The Delete or Keep Dialog in Logic.

The next big tip on getting through that transition from Garageband to Logic is understanding “non-destructive editing.” The basic gist of this is pretty simple:

Your original audio files are not affected/cut/faded/EQed/deleted/etc. when you perform edits on it in your audio software. Instead, you are making these changes to a copy of the original file.

Sound’s great right? Say you record a vocal part, and you hate the last note you held.  You cut out that last note and then try to over-dub a new take of that note 10 times.  After your voice cracks on take 11, you decide that first note wasn’t really that bad.

But you already deleted it right? Wrong, it’s still there, just not being “used.”  If you grab the end of that vocal take and drag it out to the right, you’ll see that the original last note is still there, and you just couldn’t see it.

That’s what it means to edit “non-destructively.”

The other side of that has to do with plug-ins.  In Garageband, if you applied effects to a track, and wanted to get a opy of just that track. You previously had to solo the track and bounce it, thus applying the effects.  In Logic, if you navigate to your Project Folder > Audio Files Folder > Audio File.  You’ll access the audio on that track without any effects.

One Big Warning:

The last thing that is vital to mention is that Logic Express and Logic Pro are NOT 100% non-destructive.  That means that certain operations you do will cause the original audio file to be affected, not a copy.

The first one you’ll probably encounter is deleting.  Why the give you the option of deleting an original audio file by just pressing delete or backspace is beyond me.  It’s really a dumb feature that could get you into trouble because there is NO UNDO when it comes to deleting a file.

Let me clarify though. When you record an audio file in Logic – it appears as a colored region in your arrange window (the main window with all the tracks and audio/midi, etc.).   Then when you cut it up, it makes copies of that audio.  However, if you start deleting those regions you created during editing, the program is removing those copies from the session.

When you try to delete the last part/bit/region that represents an audio file in your session Logic give you the option of “Delete” or “Keep.”  (You can see this window at the top of the article. )

What this means is that if you choose Delete – then you’re wiping that original recording off your hard drive. Poof. Gone Forever. Really. No Undo.

If you choose Keep – then you’re removing all the references of that recording from your session.  That means that it won’t show up in your arrange window anymore, but you can still find it in your audio files folder (and incidentally in “audio bin” which I think you can get to by using cmd-9 in Logic).

Hopefully, it’s relatively obvious which option I think you should generally choose.  If you’re never going to use a piece of audio again.  If it embarasses you to know that the recording exists at all.  Then I guess you can delete it.  Just make sure that you READ the window every time it shows up – the option you choose stays selected every time you delete something, unless you switch to the other option.

So that’s Logic Adjustment number 2.  I’ve got a few more to share, but any other topics or points of confusion would be helpful.  If you’ve got some tips on making the switch or have a question, be sure to leave a comment.

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