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Unit 1 · Weeks 5–7 · 9 classes
Logic Basics & Beats
You already know how sound moves through a soundboard. In this unit you'll find those same controls inside Logic Pro, learn how MIDI works, and program drums until you've built a finished 8-bar beat in a genre you choose.
Statement of inquiry
Producers use technology to structure rhythm in ways that communicate a genre to listeners.
Communication
How do rhythm and sound choices tell a listener what they're hearing?
Genre · Structure
Genres have rhythmic fingerprints, and beats are built from repeating patterns and variations.
Scientific & technical innovation
How did drum machines and DAWs change who can make music and how it sounds?
Inquiry questions
- Factual: What does each part of a Logic channel strip do? What is MIDI?
- Conceptual: How do tempo, drum pattern, and swing signal a genre?
- Debatable: Is a beat programmed by a producer as “real” as one played by a drummer?
Lessons
- Class 1From Soundboard to LogicCreate your first project and find every soundboard control inside Logic's channel strip.
- Class 2Tracks, Regions & Recording MIDILearn how MIDI differs from audio, set up tempo and click, and record your first MIDI region.
- Class 3The Piano Roll & the GridCount 16th notes, then draw, move, resize, and delete notes in the Piano Roll.
- Class 4Quantize & VelocitySnap recorded notes into time, then use velocity to make some notes hit harder than others.
- Class 5Drum Kit Anatomy & the Step SequencerLearn what each drum does, then program a beat by switching on steps.
- Class 6Genre Grooves & SwingInvestigate how tempo, drum patterns, and swing tell a listener what genre they're hearing.
- Class 7Drummer: Logic's Session PlayerLet a virtual drummer play for you, then shape the performance and decide when to use it.
- Class 8Build the 8-Bar BeatArrange your best ideas into a finished 8-bar beat, organize your tracks, and save it correctly.
- Class 9Bounce, Share & ReflectExport your beat as an audio file, give and get feedback, and evaluate your own work.
Final product: an 8-bar beat
An 8-bar drum beat in a genre you choose, bounced to WAV and MP3, with a written reflection. The full checklist is in Lesson 8. You'll keep building on this beat in Unit 2.
How you'll be assessed (MYP Arts)
| Criterion | In this unit, you… | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| A · Investigating | research how tempo, drum patterns, and swing define a genre | Genre investigation chart (Lesson 6) |
| B · Developing | show skill with Logic's Piano Roll, quantize, velocity, Step Sequencer, and Drummer | Practice checklists and the project file |
| C · Creating / Performing | create an original 8-bar beat that fits your chosen genre | Bounced WAV/MP3 and project |
| D · Evaluating | give and use feedback, then evaluate your own work | Listening circle and reflection (Lesson 9) |
Standards
National Core Arts Standards: Music (Technology strand, HS), adopted in Connecticut
| Anchor standard | Where it shows up |
|---|---|
| Cr1 · Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas | Lessons 5–7: drum ideas and variations |
| Cr2 · Organize and develop artistic ideas | Lessons 3–4, 8: Piano Roll, quantize, arranging 8 bars |
| Cr3 · Refine and complete artistic work | Lessons 8–9: variation, fill, final bounce |
| Re7 · Perceive and analyze artistic work | Lesson 6: genre investigation |
| Re9 · Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work | Lesson 9: listening circle and reflection |
| Cn11 · Relate artistic ideas to societal, cultural, and historical context | Lesson 6: how genres developed their grooves |
Approaches to learning (ATL)
- Thinking (transfer): apply what you learned on the soundboard to software.
- Self-management (organization): name, color, and save your project so you can find everything later.
- Communication: give feedback using producer vocabulary.
All learning targets for this unit
- I can create a new Logic Pro project with a software instrument track and save it with a clear name.
- I can name the five main areas of the Logic Pro window and open each one.
- I can match each part of a soundboard channel to the part of a Logic channel strip that does the same job.
- I can explain the difference between MIDI and audio.
- I can set the tempo, turn on the metronome, and set a one-bar count-in.
- I can record a MIDI region from the MIDI keyboard and change its sound afterward.
- I can count a bar of 4/4 in quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes.
- I can open the Piano Roll and draw, move, resize, copy, and delete notes.
- I can set Snap so notes line up with the grid I choose.
- I can quantize recorded MIDI to a note value and choose a quantize strength.
- I can edit note velocity to create accents.
- I can explain why producers don't always quantize to 100%.
- I can identify the kick, snare, clap, and hi-hat by their sound and their job in a beat.
- I can explain what a backbeat is and program one.
- I can build and edit a drum pattern in the Step Sequencer.
- I can describe the tempo range and drum pattern that signal four genres.
- I can program each genre groove in the Step Sequencer.
- I can add swing to a pattern and explain what it changes.
- I can add a Drummer track and choose a genre and drummer.
- I can shape a Drummer performance with the Loud/Soft and Simple/Complex pad, fills, and swing.
- I can decide when Drummer is a better choice than programming a beat myself.
- I can arrange an 8-bar beat using loop, repeat, and copy, with a change in bar 8.
- I can organize my project with clear track names and colors.
- I can check my beat against the unit requirements.
- I can bounce my project to an audio file in the right format.
- I can give specific feedback using vocabulary from this unit.
- I can evaluate my own beat and set a goal for Unit 2.