Apple unveils Logic Pro 11 and Logic Pro For iPad 2 – with AI front and centre
New Bass Player and Keyboard Player features offer accompaniment driven by artificial intelligence, while stem separation and a built-in saturation tool also make their debuts.
Credit: Apple
Apple has announced Logic Pro 11, the highly anticipated new version of its popular DAW software, as well as Logic Pro For iPad 2, and this time, artificial intelligence is the name of the game.
The new Logic Pro is loaded with new studio assistant features designed to “augment the music-making process” – while promising users retain “full creative control” – including Session Players, which expands Logic’s Drummer capabilities to include a Bass Player and Keyboard Player; new inbuilt stem separation features Stem Splitter; and ChromaGlow, which “instantly adds warmth to tracks”.
“Logic Pro gives creatives everything they need to write, produce, and mix a great song, and our latest features take that creativity to a whole new level,” says Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple’s senior director of Apps Worldwide Product Marketing. “Logic Pro’s new AI-backed updates, combined with the unparalleled performance of iPad, Mac, and M-series Apple silicon, provide creative pros with the best music creation experience in the industry.”
Session Players
Building upon Logic’s long-adored Drummer feature, Session Players expands the scope of the DAW’s built-in backing band to include both a Bass Player and Keyboard Player, offering an AI-driven accompaniment which “responds directly to feedback”.
As Apple explains, the AI-powered Bass Player was trained in collaboration with “today’s best bass players” – though it doesn’t specify who they were – using “advanced AI and sampling technologies”.
Users are able to choose between eight different AI Bass Players, and there are controls for both complexity and intensity, depending on the style of music you’re playing. There are also advanced parameters for slides, mutes, dead notes and pickup hits for more in-depth control.
Additionally, Bass Player can jam along with chord progressions, or using the workflow in reverse, users can choose from 100 Bass Player loops to draw inspiration. There are also six new bass software instruments, including both acoustic and electric models, “inspired by the sounds of today’s most popular bass tones and genres”.
Similarly, Keyboard Player is able to accompany chord progressions with both simple block chords and chords with extended harmony, and there’s also the option to adjust its sound via mic position, pedal noise, key noise, release samples and sympathetic resonance.
Stem Splitter
Perfect for producers and remixers, Stem Splitter brings stem separation to Logic Pro. With “lightning fast” operation driven by AI and M-series Apple Silicon, Stem Splitter separates a raw recording into four elements: Drums, Bass, Vocals and Other Instruments.
ChromaGlow
Most producers have a tool in their arsenal to add warmth to their tracks, and Apple now hopes they’ll switch to Logic’s built-in ChromaGlow tool.
Modelled on sounds produced by a blend of the world’s most revered studio hardware – and again, using both AI and Apple’s M-series silicon – users can choose from five different saturation styles to add “ultra-realistic warmth, presence and punch”.
Pricing and availability
Both Logic Pro For Mac 11 and Logic Pro For iPad 2 arrive 13 May. The former is available as a free update for existing Logic Pro users – or £199.99 for new users via the Mac App Store – while the latter is also free for existing users, but priced at £4.99 per month or £49 per year for new users.
For more information, head to Apple.
