Hi folks, I am new to Logic Pro as well as new to Apple Mac computers and their operating system and want to make sure I am doing things right. So some helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. I started recording a song with 18+ tracks and have been saving it to my macbook pro hard drive in the Logic folder. I hit file save after each track is recorded. I recently got and attached a Glyph 250 external hard drive to the laptop via firewire 800. Here are my questions: 1. What is the best way to copy the files in the logic folder and put them onto the external hard drive and have them as a backup on the external hard drive? Or is there a way to save files to both drives while working on them in Logic realtime? 2. Is it recommended to record directly to the external hard drive or simply use it for backup? 3. I had a recent short song which was saved on my desktop and I clicked file; copy; and then pasted it into the external hard drive. When I went to pull the song up on logic it came right up and I was able to hit play and all was fine. But then the firestudio control console which was already open on my screen just froze in place with the rainbow wheel turning while the song was playing in logic which resulted in no audio out of my monitors. I had to force quit the firestudio application. This has only happened with files I copied or saved into the external hard drive. Hence why I am trying to get some thoughts on all of this and to find out what I may have done wrong to begin with. I appreciate any help you might be able to give me with these matters. Thanks.

Hi Christian, One last question, for now at least. I understand that once I drag the logic folder to the external HD all the files will be copied there. So when I need to work on a particular song, I would go to the external HD double click that particular song, it will pop up in logic and I can work on it. Now if I click file, save, while working on that song will it save directly into the external HD? Also, I will try your recommendations regarding question 3 later tonight and let you know how it goes. Oh and I should note that prior to shutting down my macbook pro I click on the external HD icon on my desktop and click "eject external HD" and then turn it off. In addition I unplug the firewire cable for both the external HD as well as the firestudio interface as needed when I have to take my laptop with me and then replug everything in prior to turning it on the next day to work on music projects. Will any of this affect normal operation, etc.. Thanks for all of your help, it is much appreciated. :) .

Hi, So I copied my files to the external HD, in addition I started a new project which was saved directly to the external HD. All was going well with the firestudio control console on my desk top during recording, I then saved the project, closed it, went into the external HD folder, brought it back up on logic and hit play to listen back to it all. It played fine and the sound came thru the monitors, however, the control console sat idle with the rainbow wheel spinning. The firestudio control console was frozen in place but the audio was coming thru the monitors just fine, I was not however, able to adjust any of the mix levels thru the firestudio control console. I have the most recent drivers installed for the firestudio and it was working just fine over the last month or so and then just this past week it started to do this. Again this does not happen if I record and/or save to the macintosh HD. Any thoughts on this??? Thanks.

Hi Rounik, I am running Logic 8.0.1 and will reply back once I have tried the above procedure. Thanks.

Hey folks, A friend of mine sent me some old track files he recorded of our band using pro tools. They are not complete "song" project files. Rather they are the individual track files and are labeled as " SD2 File". Here is an example of one track for the kick drum and how it is listed on the DVD-R. -Caught kick.sd2 How do I take each of the track files and convert them to logic in order to work on them, ie., adding plugins, eq, mixing, etc... Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi Christian, I am getting the following when moving the SD2 file into the arrage window. First I get the progress window indicating : Creating overview for "caught kick.sd2" and then I get a dialogue box that says the following: Audio file “-Caught kick.sd2” hasn’t got sufficient access privileges so the overview can not be saved! If I click OK to this the file shows up and I can hear it back. Do I just continue as such and then save the song as a new file? .

That's exactly what I forgot to do. It's always the simple things that elude us. Thanks Christian.

Oh and one other question. Now that I have all the tracks in the arrange area I am able to play them but everything is playing in slow motion... kind of like a record player at half speed, how do I adjust the tempo for each track or the whole project. I tried changing the tempo in the transport bar but that did not do anything. .

once again you have saved the day. Thanks again.

Hi Folks, just have a quick question regarding vocal recording. When you record a vocalist do you use a channel strip setting insert such as "male ambient lead vocal" and all of its associated effects or do you simply use an aux channel with some reverb or compression? Is it better to record a vocalist dry and then add effects during the mixing process or is it OK to have all the effects pre-installed on the channel strip? I would just like to get some feedback on how you all handle the process to get the best recording out of your vocalist. Thanks.