Logic Pro X For Dummies
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In the recording world, the monitor mix is what the engineer hears from the speakers. It’s possible to create multiple monitor mixes if your hardware supports multiple outputs. Small nearfield monitors are the standard choice for getting a good sound.

Sometimes, a large set of speakers is used to get a full giant sound that impresses the clients and, well, everyone else. A third set of small speakers or even a single mono speaker may be used to imitate cheaper sound systems, though you can use your built-in computer speakers for this job.

To set up additional monitor mixes, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Logic Pro→Preferences→Audio.

  2. Click the I/O Assignments tab and then click the Output tab.

  3. On the Output menu, choose the output pair you want to set up.

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    The outputs you have available depend on your hardware.

  4. Select Mirroring to mirror the stereo output to the selected output.

    Your mix will now be played through the additional output pairs.

If you’re recording by yourself and using a microphone, you need headphones so that any audio played back won’t leak into your recording. But as you add other people to the recording process, you might need to set up different headphone submixes for each person you record.

Giving a performer a separate headphone mix, known as a cue mix, can improve the precision and emotion of a performance. Vocalists need to hear different things than drummers need to hear. And if you want to get the best performance out of a performer, you need his or her recording process to be smooth and productive. That’s why you need to give performers their own mix, the way they want it.

Your hardware must have multiple outputs to route the submix to the correct output.

The process of setting up different submixes involves splitting the audio signal of a track and routing the parallel signal to an auxiliary track via the Send slot. To set up a submix:

  1. Click the Send slot on each track you want to send to the submix.

  2. On the Bus drop-down menu, choose an unused bus.

    An auxiliary track is automatically added to the mixer. A bus is used to route audio to auxiliary tracks. To open the mixer and view the auxiliary track, press X.

  3. Click the Send slot again, and choose Pre Fader.

    Setting the send to pre-fader allows you to adjust the volume of the track in the monitor mix using the track fader without changing the volume of the signal sent to the auxiliary track. If the send is set to post-fader, any adjustments you make to the volume of the track are also sent to the submix.

  4. Adjust the volume of the track in the submix by using the Send Level knob.

  5. Click the Output slot on the auxiliary track, and set it to the correct hardware output.

    You can adjust the overall level of the submix by using the auxiliary track’s volume fader in the mixer.

Eight sends are available per channel strip, so you can send the track’s signal to eight different parallel submixes.

The recording techniques you discover in this chapter will put you well on your way to bringing your musical visions into reality. Recording in Logic Pro is straightforward but flexible enough to meet your needs. You have a powerful tool that will capture your music so you can share it with the world.

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