Radio Advert Write up

In this write you will learn how to use a lot of the logic software
including a midi keyboard, and many of the functions featured in
logic.
How I made my advert
For my second project, I was given the task to create a radio advert
for a made up project. The main focus of this project was the music
involved with the advert as well as the arrangement and the syncing
of the speaking with the music. The product that I decided to base
my advert on was a stick that is basically just a stick that I am
making out to be the best thing that mankind has ever made. To
make sure we passed this project we had to make three separate
adverts, one had to be 1 minute long, another had to be 30 seconds
long and the third had to be 10 seconds long. The reason we had to
make three separate adverts is because when adverts are shown
sometimes they are cut short by channels and various radio stations
because of having to fit in other adverts.
The software that I used to create my advert on was called logic
express; this is simple and effective to use and it is user friendly. To
begin with create a track by clicking on the plus sign on the top left
hand side of the screen.

After that a grey box appeared on the screen and I had the option to
select the amount of tracks that I wanted to add, I wanted to add
one track, and whether I wanted to add an audio track, software
instrument track or an external midi track. I selected the software
instrument track, as I first wanted to come up with a drumbeat to
suit my advert.

Once I the track had been added, I had to select an instrument to

use. The instrument was selected from the library on the far right
hand side of the screen. There were lots of instruments in the library
to choose from, I chose drums and percussion, and this is because I
wanted to create a drumbeat. When I clicked on the drums and
percussion tap another section opened with a huge selection of
various different kits, I picked the rock kit as this suited my advert
more.

Once I had selected my kit I pressed the record button, in the

bottom left hand corner, I then played in my beat, which would be
used as an introduction to the advert before the music kicked in.

One my intro was recorded I had to make sure that it was in time. To
do this I double clicked on the area in which my beat had been
recorded and a section in the bottom of the screen popped up.
When this popped up I had to make sure that the piano roll had
been selected.

Once the piano roll had been selected I had to highlight the
drumbeat by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the
mouse over the section that had been recorded. Once this was done
I went to the top of the piano roll section a clicked the Q button next
to quantise value. This button made sure that the beat was in time
with the BPM (Beat Per Minute) of the track.

Once my intro was quantised, I added in a further three tracks, and

selected three different drum kits from the library. These kits were
used as a beat for the melody of my minute long advert. I then
recorded the beat for my melody and quantised it making sure that
it was in time with the BPM.

When the beat had been created, I then added another track and
selected the instrument classic acoustic guitar, as this would make
the melody catchy and memorable, as well as making the melody
sound cheery and up beat. Once the melody was recorded I then
quantised the melody so that it was in time with the drumbeat.
Once this was completed I then selected yet another track and
chose the instrument trance strings this would be playing the same
melody as the guitar but obviously with strings instead.

Once the melody and the drumbeat had been created I then
inserted another track but this time made it and audio track, this
would be used to record the speaking for the advert, which describe
the product. This was recorded using a mic in which I would speak
the script into. The mic needed to be plugged into the midi keyboard
in able for it to work. Once this was recorded this meant that the
minute long advert was finished. In the 30 second one, I kept it very
close and true to the original song, not only did this save time, but it
was a valid option for the middle advert as people usually
remember the longest and shortest version of something, very
rarely is the middle length remembered so I thought it would be a
safe option to keep the 30 second one as close to the original piece
as we can. The 10 second one, being the shortest and quickest of
the bunch, had to make a bit more of an impact on our audiences
minds so I thought it would be best to put another instrument in, a
slightly more aggressive sounding one which is why we choose a
bass but a mute bass, I didnt want anything extreme. This adds
that hard-hitting tone we were going for, some more fleshing out of

the track and something to make the short 10-second variant a little
more memorable. As well as this the base was different to all the
other lengthier versions and this meant that this would be more
memorable.
I used a midi keyboard to recorded in most of my tracks for all of the
adverts this meant that I was able to play my melody and drum beat
to my ear.

Guide to Logic Pro X

The Inspector

You can view and edit parameters for regions, tracks and many
other items in the inspector. The parameters shown depend on the
item selected and which working area has key focus. The inspector
displays region and track parameters and the inspector channel
strips.
Region- The region inspector allows you to view and modify
playback parameters, including transportation and quantization, for
specific regions. This however doesnt affect the data in the region.
If you change them while the project is playing you can here the
changes immediately.
Track- The track inspector allows you to view and edit different
track parameters, including transportation, velocity and delay. All
the regions in the track are affected by the track parameters.
Channel strips- The left channel strip is for the selected track, and
the right channel strip shows the output for the left strip by default,
but also shows an aux used by the left strip. You can adjust the
level, pan, sends and inserts, change effects, and control audio
routing for these channel strips without opening the Mixer.
Pan- The pan knob defines whether a track can be heard from the
left right or middle of the stereo field. Instead of having instruments
compete with one another in a mix, you have separate elements by
positioning audio and instruments in the stereo mix from left to
right. Really you would want to have more important tracks like
vocals and drums etc in the middle of the mix and have the less
important tracks to the side.
Inserting software instruments- To insert software instruments
into logic the first thing that you need to do is click on the plus
symbol just next to the copy track tool. Once you click this, a grey
box should appear with an option to pick audio, drummer, software
instrument, external midi and guitar or bass.

