Recording

The Basics: Arm, Input, Record

The recording workflow in Logic is the same whether you are recording MIDI into a software instrument or audio through a microphone:

1. Select the track you want to record on
2. Arm it — click the R button on the track header (it turns red)
3. Position the playhead where you want to start
4. Press Record
5. Perform
6. Press Stop — spacebar

For a single track, you may not need to arm it separately. If only one track is selected and you hit Record, Logic arms it automatically. But when you are recording multiple tracks at once — a drum kit with ten microphones, for example — you need to arm each one explicitly before you hit Record.

Count-In

Enable count-in from the Control Bar or from Settings > Recording. Logic plays one or two bars of metronome before recording starts. This gives you time to breathe, settle into the tempo, and start on the beat. Always use it for audio recording — starting cold usually means a rushed first note. You can configure the number of count-in bars in the recording settings.

Sample Rate, Bit Depth, and Buffer Size

These three numbers govern how Logic captures and processes audio. They live in two different places, which is a direct example of the three-tier configuration model from Chapter 4.

Sample rate is a project setting (File > Project Settings > Audio):

• 44.1 kHz — the standard for music. CD quality. Fine for nearly everything.
• 48 kHz — the standard for video and film. If you are working to picture, use this.
• Higher rates (88.2k, 96k) exist. They increase file sizes and CPU demand. The audible benefit for most work is debatable. Pick one and stay consistent within a project — mismatched sample rates between your project and your audio interface cause playback problems, pitch shifting, and general weirdness.

Bit depth is set when you record:

• 24-bit is the standard and should stay there. The extra dynamic range over 16-bit means you do not have to worry about recording levels being precisely optimal. There is plenty of headroom.
• 16-bit is only relevant for final delivery (like CD mastering). Record at 24.

Buffer size is a global setting (Logic Pro > Settings > Audio):

Small buffer (64-128 samples) for recording — you hear yourself without noticeable delay. Large buffer (256-1024 samples) for mixing — more CPU room for plugins. Switch it when you switch tasks. It takes two seconds and saves a lot of frustration.

Because buffer size is global, changing it affects every project. If you crank it down to 64 for a recording session and forget to put it back, a dense mix project will stutter when you open it next. Get in the habit of checking.

For this chapter, just know that 44.1 kHz / 24-bit is a sensible default for music, and that buffer size is the one you will actively change as you work.

What Am I Hearing?

This is the question that causes the most confusion in the first few weeks. When you arm an audio track and speak into a microphone, what comes out of your headphones depends on three things — and they interact with each other in ways that trip up nearly everyone.

Direct Monitoring

Your audio interface can route the input signal straight to your headphones with near-zero latency. This happens in hardware, completely outside of Logic. Many interfaces have a “direct monitor” button or a “monitor mix” knob. Logic has no control over this. If your interface’s direct monitoring is turned up, you will hear yourself regardless of what Logic is doing.

Software Monitoring (The I Button)

The I button on the track header controls whether Logic routes the live input through its signal chain and back to your headphones. When software monitoring is on, you hear yourself through Logic — including any effects on the channel strip (reverb, EQ, compression). The tradeoff is that this path adds latency equal to your buffer size. At 64 samples, you barely notice. At 512, you hear a slapback delay on your own voice.

Auto Input Monitoring

A setting in File > Project Settings > Recording that changes when software monitoring is active based on what the transport is doing:

• With Auto Input Monitoring on: You hear the live input when the track is armed and stopped. During playback, you hear the previously recorded audio instead. This is usually what you want — you can listen back to your take without hearing yourself talk over it.
• With Auto Input Monitoring off: You hear the live input all the time when the track is armed, even during playback. The recorded audio on that track is hidden behind your live signal.

The Permutations

Here is where it becomes a maze:

Direct monitoring on, software monitoring off — You hear yourself through the interface with no latency, but without any Logic effects. Clean and fast. This is the simplest setup and works well when you do not need to hear reverb or other processing while recording.

Direct monitoring off, software monitoring on — You hear yourself through Logic, including effects. But you hear the buffer latency. Keep the buffer at 64 or 128 samples and it is manageable.

Both on — You hear yourself twice: once through the interface (immediate) and once through Logic (delayed). This sounds like a short slapback echo on everything you do. It is almost never what you want. If you hear yourself doubled, one of these two paths needs to be turned off.

Auto Input Monitoring on, Quick Punch on — During playback, you hear the previously recorded audio. When you punch in (hit Record during playback), it switches to the live input. Punch out, and it switches back. This is the overdubbing workflow most people want, but it only works correctly if your direct monitoring situation is sorted out first.

Quick Punch

Quick Punch lets you drop in and out of recording during playback without pre-planning. Play back the track, hit Record when you reach the part you want to fix, perform the correction, hit Record or Stop to punch out. Logic replaces only the punched section.

