Music Production & Engineering
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Unit 1 · Lesson 2 of 9

Tracks, Regions & Recording MIDI

Learn how MIDI differs from audio, set up tempo and click, and record your first MIDI region.

Warm-up 5 minLearn 15 minTry it in Logic 27 minCheck + exit 10 min
Learning targets
  • 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.

Warm-up: two ways to record a pianist

Picture two ways to capture a pianist playing a song:

  1. Put a microphone in front of the piano and record the sound.
  2. Write down every key the pianist pressed, when they pressed it, how hard, and for how long.

With a partner, decide: which recording could you later turn into a guitar or a synth? Why?

MIDI vs. audio

Audio
Recorded sound, captured by a microphone or from a file. It's a picture of the sound wave. You can edit it, but you can't change the instrument that made it.
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface. Instructions, not sound: which note, when it starts, how hard it was played, and how long it lasts. A software instrument turns those instructions into sound.

The second recording in the warm-up is basically MIDI. Because MIDI is only instructions, you can change the instrument, fix a wrong note, or move a note to a different time. You'll do all three in this unit.

Region
A block on a track that holds recorded material. MIDI regions hold notes. Audio regions hold sound waves.
MIDI keyboard
A piano-style keyboard that sends MIDI to the computer. On its own it makes no sound. The software instrument makes the sound.

Time in Logic: bars, beats, and tempo

Beat
The steady pulse you tap your foot to.
Bar (measure)
A group of beats. The numbers across the top of the Tracks area (called the ruler) are bar numbers.
Time signature
How many beats are in each bar. 4/4 means 4 beats per bar, and it's the time signature for almost all the music in this course.
Tempo / BPM
How fast the beat goes, measured in beats per minute (BPM). 60 BPM is one beat per second.
Playhead
The vertical line that shows where you are in the song. Logic plays and records from the playhead.
Metronome
Logic's click track. It plays a click on every beat so you can stay in time.
Count-in
One bar of clicks before recording starts, so you're ready to play on beat 1.
Cycle
A section of the song that plays over and over. It's shown as a yellow bar in the ruler.

Try it in Logic

Set up to record
  1. Open your LastName_Unit1_Beat project. Plug in your MIDI keyboard's USB cable. Play a few keys and check that you hear your software instrument.
  2. In the Control Bar, double-click the tempo number and type 90, then press Return.
  3. Press K to turn on the metronome. The metronome button in the Control Bar lights up.
  4. Control-click (or right-click) the Record button in the Control Bar and choose Count-in › 1 Bar.
  5. Press Return to move the playhead to the start of the song.
Record, listen, redo
  1. Press R to record. Wait through the one-bar count-in.
  2. Play middle C (Logic calls it C3) once on every beat for 4 bars. Count out loud: 1, 2, 3, 4.
  3. Press Space to stop. A new MIDI region appears on your track.
  4. Press Return, then Space to listen. Didn't like it? Press ⌘Z to undo and record again.
  5. Press C to turn on Cycle. Drag in the ruler from bar 1 to bar 5 to set the cycle area. Now playback loops those 4 bars.
  6. Press Y and pick a completely different sound in the Library. Press play. Same notes, new instrument. This is why MIDI is so flexible.
Practice

Check your understanding

Quick check: You recorded a MIDI region with a piano sound. Can you change it to a synth without re-recording?

Quick check: A song is in 4/4 at 120 BPM. How many beats are in each bar?

Exit ticket

In one or two sentences, explain the difference between MIDI and audio to someone who has never used a DAW. Use the word instructions.