for software instruments and user saved presets.

File Browser

Easy access to files stored outside of Logic Pro on your computer.

Apple Loops

Loops and samples directly from Apple. This is where you will find the bulk of the additional content that you downloaded in Section 2.

Apple Loops can be MIDI, Audio, and Drummer tracks. I have found countless professional, chart-topping songs inside of Apple Loops.

They're 100% royalty-free and they are what we are going to use to build our song in this course.

Live Loops

Apple's answer to Ableton Live, Live Loops is a newer feature in Logic Pro that is meant for playing songs live.

I have not spent much time trying to figure out Live Loops, but I can see how powerful it would be once you understand how to use it, especially with the Apple supported integration of Novation Launchpad.

Toolbar

Instead of relying on the toolbar and pressing icons to access specific windows and tools, I recommend you become familiar with the hot keys associated with what you use most.

I have a great video that shows you my most used hot keys and why I recommend you get comfortable using them. It helps you create a better, more refined workflow, and saves tons of time once you are used to using them.

Fun fact: That video awarded me YouTube's Creators on the Rise... twice.

But, if you would rather use the Toolbar to access what you need, here's how you can design yours the way you like:

1. Right-click the toolbar in Logic Pro > select 'Customize Control Bar and Display'
2. Check the boxes you want to appear on the toolbar
3. Click the button 'Save as Default'

Now is the time for us to start producing some music!

Everyone has a different way of starting their production process. A lot of it comes down to what skills you feel most confident with or how you think you can find inspiration the quickest, those are both great ways to get started producing a song from scratch.

For example, I grew up playing guitar and find it easiest to create a melody before anything else. Once I have created a melody that has sparked inspiration, the rest of the track comes easy.

Other people might find inspiration by browsing through loops or starting with drums to get a groove and creating their track around rhythm.

The best way to start a song is to find inspiration the fastest. Inspiration is the fire that keeps your creativity alive.

But what about if you have never made music before?

Don't worry! I have a process for you too.

If you're unsure of how to get started making a song, a great starting point is to decide on a Key and BPM.

Chances are, the reason why you want to produce music is that you enjoy listening to music. All you need to do is pick an artist that you like, find out the Key and BPM of one of their songs that you want to emulate, and then start your song from there.

It's that easy, and I'm going to walk you through it step-by-step.

So, what are the Key and BPM?

Key

A key in music, is a variety of notes or pitches that create the harmonic foundation. Or in simple terms, they sound good together.

The key of A major and the key of B major, have two separate sets of notes. Some of the notes are in both keys, they're just in different positions relative to each other, and some of the notes are only in either A major or B major.

If one of your favourite songs that you want to produce music based off of, is in the Key of A major, then starting your song in A major is a good bet because you're using the same set of notes.

In western music (likely 99% of the music you listen to) has 12 keys.

To set the key of your song, you can use the the LCD clock in the centre of the toolbar at the top of your screen in Logic Pro. This will set the key of your project for dragging in Apple Loops because they're algorithmically analyzed, but it won't dictate the key of the notes you place inside MIDI or and audio region that you record.

BPM (Beats Per Minute)

BPM or beats per minute is as the name suggests, how many beats will fit into a 1 minute timeframe.

The speed of your song is called 'tempo'.

And if the tempo is 60BPM (or 60 beats per minute), then you would have 1 beat every second.

If the tempo is 120BPM, then you would have 1 beat every 0.5 seconds.

If you want to create a slow, melodic, lullaby, a tempo of 180BPM would be too fast to capture the feel of the long, slow, melodic notes that are required for that feeling.

If you want to create a Future Bass, EDM, festival banger, a tempo of 55BPM would be too slow to have the trap rhythmic structure, quick synthesized LFOs, and supersaws.

The BPM is vital in deciding the genre of your track and it's also a great guide for how to start your drums or melody and find that initial inspiration.

To set or adjust the BPM of your track, use the LCD clock in the centre of the toolbar at the top of your screen in Logic Pro.

