How to create a GREEN Apple Loop in LogicProX

[skylark]

OK... What am I missing?

 

Someone else asked me to show them how to create a GREEN Apple Loop (something I never had a need for) and... I could not figure it out at all!

 

What I wound up doing was recreating the loop in Garage Band, creating a green Apple Loop in GB --where it's a snap-- and adding it to my loops library from there! But what did I miss that prevented me from just doing it in LPX? Can it be that GB allows this while LPX does not?!?!?!

[stratquebec]

It's a snap on 9 too! Select the midi region and in the region menu choose add to apple loops library or something alike. Should then be a snap too in x.

[stratquebec]

It's a snap on 9 too! Select the midi region and in the region menu choose add to apple loops library or something alike. Should then be a snap too in x.

 

Yep.

Choose the midi region

Right click

Choose Export

Choose Add to loop library

 

Option+Shift +O is the key command

That's it!

Edited November 22, 2014 by stratquebec

[David Nahmani]

You can also just drag and drop a MIDI region onto the Loop Browser.

[stratquebec]

Indeed! So :

 

O + drag

 

Logic is nice!

[skylark]

It's a snap on 9 too! Select the midi region and in the region menu choose add to apple loops library or something alike. Should then be a snap too in x.

 

I agree; it should, but it ain't happenin' for me.

[skylark]

It's a snap on 9 too! Select the midi region and in the region menu choose add to apple loops library or something alike. Should then be a snap too in x.

 

Yep.

Choose the midi region

Right click

Choose Export

Choose Add to loop library

 

Option+Shift +O is the key command

That's it!

 

Thanks. I'm aware of the procedure; I'm just not getting anything GREEN. Only BLUE...

[skylark]

You can also just drag and drop a MIDI region onto the Loop Browser.

 

Yep, David... I'm aware of that one too, and when I do it... I get a BLUE loop. (In other words, an AUDIO-only loop.)

[skylark]

Indeed! So :

 

O + drag

 

Logic is nice!

 

I agree; it's nice. Nice and BLUE! But I'm looking for a GREEN loop.

 

And what is "O + drag"? (I don't use the standard key commands.)

 

Anyone care to post a picture of the GREEN loop they just created? I know it seems an easy-enough procedure, but all I am getting is BLUE loops!

[stratquebec]

Indeed! So :

 

O + drag

 

Logic is nice!

 

I agree; it's nice. Nice and BLUE! But I'm looking for a GREEN loop.

 

And what is "O + drag"? (I don't use the standard key commands.)

 

Anyone care to post a picture of the GREEN loop they just created? I know it seems an easy-enough procedure, but all I am getting is BLUE loops!

 

 

Hello skylark. Very strange. Here all is well.

O (LPX key command) opens the loop browser

drag: I drag my green region over the browser

I get the Add region to Apple loops library dialog

I give it a name (testGreen) and hit create.

 

Now I have testGreen in my loop browser

I drag it onto the track window

My testGreen loop shows up.

Green Loop

[morphyx]

I've been making Green Apple Loops with no trouble. I'm new to Logic and have hundreds of MIDI loop folders that I've been converting so I can easily scroll through and audition them in the Loop Browser. Mostly I use Ultrabeat or Battery 4.

 

I just drag a midi file onto a software track, play though it and select a kit from UB or Batt4, then right-click on the midi region and select "Add to loop library" which ALWAYS results in a searchable Green Apple Loop.

 

In fact, I see no way of creating a Blue Audio Apple Loop from a midi loop unless you bounce or mix down to audio.

[stratquebec]

Umm...Now I understand what kind of trouble skylark is experiencing...

 

Some loops I create are green in the browser but appears as audio loops once dragged onto the arrange (LP9) or track (LPX) window. An audio track is indeed created. This is the case for the TestBatteur and test2 loops (see my screen shot).

 

LP9, LPX. I created an audio region and dragged it to the apple loops browser and save it, it appears in blue in the list and it creates an audio track once dragged back in the track area.

 

In short, it is buggy in either LP9 and LPX.

BlueGreen9+X

[skylark]

Hello skylark. Very strange. Here all is well.

 

ok, stratquebec… gonna duplicate your steps…

 

 

click loop browser button… (my O command does something else)

 

the browser window appears and i TRY to drag the region OVER the browser… no go… when my region gets to the browser it goes BEHIND the browser… NOT on top… (and just drops somewhere in the arrange window)

 

so now i try another way… i CONTROL - CLICK the region and select “Add to Loop Library…” which gives me the Add Region the Apple Loops Library window…

 

i give it a name (testyouBETTERbegreen) and hit Create

 

and… HEY! it’s there!! and it’s… GREEN!!!

 

 

now i gotta figure out 1) why i was having trouble before (because i could swear that’s exactly what i did… well, maybe i’d better not swear to it… cuz i sure have been swearing AT it!!!)

