Logic Pro and Re-Wire

[Surfwhammy]

Hey there Surfwhammy,

I need your help! so I have read all of the amazing posts you have written about getting ReWire to work with Notion 3 and Logic Pro 9 and I still just can't get it to work.

I have downloaded Reason Demo, ReWire update 1.7.

I have enabled ReWire in Notion 3 and the file Notion Device.bundle has been created in the Propellorhead/ReWire folder.

I am in 32 bit mode as well.

I have watched your videos from start to finish and followed all instructions but there still seems to be something I am not doing right!

The problem at the moment: In logic when I am creating new AUX tracks I still don't have the option to select Notion 3 - it is just not there.

Any help is much appreciated. I'm not as tech savvy as you but will do my best,

Cheers.

THOUGHTS ON BOILED FROSTING

In some respects, doing ReWire is like making what I call "boiled frosting", which is highly dependent on everything even though it actually is just a meringue made with slowly dripped hot candy syrup, where you make candy syrup with pure cane sugar and water by boiling it until it is clear and thick so that when you let a drop of the hot candy syrup fall from a teaspoon it leaves a "hair" type of trail, and while the candy syrup is cooking, you whip the whites of a few eggs at high speed until the egg whites are the consistency of whipped cream and make little "peaks". Then with the mixer running at low speed, you slowly drip the candy syrup into the mixing bowl, where it blends with the meringue or whipped egg whites, and you can add a teaspoon of vanilla extract or peppermint, if you like peppermint, and then you whip it at high speed for a while longer . . .

[NOTE: There is another way to do this with a "candy maker pot" (a.k.a., "double boiler"), which is a large pot of boiling water on the bottom, and on top there is a smaller pot which literally sits atop the boiling water, where this ensures ensures that the candy mixture (pure cane sugar and water) never gets hotter than 212 degrees Fahrenheit at standard atmospheric pressure, hence does not get too hot, and in this strategy you whip everything in the top pot as it slowly heats, but I prefer the old-fashioned and more difficult technique using a single pot for the candy syrup, but it is a bit more finicky, especially with an electric stove . . . ]


Mauviel M'heritage Copper Double Boiler

The difficult part is getting the candy syrup to the correct thickness, which is highly dependent on the ambient room temperature and relative humidity, as is the case for whipping the egg whites to the correct consistency, and while the ingredients are very simple, there are so many dependencies and rules that this might be the most difficult type of cake frosting to make, and in some respects it is so sensitive to ambient room temperature, ingredient temperature, utensil temperature, relative humidity, and general event sequence timing that it can be made reliably only in certain locations, and while there are ways to deal with ambient room temperature and relative humidity, it is not so easy to deal with atmospheric pressure, which is another key aspect, because altitude affects the temperature at which the candy syrup boils . . .

How To Make Boiled Frosting (RecipeTips.com)

How to Make Boiled Frosting -- YouTube video tutorial

This is the "seven minute" technique, and it uses a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) double boiler, really . . .

How to Make Wedding Cake Frosting -- YouTube video tutorial

And this is a more traditional white icing . . .

[NOTE: This is a French buttercream icing enhanced with cream cheese that more than anything says, "Eat me!" . . . ]

How to Make White Icing -- YouTube video

Really!

REWIRE STRATEGY

ReWire with NOTION 3 and Logic Pro 9 on the Mac works, so it is just a matter of getting into what one might call "recipe mode" and doing all the steps in the correct sequence and so forth . . .

You need to set all the dual-mode ReWire applications to run in 32-bit mode, which specifically will be Logic Pro 9 (Apple) and Reason 6.5 (Propellerhead Software), since Logic Pro 9 and Reason 6.5 will install as 64-bit applications when the operating system is 64-bits . . .


Logic Pro 9 ~ Get Info ~ "Open in 32-bit mode" Option Checked


Reason 6.5 ~ Get Info ~ "Open in 32-bit mode" Option Checked

As you know, NOTION 3 is 32-bits only, so it does not need to be set. However, NOTION 4 can run in 32-bit mode or in 64-bit mode, but not simultaneously, so to use NOTION 4 in 32-bit mode you need to check the "Open in 32-bit mode" option on Get Info . . .

