I am asking me how you could teach something you don't know...?
Just asking...

 

I'm not teaching how to use Logic. I'm teaching The Music of the 60s and showing examples of drum beats, baselines, etc. that are unique to that era. The DAW is merely my tool for demonstrating. If I can work off a template it will be easy . . . setting it all up is the hard part. From there I can drag-n-drop audio files and/or midi grooves/patterns to illustrate or simply go with MOGG files spread across a bunch of tracks. I know how to use workstations in general, but not many hours logged on Logic. I'm currently beta testing MuLab, which is very straightforward and inspiring, but there are no options to create a theme that looks like a tape deck or Abbey Road console. I'll be projecting the interface on a screen in the classroom, and most DAWs look 21st century, not 20th. Yeah, I could further investigate Harrison Mixbus, but on a laptop those knobs and sliders are teeny weeny and the learning curve for that DAW is steeper, me thinketh!

Now you know. ;-)

 

Have a look at these Logic themes: http://logicproxthemes.blogspot.com maybe you find the tapeDesk, Neve or any other theme will suit what your looking for.

 

Yeah, he does lovely work, but I have someone amazing custom designing one for me. What I need is a project template with the track and FX set up for 16 tracks. Any project templates out there that would suit 60s pop/rock?

 

@tommyzai Hi.
Just been talking to my friend and colleague who was 'there' back in the day.
All mic'ing was distant mic'ing, not close mic'ing, so as to avoid harsh transients. This can give a more ambient colour to everything, depending on what you wanted.
So again, as I've implied before, it's not as if what you are expecting to do with your template is really possible in your situation.
You've mentioned 'authenticity' before, so I felt I needed to point this out.

 

just one quick question : how do you want to teach if you don't know their sound ?

 

@tommyzai, imho it would be easier and far more instructional and interactive and memorable and fun for you and your class to grab an old cassette-based 4-track tape machine and put a track together on that using just a couple mics and any old reverb/fx outboard. That way you would actually get to bounce tracks etc etc etc. That would be far closer to the beatles recording experience than any DAW solution. I say this 'cos i bet if you asked any mature musician, they'll still have (at least) one stored somewhere - probably with unused chrome cassettes. All you then gotta do, is rename your class instead as: 'hands-on old-skool recording music workshop'...

EDIT: I just checked and incredibly it's still possible to buy brand new cassette tapes - wow, who knew?!?

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2019

If I don't get myself a decent template, either found, donated, or self-created, that' the way I'll go. It's a good suggestion . . . might work well for small classes and groups, but the big classes need the projector on the wall.

 

I don't understand. Are you suggesting I don't know The Beatles sound? If so, yeah I do. I just don't know how to set up a Logic template to closely match their recording sessions.

 

No, mate - just a few more 4-track tape machines!

 

...synnc'd up! lol
Then turn over one cassette and record on the other side, flip back to original side...backwards vox!

 

Yeah - and no plugins whatsoever - a splendid idea indeed!

 

Aw! The Pitch/Speed slider! Used to retune my guitar to record to a slower tape, then run at normal speed!
Tascam Portastudio!
Then Prince copied me! jk! lol

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2019

Necessity surely is the mother of invention!
Yeah, some tricks become trends then cliches... then obsolete.

 

...but always evocative of a period. Sometimes of a genre...
Same goes for chops...

 

Obviously I mean on loud stuff like drums and guitar combos; not lead vocals though lol, although I guess they experimented with proximity too on backing vocals.
This made it easier to mixdown, because, contrary to what I thought, it was better practice to attain attenuation of peaks and transients, and even EQ, with the clever usage of correct mics and proximity - rather than over use/rely on compression.
This then made it easier to cut records too I think.
Conversely, tape compression due to deliberate saturation, and some natural distortion...on Ringo's drums?!
Yeah, boi. That's the shit right there! lol

So I guess the closest mic'd instrument on any Beatles track may be that harpsichord thingy on Fixing A Hole, or maybe a piano. Dunno!

 

Yup, this (near-)fetishised nostalgia for the flawed character of the pre-daw era has essentially defined the contemporary plugin industry - and has fed the wellspring of altogether too many 'authentic' plugin recreations... i'm so spoilt for choice these days, i'm actually looking to downsize my outsize plugin palace to a more practical bungalow, for sanity's sake.

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2019

Yeah, that would be cool . . . break into groups . . . have a recording contest. ;-)

 

The coincidence of George Martin and The Beatles is the best argument i ever heard for the existance of God...

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2019

It's so hard to scale-back. It's different when you have no choice, but having those choices is an addictive slippery slope. For this project, I probably should I asked if anyone has any good 60s rock type project templates for Logic. Did my thing in the big class . . . project it all on the wall. The tape machine idea would be fantastic, but I'd need at least four 4-tracks, which wouldn't be cost effective. I'll save that idea for later . . . when there's a budget. For now, I need a stinking retro rock template to work from. All I can find are EDM project templates for Logic.