Sharing My Spark/Logic Pro Workflow

[yangtze]

Hi there

I've kind of fallen into a workflow pattern using the very wonderful Spark that seems to work for me at the moment. I wanted to share to see if my fellow Spark users might want to comment, suggest improvements, or maybe find it useful.

1. I usually start with preset patterns and adapt to taste.
2. I build my patterns into 'first draft' songs in Spark using the fabulously easy song editor.
3. I solo each Spark instrument and bounce the entire track into Logic. So if there are six instruments in the track there will be six bounces, one bounce for each instrument.
4. I create a number of audio tracks in Logic equal to the number of bounces I have, and drag each bounce to its own audio track.

I then have an audio track per instrument for the entire song, and I can apply Logic effects to and adjust the volume of the individual instruments. Editing the song as it grows and creating fills and so on is easy using Logic's cut and paste tools.

I know I can click and drag Spark patterns directly to Logic, but then I have the hassle of splitting them by instrument and rebuilding the song again, so I don't see that would save me much time.

It would be nice to click a single button and have every Spark instrument recorded on its own audio track in Logic. Or click and drag an entire song into Logic audio, somehow splitting by instrument or at least being able to click and drag soloed instruments.

Anyway, Spark is my favourite drum machine by a long way at the moment—considering sound, workflow, preset usability, and tweakability—and I've used many

https://soundcloud.com/yangtze

[Seb]

Nice workflow!

One thing you could try is to send each Spark track to different outputs (you can select that in the mixer panel), and route them to individual tracks in Logic. This way, you can apply individual effects for each track without having to bounce first, and once you want to bounce, you can arm all tracks at the same time, and record each instrument on its own track in one take!

One thing you will miss with the individual outputs is the master effects (the two inserts, XY Slicer and Filter).

[yangtze]

Hi Seb

Ah yes, I am aware of this method. I did try it once but I felt there were some problems with it:

1. I'm not sure what I'm hearing. I think I'm hearing Spark output plus output of audio tracks. This means the final recorded audio is much quieter than the sound I'm monitoring. I couldn't see a way of muting Spark before audio tracks were recorded. Why is the recorded audio of the multi-out Spark o much quieter than the recorded audio of the stereo Spark? Is it simply the loss of the master effects? Which brings me to...

2. As you point out, the master effects don't record, so you have to spend time using your DAW effects to try to recreate the original sound.

Don

[Seb]

The lower volume is most most likely due to the master effects, indeed. Look for a compressor or a limiter with an insane output gain, that's probably it.

[yangtze]

Thanks Seb. Do you think multi-out audio recording with effects might be possible in a future update?

[Seb]

I don't think that is technically possible.

For instance, a compressor has an effect that depends on the input source (it's a dynamic processor). So you send everything to the compressor, and the output result depends of the sum of the individual tracks that went through it.

Once you come out of the compressor, there is no way to tell which part of the signal came from which input track, it's all merged together.

That's probably why the XY filter/slicer are only routed to the master track, and not the individual outs. It would take 16 slicers and 16 filters to have the same effect with individual outs.

[yangtze]

Thanks Seb, I thought that might be the case.