Select the option that says software instrument. Once this has been
selected a track should appear with classic electronic piano on it.
This is what comes up as the instrument on your track at first. If you
dont want to have the classic electronic piano as your instrument
you can change it easily. This is done by going to the top left hand
side of the screen and clicking the button that looks like a filing
cabinet draw. This brings up the library, which shows a variety of
different instruments.

Lets say for example you wanted to insert a drum kit, you would
select the drum kit in the library, this will then bring up an lot of
different kits, you then simply select the kit that you want to use
and this will then change the original instrument that you had to the
drum kit that you selected.
Recording a software instrument- To record a software
instrument you use a midi keyboard. To record you have to click the
record button at the top left of the screen next to the display.

Once you have clicked this, the play head will move down the
workspace. To record the instrument you want to record you would
need to play it in through the midi keyboard. Once that you have
recorded your instrument you can quantise it by double clicking on
the piece of recorded work, this will then bring up the piano roll.

From here you can move around the notes that have been played so
that your work is to your specification. To make sure that it is in time
you will need to hold down the left mouse button and drag it over
the notes you have played. This then highlights all of your notes;
this now means that you can quantise it. Quantising is where you
put the notes that you have play in time with the BPM of your piece,
this is done by clicking the Q button on the left hand side of the
piano roll.
Recording and inserting audio- To insert an audio track you have
to first click the same tool that you clicked to insert a software
instrument, but instead of selecting software instrument, select
audio, this then means that you can insert an audio track. To be able
to record audio you will need to plug in a microphone, this means
that you will be able to record in voice and sound effects into logic.

Metronome- The metronome is one of the most important tools in

logic. The metronome is used to help you keep in time with the BPM
of the track by making a clicking noise that assists you when trying
to keep in time with the BPM. This clicking starts with a high pitch
click on beat one and then a lower frequency click on beats two,
three and four. As well as this the metronome helps to quantise as
well as it keeps your track in time so that quantising is easier.

Ruler- The ruler enables you to see the time divisions in bars and
beats or in hours, minuets and seconds. It can also be used for
playback and recording functions. The ruler runs horizontally across
the top of the workspace. The ruler is also useful as it assists you
when needing to position your track by placing them in the correct
point of time. Alignment guides appear when you move regions and
other items to help you kept them in time with other items in the
workspace.
Library- The library allows you to load and save patches, plug in
presets, or EXS instruments based on the selected channel strip
slot. Loading a patch can have an effect on multiple channel strips.
The library also holds all of the software instruments that are used
in logic.
Automation- This refers to recording, editing and playing back the
movements of faders, knobs and switches. By using automation it
allows you to make changes over time to volume, pan and other
settings. Automation can be added to any track type. Every track
thats in a project has automation curves for volume and pan, and
you can add curves to automate plug in settings.

What tools are used in logic?

Velocity- The velocity tool is a tool used to increase dynamics of
the notes played in the piano roll. To select the velocity tool you go
to the tool menu and select the velocity tool. This will then allow you
to edit the note velocity in the piano roll, to do this you would click
and hold the note when using the velocity tool, and drag it upwards
to increase the velocity and down to decrease the velocity. This will
make the piece you recorded louder.
Fade- The fade tool allows you to create edit or delete fades, or use
it to change the shape of fade curves. In order to access the fade
too go to the top of the workspace and to the dropdown menu and
select the fade tool.
Cut- The cut tool is a very important tool to use. This tool is used to
edit your recordings in your workplace. Cut also allows you to move

around your recordings into different sections of your workplaces.

This could be useful, as it would allow you to cut out any mistakes
that you made in the recording so that your work is smooth and
professional.
Loop- Looping is used to repeat a recording so that you wont need
to keep recording the same track over and over again. This is useful
when creating melodies, as the use of the loop tool would mean that
you would not need to keep recording the melody. You can loop by
clicking the top of your recording and drag it to the right to the point
on the workspace that you want it to go to. You can also loop by
clicking the ruler so that it goes yellow and you can drag the yellow
bar to the area in which you want to loop.
Pencil- This allows you to create regions as well as edit them by
making them longer or shorter. This region can then be used to
create a recording. The pencil tool is also used in the piano roll to
write in your track instead of recording it through the midi keyboard.
Glue tool- The glue tool is used to glue regions or events together
by clicking or selecting them.