Quick Punch interacts with Auto Input Monitoring. When both are enabled, you hear the existing recording during playback, then hear yourself live the moment you punch in. Punch out, and you are back to hearing the recording. This is the smoothest overdubbing workflow — but only if your direct monitoring is configured so you are not hearing yourself from two places at once.

Autopunch

For more precision, set Autopunch markers in the Control Bar. Define the exact punch-in and punch-out points, and Logic handles the transitions automatically. This is useful when the performer needs to focus entirely on the performance rather than clicking buttons at the right moment.

Low Latency Mode

When recording into a session loaded with plugins, latency accumulates even at low buffer sizes. Convolution reverbs, linear-phase EQs, and look-ahead limiters all introduce their own processing delay on top of the buffer.

Low Latency Mode temporarily bypasses the plugins causing the most latency. They dim on the channel strip, the monitoring path gets clean, and the full mix comes back on playback. This lets you keep a dense session running while the performer gets a latency-free monitoring path. When you stop recording and play back, all the dimmed plugins reactivate and the mix sounds the way it did before.

The Metronome

Logic maintains separate metronome states for recording and playback. You might have the click on during playback, hit Record, and suddenly it is gone. Or the reverse. This trips people up every cohort without fail.

The reason: Logic remembers the metronome state independently for each mode. Toggle the metronome on while playing back, and it stays on for playback. Switch to recording, toggle it on there, and it stays on for recording. The two states are independent.

The explicit way to manage this: click the dropdown arrow next to the metronome button in the Control Bar. You will see Click while Playing and Click while Recording as separate checkboxes. Set both the way you want and stop wondering why the click appears and disappears at unexpected moments.

The metronome settings also let you adjust the click sound itself — the instrument, the note, the velocity, the beat emphasis pattern. If the default click is driving you insane (and for many people it does), you can change it to a quieter, less aggressive sound. Some people use a side stick, some use a woodblock, some use a custom sample. The important thing is that you can hear it clearly without it being irritating over long sessions.

Capture Recording

This might be the most important feature in this chapter.

You are noodling on the keyboard, working something out. You play a phrase that is perfect — exactly what the song needs. Then you realize you never pressed Record. The take is gone.

Except it is not. Logic listens to MIDI input all the time, even when you are not recording. Invoke Capture Recording and Logic creates a region from everything you just played. It retroactively turns noodling into a recording.

The limitations are real: Capture only works for MIDI, not audio. And it captures from the last time playback started. If you press Play again before capturing, the buffer resets and the performance is gone. So the moment you play something worth keeping — stop, and capture immediately. Do not play it back first. Do not switch tracks. Do not second-guess yourself. Just capture.

Capture Recording also works when Logic is stopped. You can sit there with no transport running, play something on your keyboard, and capture it after the fact. The playhead position at the time determines where the captured region begins.

You may not have a button for this in the Control Bar by default. The key command is what matters. Put it somewhere easy to reach — you will use it more than you expect.

Musical Typing

No MIDI keyboard? Musical Typing turns your QWERTY keyboard into a small piano. The middle row (A through L) plays notes. Z and X shift octaves. C and V adjust velocity.

It works. It is not great for performance — the keys are binary (on or off, no real velocity sensitivity), and the layout takes getting used to. But for entering a few notes, sketching an idea when you do not have your controller, or working on a laptop at a coffee shop, it does the job.

Logic Remote

If you have an iPad or iPhone, Logic Remote is a better alternative to Musical Typing and a genuinely useful tool even if you have a MIDI keyboard. Connect your iOS device to the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac, open the app, and turn it sideways. You get a velocity-sensitive keyboard that responds to touch pressure, plus transport controls, faders, and smart controls — all on a device you can hold in your hand.

Logic Remote is particularly useful when you are behind a microphone and your Mac is across the room. You can start and stop recording, adjust levels, toggle the metronome, and switch tracks without walking back to the computer. For vocalists recording themselves, this is a meaningful workflow improvement.

What to Practice

• Create a Software Instrument track, arm it, and record a simple four-bar phrase. Use count-in. Listen back and notice where your first note lands relative to the downbeat.
• Record the same phrase without pressing Record — just play along with the metronome. Stop, then invoke Capture Recording and see if Logic caught it. Practice this until it feels natural. You want to be able to capture without thinking about it.
• If you have an audio interface, create an Audio track and record yourself speaking or singing. Experiment with the I button (Input Monitoring) — turn it on, turn it off, and listen to the difference. If you have direct monitoring on your interface, try the different combinations and notice when you hear yourself doubled.
• Toggle the metronome on for recording but off for playback (or vice versa). Notice that Logic remembers each state independently. Then use the dropdown arrow to set both explicitly with the checkboxes.
• Try Musical Typing if you do not have a MIDI keyboard. Play a few notes. It is limited, but knowing it exists means you are never completely stuck.
• Change your buffer size from 256 to 64 while a session is open. Notice the difference in responsiveness when you play a software instrument. Change it back to 256 and notice the difference in CPU headroom.

Commands in This Chapter