 

**********************************************

 

i went back and tried to change any variables that might’ve been different (when i was having so much trouble)… and it worked perfectly again… the only thing i didn’t do is try it from the actual project… oy…

 

i’ll keep poking around this area and see if we have a bug…

 

thanks to everybody who dared to jump in and help me wrestle this…

 

 

stratquebec… thanks for taking the time to post this for me

[David Nahmani]

You can also just drag and drop a MIDI region onto the Loop Browser.

Yep, David... I'm aware of that one too, and when I do it... I get a BLUE loop. (In other words, an AUDIO-only loop.)

Make sure you drag a MIDI region (placed on a software instrument track). I've never had a problem creating a green loop.

 

Some loops I create are green in the browser but appears as audio loops once dragged onto the arrange (LP9) or track (LPX) window. An audio track is indeed created. This is the case for the TestBatteur and test2 loops (see my screen shot).

Did you drag those loops to existing audio track perhaps? All apple loops are audio files. When you drag a green apple loop to an existing audio track, it will create a blue audio region, but that doesn't mean the loops isn't a green loop. Just drag it below all tracks so that it creates a new track, and it will create a MIDI region on a software instrument track.

 

LP9, LPX. I created an audio region and dragged it to the apple loops browser and save it, it appears in blue in the list and it creates an audio track once dragged back in the track area. In short, it is buggy in either LP9 and LPX.

That's not a bug, that's the expected behavior if you drag an audio region. You have to drag a MIDI region (on a software instrument track) to create a green apple loop.

[stratquebec]

skylark !

 

Glad you found a way to make it working now. I too sometimes get this kind of "BEHIND the browser" craziness. Drag'nDrop isn't always safe it seems.

 

Now I have tow loops created in an another life, with LP9, that appears green in the browser but are in fact audio loops. WTF is going on there? I really don't know but don't care too much. Computers and softwares are so buggy these days... I predict the hardware era to come back soon and the rebirth of real recording studios, producers, arrangers, sessions musicians and all and all!

Edited November 23, 2014 by stratquebec

[stratquebec]

 

Did you drag those loops to existing audio track perhaps?

 

No David. I drag into and empty area and let Logic create the appropriated track

 

LP9, LPX. I created an audio region and dragged it to the apple loops browser and save it, it appears in blue in the list and it creates an audio track once dragged back in the track area. In short, it is buggy in either LP9 and LPX.

 

That's not a bug, that's the expected behavior if you drag an audio region. You have to drag a MIDI region (on a software instrument track) to create a green apple loop.

 

Y'a I know. I just mean that the bug is one way. Green becomes blue but blue remains blue.

But these two green blue loops were created with LP9 (or maybe GB) and I really don't remember how and why I did them. But they indeed are green in the browser and blue once dragged from the browser to an empty area in the track window.

 

If I drag them onto a software instrument track they become blue too, and nothing is heared if I play them.

Edited November 23, 2014 by stratquebec

[David Nahmani]

But they indeed are green in the browser and blue once dragged from the browser to an empty area in the track window.

 

If I drag them onto a software instrument track they become blue too, and nothing is heared if I play them.

Do you remember what instrument was used to create them? Perhaps they were created with a 3rd party instrument that's no longer present?

[David Nahmani]

Perhaps they were created with a 3rd party instrument that's no longer present?

Hmmm no I tried that and that still creates a green loop for me. Well then I'm afraid I've never suffered that bug... hard to say what could be creating it.

[stratquebec]

But they indeed are green in the browser and blue once dragged from the browser to an empty area in the track window.

 

If I drag them onto a software instrument track they become blue too, and nothing is heared if I play them.

Do you remember what instrument was used to create them? Perhaps they were created with a 3rd party instrument that's no longer present?

 

 

Ok just found where they came from... GB 6.0.5 Green in the browser, green in the tracks, midi data present. All is normal in GB 6.0.5. Same problem if I use them with GBX. So, in short, there a problem with MIDI loops created in GB 6.0.5 when they are used in GBX, LP9 and LPX , at least, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Anyway, I don't use them and GB6 either

 

I included them in attachment.

Back to music making now!

Archive.zip

loops

[mrfunk]

Sorry to revive an old thread but I'm having this issue.

I was just learning to do my own loops. It all started out fine, everything seemed to work, I got some loops done, and all of a sudden I noticed that some of the MIDI loops had been saved as blue audios instead. I remade some of them as MIDI versions and was able to replace them.

But now it seems, no matter how I try to make new ones from MIDI, either by dragging or using ctrl+shift+O, they just won't come up as green! Sometimes also the exported loop will ignore the fact that I chose it as keyless, and in the browser, it will be in key C.

Now I wonder... Is it possible that this would have something to do with the type of instrument that you use, even though the input is all MIDI? I'm saving drum loops, and I'm taking advantage of all the Apple drum instruments but NOT using drummer tracks. The regions are green MIDI.

Now if I test... Exporting the same MIDI region from a drum machine instrument track produced a blue audio loop that has a key even though I set it not to have one.

If I move the same MIDI region to a track with a Drum Machine GB or an EXS24 drum instrument and export it in exactly the same way, in the browser it will finally be a green MIDI loop, but it still insists on having key of C!

