Creating the Step Editors Missing Expression Lane in Logic Pro X askaudiomag.com July 28, 2014

Take a journey into the depths of Logic Pro as Jay Asher shows how to create an

expression lane in the Step Editor and explains how this will help you when

composing your next track.

I love the Logic Pro developers but sometimes the choices of what gets

implemented and what does not bewilders me.

Case in point: For those of us who work with orchestral libraries, it is very

common to automate volume using MIDI Draw for CC 11 (continuous controller)

Expression instead of track-based or MIDI Draw automation with CC 7 Volume.

With many of the modern libraries, Expression not only affects volume but

intensity and/or other musical properties that are realistic for the behavior of the

actual instrument that has been sampled. Most of the libraries I use either do

this by default or can easily be assigned to do this and then CC 1 Modulation for

vibrato. MIDI Draw is simply better suited for this in my opinion than track-

based automation as it is tied to an individual region and with a specific patch in

a multitimbral instrument. Look if you will at Pic 1.

Pic 1

Here you see that I have played in a part with Hollywood Strings Cellos legato

slur while simultaneously entering CC11 with an Expression pedal. I might like to

smooth this out and the Step Editors (called the Hyper Editor in earlier versions

of Logic Pro) Line Tool is great for that purpose. However, in the Step Editors

default set, it is nowhere to be found while the seldom-used Poly Pressure is

there. Go figure!

Fortunately, this is pretty easy to remedy and once you have done this in your

templates, you always have it.

In Pic 2, I am holding the mouse down in the Inspector on the P-Press choice

and then I am changing it to Control.

Pic 2

As you can see in Pic 3, by default it goes to CC 0, Bank MSB, although in fact I

see my Expression data there.

Pic 3

No worries, by holding down the mouse on the Number selector, I can simply

scroll to CC 11=Expression. See Pic 4.

Pic 4

I suppose I could simply leave it as is because my CC11 data is all visible and

editable, but that would not be me

In Pic 5, you can see that I am renaming the lane in the Inspector.

Pic 5

I am now free to change the grid and pen width of that lane to my taste.

NOTE: If you are not familiar with just how powerful these settings in the Step

Editor can be, check out the manual beginning on page 422.

Now I want to create a Lane Set that I can import from project to project or just

view discretely in my templates. In Pic 6, I am going under the Lanes menu and

choosing New Lane Set for Current Events and in Pic 7, there it is.

Pic 6

Pic 7

However Logic has named the Lane Set HS Celli while I want it to be named

Expression. Again, I simply have to rename it in the Inspector and it is done. See

Pic 8 and Pic 9.

Pic 8

Pic 9

Now I can edit my already entered Expression or create new MIDI Draw

Expression automation in the Step Editor with the Pen and Line tools in this

lane as part of my template or I can import it from project to project.