EXPLOITING SONIC CAPABILITIES IN LOGIC PRO X - Part 2: Sculpting Textural Definition with L.Cie

EXPLOITING SONIC CAPABILITIES IN LOGIC PRO X

Part 2: Sculpting Textural Definition with L.Cie

In this Lux Cache tutorial series, we invite artists to take an in-depth dive into the unconventional uses of Logic Pro X’s native tools, as well as exploring new compositional approaches and third-party plugins appropriate for experimental music production.  For our second chapter, sound artist and Curiosity Shop producer L.Cie unpacks her processes and methods in sculpted detailed textures and sounds within Logic Pro X.

This tutorial is available as both a Patreon text post and a preferred .pdf document format. We ask you kindly to not share Lux Cache content outside of the Patreon, our contributors rely on your donations. All preview sounds/clips mentioned in this tutorial can be found in this accompanying Google Drive folder or this SoundCloud playlist.

~

CONTENTS :

1. INTRODUCTION
2. CHAPTER 1 - FLEX AUDIO PROCESSING FOR SOUND DESIGN
3. CHAPTER 2 - PHASE DISTORTION
4. CHAPTER 3 - RINGSHIFTER
5. CHAPTER 4 - PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

INTRODUCTION

As someone who makes music in Logic Pro X, I realize that there are very few learning resources regarding sound design in the current experimental electronic music space. It is a  very Ableton-dominated field, which makes sense - Ableton is amazing for crafting intricate sounds. But today I want to show you a few of the tricks I use as a stalwart Logic defender and why it is my favorite DAW.

The techniques we will cover in this tutorial use the following standard features of Logic Pro X :

• Flex Audio
• Phase Distortion
• Ringshifter

FLEX AUDIO PROCESSING FOR SOUND DESIGN

Flex Audio is my favorite tool for making things sound cool in Logic. If you're an Ableton user, this is essentially Logic’s version of Warp. Most of the resources I see on Flex are concerned with sampling and recording instruments and vocals, but here I will focus on its utility for making fun sounds.

FLEX PITCH:

One of the most dramatic applications for flex is its dramatic midi-like pitch tool. One of my favorite ways to use this is by taking a vocal sample and making  the pitch almost as low as it can go. Instead of just pitching the sample down, flex pitch does its best to preserve the textural qualities of the sample and you end up with some really sinister sounding stuff. I pitched this sample down by selecting the “notes” Logic identified in the sample, and dragging them down, just as you would do in a midi roll.

Example of Logic Pro X’s ‘Flex Pitch’

Before

🔊 Audio

After (With OTT and reverb applied):

🔊 Audio

By dragging the Formant up (the bottom right circle when selecting a note in flex pitch) you can get some really nice clicky textures:

🔊 Audio

By dragging it down you can get more of a growl beastly texture:

🔊 Audio

By playing with the vibrato and pitch-drifting circles you can get some really wild stuff:

🔊 Audio

This Flex Pitch tool is fun for creating layers for your percussion. If you take the vibrato all of the way up on a vocal chop with a quick attack, and then layer that with your snare or clap, it can add some interesting layers if your song is skeletal sounding. You can also use it to make some cool sound design fills. The sound design section in my song Kefka was made with this process:

🔊 https://soundcloud.com/l-cie-fountains/kefka

I also used this technique layered with the kick in the ¾ section of the song at the very end; that’s where that vocalized rhythmic squelching comes from.

FLEX TIME - SLICING:

Aside from Flex Slicing being great for chopping up drum samples and making vocal chops, I have found it useful for quick and easy textures. By slowing the sample way down and clicking on the waveform in track view to create more transients,  you can use this mode to create an echoey, granular, springy quality to it. It is also fun for doing creative vocal stutters. The best part about this feature is that you can directly create and move transients, creating a rhythmic flow exactly how you want it.

