Adventures In Software Training:
Logic Pro At The London School Of Sound
by Silvia Hartmann
Can you imagine a piece of software so complicated that an old hand
at computer related doings would finally throw in the towel and go to a
three day training just so they stop being completely terrified of it?
Well, the old hand is me and ... the piece of software (well,
gigantic collection of various bits of software more like) is Logic Pro.
Let me show you something, for a picture tells you more than a
thousand words:
What the hell is this, some of you may ask; some of you may already
know, but what it is, is a professional music production & editing
studio, complete with multitrack recording and synths and mixers and all
that stuff that used to be done with knobs and valves in the times back
then.
As I'm planning to add music publishing to the DragonRising
publishing family (codename DragonTracks for now), and as I'm also
planning to run a radio station and produce finally my old folk album as
well, I was highly motivated and invested quite a bit in the software
and the hardware, and the little house to put it all in - but was
completely stymied by this programme.
So I looked around and booked me and Steve Collins, who is also
planning on becoming a producer into The London School Of Music for a
basic training in Logic Pro.
The reason I did this was because time is NOT money - there is no
time lottery and I'm getting on in years. Spend the money on this
course, save REAL TIME - months spent pissing around aimlessly, years of
endless frustration as well, most likely.
- A Random Moral: You need hardware, software, AND to
know how to use it ...
Now I could write REAMS about the ins and outs of the three days at
the training, and not to mention the 4 evenings, mornings and what
happened there and all over the place, but I shan't.
I would suffice to say that I easily got my money's worth from the
course; that I am extremely glad I did this, because it is as simple as
saying that I'm a professional and I have professional objectives, for
which I need not just the tools but also the knowledge how to use them.
I'm past messing around now, it's that age thing I guess, and there's
work to be done.
I would recommend to anyone who also plans to do something
PROFESSIONAL with the Apple Family of music software in the end and who
hasn't spent the last 15 years growing up with this software to take the
leap of faith and find themselves a professional instructor somewhere,
pay them, and get the show on the road.
On this training, which is limited to four participants, we had someone who wanted to become a sound
engineer and studio technician as a career; a DJ who wanted to produce
his own albums, a composer who also wants to take charge of production,
and a music publisher/singer songwriter.
The software and hardware will do all these things - if you can get
it going!
The most important thing I personally got out of it was first of all,
confidence with the software.
I understand what it is now, how it hangs together and I also know
enough now to ask the right questions of the help files, endless manuals
and support documentation.
I'm not afraid of it anymore and I'm now instead of crying in a
corner in a position to start the real learning by trying to get this
stuff to do what I want it to do.
That's a massive improvement and in fact, a paradigm shift, if you
want to look at it that way.
- A Random Moral: If you're serious about what you are
doing, then stop messing around, lay out exactly the steps you need
to take to move you towards your goal, and then TAKE THEM.
One thing I would say, however.
The course I attended was Apple's own "Apple Technician Logic"
certification course.
The object of the exercise in this course is to learn enough about
the software to pass an extremely difficult and tedious multiple choice
exam. If you don't want or need this exam, I would say that you're
better off negotiating private instruction with the resident instructor.
That way, you get your needs met in a more personalised way and there is
more time to get questions answered and specific concerns addressed.
Here are some pics from the event.
Steve Collins & Silvia Hartmann caught in the act of learning ...
Federico of the London School of Sound, hard at work
Different students, one Logic Pro challenge ...
Links:
*Give Federico a ring and talk to him. He's very helpful and will
be able to advise you on the best choice of program.
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