Recording settings in Logic Pro for Mac

You can use Recording settings to determine how Logic Pro for Mac responds while you’re recording.

Audio Recording

The following settings determine the file type and bit depth of newly recorded audio files. You can change those settings in an existing project if needed, and all new audio files are then created in that format without altering any previously recorded audio files in that project.

File Type pop-up menu: Select the audio file type for recording.
- AIFF: Audio file type mainly used on the Mac platform.
- WAVE (BWF): Most compatible audio file type.
- CAF: Allows for exceptionally long recordings if you plan on recording continuous, half-day or longer audio files.
Bit Depth pop-up menu: Set the bit depth for newly recorded audio files. A higher bit depth has the ability to capture a wider dynamic range.
Note: Choose the recording bit depth in Logic Pro to match the bit depth of your audio device. Each audio device either has a fixed bit depth or lets you choose a specific bit depth to send its digital audio signal to Logic Pro. You can find these settings in the Audio MIDI Setup app (located in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder on your Mac).
- 16-bit: Use only if you want to keep audio file sizes small or if your audio device supports 16-bit. Because 16-bit audio files only have a dynamic range of 96 dB (without dithering), they produce quantization distortion at very low signal levels.
- 24-bit: The most commonly used bit depth. Its file size is 50 percent larger than 16-bit audio files, but it has a better dynamic range of 144 dB with virtually no quantization distortion.
  With proper external gain staging, 24-bit is sufficient for any acoustic recording because the dynamic range of even the best microphone doesn’t exceed 140 dB.
- 32-bit float: Uses 32-bit floating point calculations to create audio files 33 percent larger than 24-bit audio files.
Tip: The advantage of using 32-bit float for recording is that you can remove digital clipping that occurred during the recording simply by lowering the gain of the audio region. You can also increase the gain of a recording made at low levels without increasing the noise floor.

MIDI Recording

Auto Record Enable pop-up menu: Choose whether the Record Enable button on a software instrument track automatically changes to a red letter R only on the focused track or on all selected tracks. The focused track is a single selected track or the first track you selected when selecting multiple tracks.
Tip: With the All Selected Tracks option, you can quickly record enable tracks for multitrack recording of software instrument tracks by simply selecting the tracks instead of selecting and deselecting their Record Enable buttons .

Overlapping Track Recordings: MIDI

The following settings determine what happens when you record on a section of a track that has an existing MIDI region:

Cycle Off: Set the behavior when Cycle mode is turned off. Click the Cycle button in the control bar (or press C) to turn Cycle mode on or off.
- Create Take Folder: A new take folder is created containing the existing MIDI region and the newly created MIDI region.
- Merge: Merges newly recorded MIDI data with the previously recorded MIDI data of any overlapping MIDI region(s) into a single MIDI region.
- Overlap: Existing MIDI regions remain unchanged, while the new recording creates a new MIDI region that overlaps or covers the existing regions. MIDI data of all regions is played back.
- Overlap/Merge Selected Regions: Newly recorded MIDI data is merged with all selected overlapping regions to form a single region. Unselected MIDI regions remain unchanged.
- Create Track: A new track is created for the newly recorded MIDI region.
- Create Track Alternative: A new track alternative is created for the newly recorded MIDI region.
Cycle On: Set the behavior when Cycle mode is turned on.
- Create Take Folder: A new take folder is created containing the existing MIDI region and a MIDI region for each cycle repetition.
- Merge: Merges the newly recorded MIDI data in each cycle pass with the previously recorded MIDI data of overlapping MIDI region(s) into a single MIDI region.
- Merge Current Recording Only: Merges the new MIDI data in each cycle pass and creates a single MIDI region for the current recording. This does not change any existing overlapping MIDI region(s). Starting a new recording creates another overlapping region in the same location.
- Create Tracks: Automatically creates a new track (assigned to the same channel strip) for each cycle repetition containing new MIDI data. The newly created tracks play while you’re recording.
- Create Tracks and Mute: Automatically creates a new track (assigned to the same channel strip) for each cycle repetition containing new MIDI data. Regions on the newly created tracks are muted.
- Create Track Alternatives: A new track alternative is created with each cycle repetition containing the newly recorded MIDI region.
Replace pop-up menu: Set the behavior when Replace is turned on. To turn Replace on or off, click the Replace button in the control bar or press the Slash key (/) on the numeric keypad.
- Region Erase: Erases the section on any existing region on the track from the start of recording until the end of recording, even if no new MIDI data is received.
- Region Punch: Erases the section on any existing region on the track from the start of recording until the end of recording, but only where new MIDI data is received.
- Content Erase: Erases the MIDI data in the existing region from the start of recording until the end of recording, even if no new MIDI data is received.
- Content Punch: Erases the MIDI data in the existing region from the start of recording until the end of recording, but only where new MIDI data is received.

Overlapping Track Recordings: Audio

The following settings determine what happens when you record on a section of a track that has an existing audio region:

Cycle Off: Set the behavior when Cycle mode is turned off.
- Create Take Folder: A new take folder is created containing the existing audio region and the newly created audio region.
- Create Track: A new track is created for the new audio region. The new track is created after recording has stopped.
- Create Track Alternative: A new track alternative is created for the newly recorded audio region.
Cycle On: Set the behavior when Cycle mode is turned on.
- Create Take Folder: A new take folder is created containing the existing audio region and an audio region for each cycle repetition.
- Create Tracks and Mute: Automatically creates a new track for each audio region of a cycle repetition. Regions on the newly created tracks are muted.
- Create Track Alternatives: A new track alternative is created for each cycle repetition containing a newly recorded audio region.

Recording Project Settings button: Opens the Recording Project Settings pane. See Recording project settings.

Download the guides:

Logic Pro User Guide: PDF

Logic Pro Instruments: PDF

Logic Pro Effects: PDF

Control Surfaces Support Guide: PDF

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Logic Pro User Guide for Mac

Recording settings in Logic Pro for Mac

Audio Recording

MIDI Recording

Overlapping Track Recordings: MIDI

Overlapping Track Recordings: Audio