Before:

🔊 Audio

After:

🔊 Audio

Rhythmic Transients:

🔊 Audio

Example of Logic Pro X’s ‘Flex Time’

Those are my go-to starting points for creating sounds if I’m not sure where I should begin with a song or rhythmic section. I think this technique leaves a ton of room for imperfection and fun, which are my favorite characteristics of sound design as an art.

PHASE DISTORTION

We’ve created some interesting - but quite simple - sounds with flex, but what if you want to give them a bit more character? This is where we will use my favorite stock Logic plugin: Phase Distortion!

The great thing about phase distortion is that you can create various degrees of really dimensional and grainy, “whooshy” distortion that compliments the original sample. This is extremely powerful for adding some bite to your sounds without drowning out the original characteristics of the sample, even at 100% mix. I like to keep the resonance at 100% and create some interesting low end qualities around 20-100 HZ for the cutoff.

Here’s an example of the previous Vocal Pitch Flex Sample running through phase distortion with the below automation (OTT & Reverb on as well):

🔊 Audio

And here is that previous Vocal Slice Flex sample running through Phase Distortion with the below automation (OTT & Reverb on as well):

🔊 Audio

The best thing about this plugin is that it is really easy to get interesting complex sounds; it’s basically just two knobs! If you want to create some fun low end textures, this is your plugin.

You can get awesome and liquid/windy rhythmic elements if you do some timed fading and apply the time slicing technique discussed earlier:

🔊  Audio

Example of automating Logic Pro X’s ‘Phase Distortion’

You can hear an example of rhythmic phase distortion as a percussive element in my song Crossing Nightmare Valley at around 2:37

🔊 https://soundcloud.com/l-cie-fountains/crising-nightmare-valley

This is my preferred technique when I want to create a visceral and rhythmically intense piece of music, without using a kick drum. Phase distortion and OTT can do a lot of work.

You can hear it used in more of a “beat” context on this song where I layered some phase distorted vocals with the kick:

🔊 https://soundcloud.com/facades-970830795/1lockit

RINGSHIFTER

The Ringshifter is another favorite Logic plugin. It is a typical ring modulator, but with some really nice delay and LFO options - hence the Shifting in the name. I like to use it on more percussive and sharp fills; it gives the fills an off-kilter, far-away-yet-right-in-your-face laser zappiness.

The samples below are being modulated with Ringshifter as I automate the exponential frequency knob.

Using this in conjunction with compression, small room reverb, rhythmic fading and the granular time slicing technique from earlier, you can get amazing results with clicky samples:

Before:

🔊 Audio

After:

🔊 Audio

With Phase Distortion:

🔊 Audio

Stretched With Flex Time slicing:

🔊 Audio

Example of automating Logic Pro X’s ‘Ringshifter’

Another great application for Ringshifter is brightening up high-end percussion instruments like hi-hats.

You can also add some wacky delay effects to layer with some chords if things sound dry. You can hear an example of that in my song Caught in Night’s Web during the bridge:

🔊 https://soundcloud.com/l-cie-fountains/caught-in-nights-web

And all of the sound design on Tendrils was made this way too.

🔊 https://soundcloud.com/l-cie-fountains/tendrils

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Here is one of my sound design processes from beginning to end:

• Modulate sample with Flex Pitch to get the texture
• Bounce sample
• Stretch sample with Flex Time Slicing
• Apply effects such as phase distortion or ringshifter (preferably in a way that preserves or strengthens the texture)
• Bounce again
• Un-Stretch the sample
• Fade and arrange with your timing of choice

This process (which applies all of the techniques we covered in this lesson) leaves you with some short and impactful, yet textural sounds. I also love this technique because it is scalable in some really interesting ways.

Examples:

🔊 Audio

🔊 Audio

🔊 Audio

Thanks for reading my article - I hope it is helpful for my Logic friends!

Love,

L.Cie

~

L.Cie is a producer, performer & sound artist based in the US. You can find her recent releases and upcoming shows on Spotify.

You can follow her on Twitter @L_Cie_ and on Instagram @l.cie___

2022 © Whiston Digital / Lux Media  |  luxcache.com