How to find the key and BPM of popular songs

Now that we know what the Key and BPM are and how they affect the outcome of our song, we're going to find a song that we like and use that key and BPM as a starting point for our song.

The website that we're going to use to find the Key and BPM is called Tunebat.com.

The song that I'm going to use as a starting point for my production is 'Summer' by Calvin Harris.

Here's how to use Tunebat to find the Key and BPM of your song:

1. Go to Tunebat.com
2. In the search bar, type in the artist and song you want to sound like
3. Reference the Key and BPM from the results and apply them to your project

Here's the results for 'Summer' by Calvin Harris.

• Key: E minor
• BPM: 128

Use Apple Loops to start your idea

We briefly discussed Apple Loops  in Section 3 and how they can be used in your projects 100% royalty-free. These are what we're going to use to build our track.

Armed with the Key and BPM information we gathered from Tunebat, we can sift through the massive Apple Loops collection to find a loop we want to start with.

1. Start a new project in Logic Pro
2. Change the BPM in the LCD clock to the BPM of the song you searched for on Tunebat
3. Change the Key in the LCD clock to the Key of the song you searched for on Tunebat
4. Open Apple Loops (default hotkey 'o' on your keyboard)
5. Play around with the filters to select the type of instrument you want to look for
6. Sort by BPM and search for loops that have a tempo similar to the one from Tunebat. It doesn't need to be exact, Apple Loops will play the loops back to match the project tempo.
7. Drag in the loops you like into the Arrangement Window to start building your track.

Things to Note

• Apple Loops are analyzed algorithmically and will play back in the key of your song or in the key of the loop. When in Apple Loops, click the 'gear' icon to choose your preference, this is why setting the Key of the project can be useful.
• Try lots of different combinations to see what fits together best. But I recommend going for 1 loop of each: lead, chords (find these under piano, synth, or pad), bass, and drums.

Arrangement is how you tell the story of your song.

A song would get pretty boring if it were the same 10 tracks played over as a loop for 30 seconds, never mind 3 minutes.

This is where arrangement plays a huge role in creating a story, taking your listener on a journey through your song.

As with most topics in this course, there is no one way to arrange a song, every producer has their own way of working and telling their story. If you gave 10 producers an 8-bar loop and asked them to arrange it into a 3 minute song, you would get 10 different stories being told back, or 10 different songs using the same 8-bar loop.

This is the beauty of arrangement. It is a skill that needs to be honed and refined over time just like any other part of music production. You can really notice the difference between someone who is an average musical storyteller and someone who is a master musical storyteller.

To work on our arrangement we're primarily going to be working in the arrangement window.

How I arrange my songs and beats

Because of my background in making hip-hop and trap beats, I typically start with a 4 or 8 bar loop, copy it across my arrangement window. Then by process of elimination, delete single regions of my song in order to build and release tension until I feel the story has been told.

This process might work for you, it might not work for you. Some people like to build their songs brick-by-brick, adding regions singularly across their track and building their song that way.

It doesn't matter. As long as the end result is a story that has a beginning, middle, and an end, creating and releasing tension throughout, then you've done your job.

Below are a few terms to describe different parts of your song and your arrangement. There is no correct way to make each of these parts, but if you listen to western music and want to make western music you will notice most songs tend to follow a similar structure.

Intro

The beginning of your song. This is the most versatile part of your song because the intro throughout different songs and genres can vary in many different ways.

Songs can have a long, dragged out intro, like 'Strobe' by Deadmau5.

Or they can have a quick drop right into the hook or chorus, think most popular trap beats or artists.

The only thing to keep in mind with the intro is that it needs to introduce and interest your listener.

What is the listener expecting?

What is the listener not expecting that would interest them?

Verse

The verse is where you really break down your song and let the individual tracks shine, subtly adding more of them back to build tension before the hook or chorus.

This is an opportunity to convey the message you want in your track. Maybe it's just a simple piano riff and vocals, maybe it's a catchy guitar melody, maybe it's just the vocals with some really powerful lyrics.

Think of the verse as the tension builder between choruses.

