In the beginning

Do you remember the days when using Logic became a thing for those of us who rely on VoiceOver? I remember writing an article entitled “Is Logic Pro X accessible?” in which I concluded that it was probably at the point where visually impaired people could use it to get some real work done. What? without any accessible way to add plugins and change their settings? Good luck with that!

Well, we’ve come a very long way since version 10.1 back in 2015. However, along with all the excitement about the new features in Logic and their accessibility, one charge seemed to surface time and time again. “Logic is clunky,” they said. “Oh no, it’s not,” I said, “you just need to know VoiceOver better.”

But you know what? I was wrong. Well, at least partly wrong. You see, I stopped using Pro Tools just before Flo Tools was a thing, ironically because I thought Pro Tools was clunky.

Now, if you’ve not heard of Flo Tools, it is a set of extra key commands added to pro tools that enable the Voiceover user to quickly interact with the items on the screen. For example you can adjust the volume of a track via key commands without the need to find the volume slider, interact with it and adjust it. Or, you can press a key command and find out where the playhead is without having to get the VoiceOver cursor to the spot on the screen where that can be read.

Obviously, even if you’re a VoiceOver wiz, it’s going to be way easier and quicker to use the shortcuts and, as I still had my perpetual Pro Tools license, I tried it and it was amazing and I nearly went back to Pro Tools as my daily driver.

However, I discovered that Chi Kim, the mastermind behind Flo Tools , was working on a similar utility for Logic called Flogic, so I thought I’d stick with Logic for a bit longer.

Flogic Logic and the Apple Mountain

Being a bit of a coder myself, I contacted Chi to see if he could use any help with Flogic, and soon we had added even more cool features to Flogic, which was already looking very promising as a Flo Tools for Logic-type utility.

Then Logic changed its version, and much of the code had to be rewritten.

Undaunted, we updated the code to the new version and continued adding features. Then Logic’s version changed again, and pretty much all of the code had to be rewritten again. As this was the third time Chi had done this, he was pretty ticked off at having the foundations changed every few months. And, after this happened yet again, I was sick of going round that mountain as well. So development on Flogic pretty much stalled at that point.

LogicEase is Born

As time went on, I noticed that the foundations of Logic hadn’t changed at all for the last few Logic updates. So, I contacted my buddy Steve from Logic.band to see if he thought there was any mileage in resurrecting Flogic, and we got it back up and running again.

What you’re holding in your hands now includes some invaluable input from Chi Kim, who unfortunately, has too much on his plate with Flo Tools, VOCR, and many other things to be involved with LogicEase right now, and my buddy Liam, who has contributed the Piano roll feature. And, of course, Steve, the Oreo Monster himself, who has helped shape the product with many feature recommendations and general Logic wisdom.

How Can LogicEase Help Me?

What we’ve tried to do with LogicEase is to take those things in Logic that you find yourself doing over and over again on a daily basis, such as altering the volume or pan of a track, adding and changing plugins and sends, etc., and then make those tasks as unclunky as possible – if that’s a word. So, in my completely biased opinion, it’s worth having LogicEase even if all you’re using it for is adjusting the volume of a track with command up and down arrows. And if you only use it for that, then we’ve saved you from having to interact with the track and find the volume slider every time . However, at present, there are well over 50 time-saving commands in LogicEase, for example, you can pan your tracks with command left and right arrow. Want to know where your track is panned to? press p. want to know the volume of your track? no prizes for guessing that you just press v. Want to put that pan back in the centre, double press p. Likewise, want to put that volume back at unity gain? double press v, and the list of commands goes on and on, and with your help, that list will continue to grow.

If you haven’t already heard it, listen to LogicEase in action to get a good feel for what it can do for you.

I’m sure we haven’t covered everything, so if you have some ideas to contribute, or if you’re a coder or have some time to do some proofreading or testing on the project, then we’d love to hear from you.

How do i Get LogicEase?

To grab LogicEase, follow the Installation and setup instructions. Or you can get the full scoop on what LogicEase can do for you by reading the Using LogicEase page.

So, is Logic clunky? Well, I don’t think it’s any more clunky than any other Mac app. But, I hope you’ll agree with me that with LogicEase in your corner, you’ll have a much easier time becoming a more productive Logic user.