When I begun, they all went keyless just as I wanted.

Has there been any new info on this issue since, or can anyone check if they can recreate a clear difference depending on what drum instrument is on the track that you're exporting as a MIDI loop?

[David Nahmani]

Drum machine track... do you mean Drum Machine Designer? Because that's not an instrument track...

[mrfunk]

Drum machine track... do you mean Drum Machine Designer? Because that's not an instrument track...

I think I do yeah... On the track, there's that triangle symbol that you click and it reveal individual tracks for kick, snare etc. even though the whole all in one MIDI region only still remains on the master one. I've graduated from GarageBand (and been elsewhere meanwhile) and I find the drums in Logic somewhat hard to navigate because there's several different menus where to access different kits, some of them have overlap with one another, and when you're looking for a specific one, you can't remember how you managed to find it before. There's no one neat view that would display the palette of all available drum kits regardless of what format they use.

I've acquainted myself with the drummer track concept but the drum machine designer is another new thing that wasn't in GB (at least back in the day it wasn't) so it has to be on my list of things to study... But so, you can't save a region like that as a MIDI loop even though the region itself is green MIDI? That would explain why those regions would always get exported as audio tracks, but the odd "key: C" remains a mystery.

[David Nahmani]

The key is the key of your project...

 

And yes you have it right regarding Drum Machine Designer, which, I agree with you, is a confusing implementation. They make it look like an instrument but it's not really one... you can open the track with the little triangle, and drag the MIDI region onto the Ultrabeat track... now try turning that into a green loop?

[mrfunk]

Yeah, I noticed that it's the project key (in this case, just an empty project I created to make those loops in), but when saving a region as a loop, selecting "Scale: any" should not assign the loop to have a key. Drums should be keyless in general.

 

I'll try that, see what happens, and report back!

[mrfunk]

Okay that was a bit complicated.

So I’m making these drums in the kind of mode where I’ve cycled 16 beats of time, and when I hit record, if I play new things during a new pass, it creates a new track for that new take while all the tracks are mutually linked.

 

First I recorded something onto the Drum Designer track.

Then I clicked the triangle in order to reveal its individual instruments. I dragged the newly created MIDI region onto one of those, and then deleted the extra sub-tracks with instrument names such as “kick”, ”snare” and so on. With the sub-track selected where I just dragged the MIDI region, I expected to now be able to start cycle recording as usual. But it doesn’t work that way: It won’t create new tracks, it will record the new region on top of the old one. The weird thing is, if I then try to drag the region between the master Drum Designer track or the sub-track, which one of these newly recorded MIDI regions shows up visually, will alternate!

Okay. Now I left the region onto the sub-track, and then dragged the sub-track away from the Drum Designer stack so it’s on the same “level” as any other instrument would be.

Then I deleted the Drum Designer stack track.

If I now cycle-record onto that sub-track that’s now been dragged as its own standalone track, it will work as should, creating a new linked track on every pass that you record new material onto it.

So this is what I wanted, all good! Will export loops as MIDI.

 

Now I wonder... Is there a way to skip the whole Drum Machine stack track phase and just load the collection of samples that those Drum Designer tracks bring, straight into being a normal stackless track? All of this confusion comes from the fact that there’s quite a lot of partial duplicates here and there in the menus and I often feel like it’s by sheer luck that I navigate and find the drum instrument that I remember having seen somewhere. And then a drum instrument of a specific name just isn’t at that particular path in the library, but somewhere else, and it seems so arbitrary. I'm yet to comprehend exactly what kind of logic the sorting follows.

[mrfunk]

Now I wonder... Is there a way to skip the whole Drum Machine stack track phase and just load the collection of samples that those Drum Designer tracks bring, straight into being a normal stackless track?

 

Figured that one out: Make a new empty MIDI track, assign Ultrabeat as the instrument, then open Ultrabeat's interface and select a preset (kit) from there. No confusing stacks will be created, or audio effects loaded onto the strip. (Because saving MIDI drum beats as loops that are easy to utilize and get a new track started with, I want 'em dry and plain.)

[MrSnickers]

Adding my own experience to the thread because I was searching for an answer to this as well in 2023 on Logic X. 

On my system, when using any method to create a loop from a MIDI region, Logic will create a GREEN Apple Loop - but it's also recorded as an .AIF file using the sounds from whatever software instrument is present on the track you are creating the loop from. I guess this is done to provide preview audio when browsing loops.

This happens with both 3rd party instruments (TAL-Drum) and Logic instruments (Ultrabeat). Oddly, even if there's no instrument present on the track, Logic still creates an .AIF of... nothing... and adds the file to my User Loops folder. I replicated the same behavior in a completely empty new project with no plugins, nothing on the Stereo Bus, no software instrument presets loaded, etc.

Ultimately this process still creates the thing I'm after -- a GREEN MIDI loop that lives in my User Loops library -- but it's definitely annoying (mostly from a disk storage capacity standpoint) to have Logic creating .AIF files of a MIDI region when you are explicitly trying to avoid it.