Chorus

The chorus is the part of your song that everyone sings back. Whether your listener know the lyrics (if there are any) or not, they very likely know the melody because it's usually the catchiest part of the song.

In the verse we built the tension of our song up, the chorus is where we release it. Giving the listener the sweet dopamine that they've been building up throughout the verse on a silver platter.

If you use my arrangement method, the chorus is usually the easiest part to make because you've already done the heavy lifting by producing the 4 or 8-bar loop. All you need to do is work your way back to that from the verse.

Bridge

After hearing a verse and a chorus and then a verse and another chorus, our listener will start to think we're getting a little predictable.

And they're right!

Our ears aren't stupid, they're quite intelligent, they're meant to know when something has been repeated and start to tune that out.

This is where the bridge works it's magic. The bridge serves as a sudden change, a radical difference from the verse and the chorus to signal to our listener's ears:

"Hey! We're still here and presenting you with new and interesting stuff to listen to!"

The bridge is very powerful, and when used properly it convinces our listener to stick around and give us one more listen of the chorus before finishing the song.

To achieve this radical change, bridges typically (but not always) have a different melodic structure than the rest of the song that is very noticeable. Different chords, different lyrics, etc.

Outro

The opposite of the intro, it's the end of the story and we're putting our song to bed.

Sometimes songs end abruptly right after the last chorus, sometimes they bring back the original melody from the intro to signal that the song is back where we started.

The goal with the outro is to finish the song and leave the listener satisfied, hopefully wanting to go back and start the song over.

We've done most of our production but we can't pat ourselves on the back just yet.

We need to apply some finishing touches to our song so we can play it back on our computer, share it with friends, or upload it to a streaming platform.

For that we need to do 2 things: Mastering, and bounce our track.

Mastering

Mastering is the last stage of your production where you finalize the details and bring the track to its finished form that can be shared with the world.

What we are about to do is not 'Mastering' per se.

Professional mastering is done by a mastering engineer with years of dedicated experience and ears trained specifically for the purpose of bringing songs to life in the mastering process.

But we're not professionals. We are simply trying to get started with music production, and enjoy the process of creating songs, and we might not have the budget to pay for professional mastering services at this time.

Luckily in the modern world, we can do this stage of 'Mastering' ourselves using software that comes stock with Logic Pro.

All of the plugins mentioned below are going to be applied to the Stereo-Out channel strip, which is the sum of all our tracks through one output. This means that any plugins or audio effects we apply to this channel strip will affect the whole track.

Linear Phase EQ

Linear Phase EQ is different than a Channel EQ which we used in the mixing stage.

The Linear Phase EQ is a more heavy-duty EQ because it preserves the phase of the audio signal whereas the Channel EQ does not, which can introduce audible artifacts into what we're EQing, in this case our whole track.

We don't want to introduce anything new to our track at this point, we have perfected it exactly as we want it to be heard, therefore the Linear Phase EQ is the best EQ to use for the mastering stage.

If you'd like to learn more about the Linear Phase EQ and how it differs from the Channel EQ you can visit the Linear Phase EQ Overview on Apple's website.

Because this is a free beginner's course on creating your first song in Logic Pro, we're going to use the presets provided to us inside the Linear Phase EQ.

Try out the presets from the dropdown menu and listen to what sounds best to you. Because I made a Calvin Harris style track, I'm going to use the 'Dance Music Type EQ' preset.

Choose the preset that sounds best to you, make adjustments if need be.

Compressor

We've talked about compression and how it affects audio signals, in the mixing section.

We're going to apply some very subtle compression to our track to smooth out any noticeable peaks and valleys that we couldn't fix in mixing.

At this stage it would be unlikely to apply heavy compression to your track that you might apply in mixing. The goal here is to slightly 'glue' everything together so the audio track sounds uniform throughout the whole song.

As with the Linear Phase EQ, we can use stock presets to give ourselves a starting point and then adjust the parameters to what sounds best. Pick a preset, play with the threshold and ratio to dial in the amount of compression that is applied to the overall track.

