Set the File / Project Settings / Smart Tempo / ‘Set Imported Audio Files To’ field to ‘On + Align Bars and Beats’ and import the song by dragging and dropping it onto an audio track. Now find an audio file of a song where the tempo drifts. You will see any time‑alignment adjustments are performed by automatically adding Flex Markers. Logic analyses the tempo of the audio file and automatically sets the Flex and Follow region parameter to ‘On’ so that the region is time‑stretched to conform to the project tempo.
For now, set this parameter to ‘On’ and then drag the same audio file into Logic onto the audio track. ‘On + Align Bars and Beats’ is the same as the previous entry but with the addition of Beat markers. ‘On + Align Bars’ is the same as ‘On’ but this time Logic uses the new Smart Tempo Bar markers rather than Flex markers to stretch the audio to the grid. In simplistic terms, setting the field to ‘On’ means any new audio file added to the project will have its tempo analysed and time‑stretching turned on, but will use Flex markers to do the stretching. The last three are subtle variations of the same thing. This has four options: ‘Off’, ‘On’, ‘On + Align Bars’ and ‘On + Align Bars and Beats’. To change this behaviour go to File / Project Settings / Smart Tempo and click on the field ‘Set Imported Audio Files To’. Logic will add an audio region to the audio track but will not yet stretch the tempo of the song to conform to the project tempo. In a new Logic project drag an audio file such as a song onto an audio track. Fortunately, with the addition of Smart Tempo into Logic 10.4 it can now detect and stretch pretty much any tempo to fit your project. Smart TempoĪdding folders of carefully organised samples to the Untagged Loop Tab is a great new feature but there are times when you may want to add individual audio files that are not perfectly truncated samples. According to Apple this enables an improved playback algorithm, so it’s worth ticking that box. The Project Settings / Audio / General tab also has a setting specifically for Apple Loops called High Quality. Alternatively, you can or Ctrl‑Click in the browser area and then go to Preview and Change it from At Project Tempo to At Original Tempo. If you want to turn off the tempo‑synchronised audition you can configure the audition settings from the Action Pop‑up Menu at the bottom of the browser. Helpfully, the file will automatically loop, and at the bottom of the browser there is a waveform display so that you can easily see the playhead position within the loop. Do note that if the sequencer is already playing, it will wait for the next bar before auditioning your loop. This makes auditioning third‑party loops a breeze. By default you can now click on one of the analysed samples to audition it at your chosen project tempo. Once you have added a folder, Logic will analyse the content for its tempo and number of beats and populate the corresponding columns accordingly. You will get a pop‑up explaining this but, luckily, most commercially available loop libraries will already conform to these restrictions. In order to preview the samples in time, the loops must start on the downbeat of a bar and be at a constant tempo. To do this, simply drag a folder of samples onto the Loop Browser or, alternatively, from the Browser’s All Files tab, Ctrl‑Click on a folder of samples and choose the option ‘Add to Untagged Loops’ (see Screen 1). To reveal the Untagged Loops Tab you need to add your sample content to it first. Navigate to the Apple Loops tab located within the Loop Browser. To do this you will need to use the Untagged Loops option within the Loop Browser, however it is a little hidden. You can now preview loops from a third‑party library at your chosen project tempo.
The Logic 10.4 update has some great new features to help preview sample content.
We then look at how to configure your settings for importing audio so tempo and beat markers are detected, allowing it to be time‑stretched to the project tempo. In this month’s Logic workshop we look at how to add your third‑party sample libraries and loops to Logic’s Loop Browser so that they can be previewed and imported at the project tempo. Logic’s new Smart Tempo features can be useful when using third‑party loops in your productions.Ī significant requirement for a contemporary music production environment is that it should make it easy to audition and collage audio content at a tempo chosen by the composer. Screen 1: Once you have dragged a folder of samples onto the Loop Browser the Untagged Loops Tab will appear.