Building on the success of its professional music recording app Logic Pro 9, Apple today debuted Logic Pro X ($200), featuring a redesigned interface, new instruments, and a couple of big new additions. Built to follow the style of top session players and engineers, Drummer adds an AI drummer to play alongside other instruments, switching between different beats and song genres as needed. And a free companion app, Logic Remote, lets an iPad play and control Logic Pro X from afar with keyboard, drum pad, guitar fretboard, mixing board, and transport control interfaces.
Logic Pro X’s additions don’t stop there. Flex Pitch enables pitch editing in recordings, letting users change individual notes within waveforms, and Track Stacks can combine multiple tracks into one—handy for group editing or adding extra depth to instruments. The Arpeggiator is similar to the GarageBand chord-based music-making feature, sitting alongside a Retro Synth synthesizer emulator, and a Bass Amp Designer with the ability to customize a bass rig or use popular ones that already exist. Weighing in with a 5GB initial footprint, Logic Pro X has a whopping 35GB of additional audio content available via an optional in-app download. Apple also updated its $30 Mac companion app, MainStage 3, which helps to bring Logic Pro X compositions into live performances.