Limiter

The final plugin we will apply to our stereo-out is a Limiter.

A limiter works similar to a compressor, but rather than reducing the gain of the audio signal once it exceeds the threshold, it 'limits' the signal to the threshold and does not allow the audio signal to exceed the threshold level.

The purpose a limiter plays in the mastering process is to add gain to the track so that it sounds loud enough, but limit the audio signal to 0db so we don't introduce any unwanted distortion in our bounced track.

Add the limiter to your stereo-out, set the output level to 0 or -0.1 and use the gain knob to add gain until just before your track sounds distorted.

Bouncing your track

Bouncing your track is how you take your production from Logic Pro and turn it into a playable audio file.

Here's how to bounce your track:

1. Inside Logic Pro, from the menu bar File > Bounce > Project or Section.
2. Under 'Destination' you can select the filetype you want to bounce as. I do PCM which is .wav, a lossless audio filetype. Depending on the use of the song, you might export as a different filetype.
3. Make sure the start and end of your song match the start and end in the arrange window. Don't worry about the other parameters for now.
4. Click 'OK' and choose a destination folder for your bounced track.

Once your track is bounced, I recommend playing it from a few different audio sources to test how it sounds. Test it in the headphones or speakers that you use most, test it in your car speakers, test it from your phone speaker.

Listen to where it sounds best, listen to where it doesn't sound the way you intended, take notes and then try and re-mix it at a different time with fresh ears.

This is one of the best practices to improve your ears and understand how to properly mix a song to be played anywhere.

You might notice in a session with another producer that they EQ a track a certain way or change a parameter of something that doesn't sounds any different to you. This is likely because that producer or engineer knows how to craft the sound they want out of any speaker, even if it doesn't have an noticeable effect in the environment you're working in.

Congratulations on producing your very first song in Logic Pro.

If you've made it this far, be proud that you jumped in and took action starting your journey into the world of music production.

The core foundations we talked about in this course will serve you whether you want to pursue music production as a professional, or enjoy it as a hobby.

The most important thing to remember is to never be complacent. Always try to improve your skills, and if you get frustrated, know that it's part of the process of becoming a music producer.

Everyone has their own way of learning, below I've outlined some of the ways that I found to be most helpful.

Logic Pro Demo Projects

Logic Pro is the DAW of choice for countless professional producers that you certainly would recognize.

Apple has included a few projects from popular producers as Demo Projects for you to dissect and reference.

Here's how to access them:

1. When you open Logic Pro, select the tab 'Demo Projects'
2. At the time of writing this, there's 'MONTERO' by Lil Nas X, as well as 'Ocean Eyes' by Billie Eilish.

There were different Demo Projects in the past that have disappeared with updates Logic Pro. My suggestion is to make a separate saved copy of the Demo Projects so you can always reference them.

Resources to take you to the next level

See the Resources section of this website.

Skillshare

Excellent courses that include topics outside of music production too. Great for wanting to learn music production, music theory, audio engineering, and more.

I really enjoyed Jacob Collier's course on music fundamentals.

Get a  Skillshare one-month free trial on me!

Splice

The best online samples marketplace. You can find any genres of sample and they are consistently uploading high quality, artist sponsored sound packs.

Also, my favourite soft synth, Xfer Records Serum is available via their Rent-to-own program. It's the best way to purchase Serum.

Check out Splice.

Learn Logic Pro: Beginner to Beatmaker

If you enjoyed my style of teaching and want to learn more from me, my course Learn Logic Pro: Beginner to Beatmaker is a premium online course instructed by me.

It's for music producers that want to take their production skills to the next level from this course, specifically aimed at those interested in making beats.

I teach more in-depth topics such as how to make melodies from scratch (not using loops), how to use Logic Pro's Drum Machine Designer to make your own banging custom drum patterns, my favourite plugins and soft synths that I use the most frequently, and more intermediate mixing techniques.

Oer 200+ students have taken the course and left rave reviews.

Check out Learn Logic Pro: Beginner to Beatmaker for more info.