Apple Pro Training Series: Logic Pro 8 and Logic Express 8 (Apple Pro Training)

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review




Excellent startup guide., August 27, 2008
By mike1123 (PA, USA)
Compared to the manuals included with Logic Studio, this guide is FAR easier to understand. Everything is step by step, and even if you're a novice with Logic, like I was, you'll have no problem learning. The book tells you exactly what to click, where to drag, and everything else in between for many, many functions of Logic. While it is a bit pricey, it is well worth it, as you will save a ton of time learning and spend more time having fun with Logic. In about a week, I was proficient in all of Logic's basic functions; if you have used Garageband in the past, it will be a bit easier for you. The book also comes with a disc loaded with sample project files so that you can follow the tutorial word for word, step by step.



A step-by-step guide that grants hands-on experience, August 5, 2008
By Greg A. Tirevold (Atlanta, GA USA)
This guide takes the wise approach of assuming you are completely new to Logic and proceeds to take you through a hands-on tour. This is a step-by-step type of arrangement where you are expected to follow along through each section and build upon the sample project at each stage. It does not assume you know things, it tells you what you need to know in order to understand each covered aspect of the software. If you've got experience in other DAWs then parts of it will bore you but I'd be wary of skipping this even if you are a Pro-Tools or Cubase whiz. The Logic interface and workflow makes use of hovering tool tips and button plus mouse commands so parts of it can remain well hidden unless you've had something like this book show them to you.

I found the format of the step-by-step instructions to be concise and clear. The discussion and commentary sections are clearly set apart from the steps. The screen-shots are well done and can be read easily. If you are willing to put in the time to work through the book you will have a functional understanding of Logic and be able to make full use of voluminous documentation that comes with Logic Studio to go further on various topics at your leisure. The Logic documentation is very good but most people are need a warm-up like this in order to be able to get the most out of their $500 software investment.

Think of this book as the fundamental text, or perhaps what should have been in the Studio Documentation instead of the lean "Getting Started" book that was included. Its purpose is to ensure you get a solid foundation on which to build and it does that in a very methodical way. Some people, especially creative folks, may have problems sitting through such a structured process but based on the number of "help me do -blank-" posts I see every day on Logic and Musician's message boards I think most people need this book.





Not what I was looking for, July 7, 2008
By N. Chambers (TN, USA)
This was a tough review. I have a good amount of experience in DAWs, so I'm not a beginner. I found the "PRO" title of this book to be very misleading.

I was looking for the get there quick method, and this book was NOT it. This book holds your hand and asks you to do exercises that are VERY basic. It didn't even teach you how to change the quantization strength! (extended parameters, by the way)

This book is probably excellent for those just getting into audio. It would make a good workbook for a school. I wish I had one of these years ago when I was first learning any DAW.

I ended up just skimming the book and selling it. I never even used the CD, since I realized quickly that this was not what I was looking for. I found most of the information I was looking for instead on the Logic message board and in the manual.

The author of this book is on the message board and is a very nice and helpful person. He is also a good author and I would imagine these exercises would be very interesting to those who haven't done them numerous times before in real-world situations on different programs.

I am giving this product a 3, since I feel that most of the information in it can be easily learned in the manual that comes with the program. I'm not giving it lower because for what it is, a workbook for beginners, it is actually pretty good. Probably a good read for someone new to DAWs, who might find the manual a bad place to start.

For those interested, I also briefly skimmed the other book in the series, beyond the basics, and found it not all that 'beyond'.



Best Logic book out there, June 27, 2008
By Steve B. (Los Angeles, CA USA)
This is not only the most well written tutorial on Logic 8, but should be the model for how tutorial books should be written. It covers each topic in enough detail to fully understand it and get started using and experimenting with. The material really makes sense and sticks because of all the hands-on experience using the lesson material on the accompanying disk. You get to go from building a simple song to mixing complete studio tracks supplied. I found myself spending hours and hours on each lesson because it showed me enough to start experimenting and learning more on my own. David Nahmani has written the perfect tutorial book and I hope he is writing more.



Logic Pro 8 and Logic Express 8, June 23, 2008
By mr. loue (New York, NY USA)
Well I was waiting for this book for months. Sure apple's docs are extensive, but theyr'e written by a real techie, and didn't find them very helpful. There also very long. So anyway, I like the combination of seeing, and doing, and that's how I learn.

Well I cracked the book, and went through the first couple of chapters. I still felt kind of overwhelmed like one of the reviewers said.

But as anything in life a trial by fire will dictate what the outcome is. 1) I had a major recording project for a song of mine's 2) I needed to learn logic.

Here's what I did. I used the MACPROVIDEO's as a good general outline, and then used logic 8 book as a reference. WHAT A COMBO! IT REALLY WORKED.

Anyway, I was able to record the song in TWO DAYS (weekend) and did the final touches later. I came back to the Logic book the other day and picked up from Lesson 6 and WOW it was much easier. I got the basics after it was drilled in my head.

The reason I switched to logic for now was Digidesign's lack of support for LEOPARD. They finally released a version for leopard, but I LOVE LOGIC NOW. So I'll probably use the combination of both, as as I go along.