The testing I did applies to Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), and I used Reason 6.5 and Logic Pro 9 (Apple), but it should work with Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), as well . . .

THOUGHTS

ReWire is a bit finicky with respect to everything being configured correctly, and if ReWire is not configured correctly for a while, hence does not work, but you then determine how to configure it correctly but have not rebooted the Mac, ReWire might not work even though everything actually is correctly configured at that point, where the solution is to close all the applications and to do a reboot or restart of Mac OS X . . .

[NOTE: The reason a reboot or restart of the Mac is needed, which also is the case on Windows machines, is that there can be processes, threads, dynamic link libraries, and other stuff that stays in memory even though it should have been unloaded, and these things generally are called "ghost" or "phantom" entities, as in a "ghost process", "phantom thread", and so forth, and for all practical purposes doing a reboot or restart is the only way to get rid of them . . . ]

Another useful strategy is to get one thing working at a time, where you begin by getting Logic Pro 9 to be the ReWire host controller for Reason 6.5, and when that works, close all the apps, where the next step is to get NOTION 3 to be the ReWire host controller for Reason 6.5, and once that works, close all the apps and switch to Logic Pro 9 as the ReWire host controller and NOTION 3 as the ReWire slave . . .

(1) Get Logic Pro 9 to be the ReWire host controller and Reason 6.5 to be the ReWire slave . . .

(2) Get NOTION 3 to be the ReWire host controller and Reason 6.5 to be the ReWire slave . . .

(3) Get Logic Pro 9 to be the ReWire host controller and NOTION 3 to be the ReWire slave . . .

QUESTION: Did you get (1) to work?

If Logic Pro 9 is set to run in 32-bit mode and Reason 6.5 is set to run in 32-bit mode, then successfully doing the first step or scenario verifies that 32-bit ReWire is installed correctly, and doing the second step or scenario verifies that 32-bit ReWire is installed correctly for NOTION 3 to act as ReWire host controller, and the third step or scenario completes the verification . . .

And depending on the sequence of installing the various applications and ReWire1.7 and ReWire 2, it is a good idea to toggle the "Enable ReWire" option in NOTION 3, where with only NOTION 3 running, if the "Enable ReWire" option is checked, the uncheck it and quit NOTION 3, followed by running NOTION 3 and checking the "EnableReWire" option, at which time you will get a message saying that NOTION 3 is configuring ReWire, and when that is done, close NOTION 3 and do one of the three steps (see above) . . .

Also, be certain to close all apps before starting any of the three steps (see above) and after completing any of the three steps (see above) . . .

Another possibility, which is very subtle and easily missed, is that you must specify an "Input Device" in Logic Pro 9 Preferences for Audio, and this is the case even if there is no actual input device, as shown in the following screen capture . . .

[NOTE: This requirement in Logic Pro 9 is very subtle, and it appears to have no obvious connection to doing ReWire, but there must be an "Input Device" specified even if there is no actual input device connected to the Mac, and the other settings on the Audio tab are equally important . . . ]


Logic Pro 9 Preferences ~ Audio Section ~ Devices Tab ~ Core Audio Tab

STRATEGY

NOTION 3 works very nicely on the Mac with Logic Pro 9 and Digital Performer 7 (MOTU), and NOTION 4 works very nicely on the Mac with Logic Pro 9 and Digital Performer 8 in 64-bit mode . . .

It is entirely a matter of configuring and installing everything correctly, which is not difficult to do, but it has a lot of steps, rules, and so forth, hence it take a while the first time . . .

So, the best way for me to help you is for you to do the steps or scenarios (see above) one at time in sequence, where you report the results via a follow-up post to this topic . . .

In other words, let's begin by doing the first step, which is to have Logic Pro 9 running in 32-bit mode be the ReWire host controller for Reason 6.5 running in 32-bit mode . . .

So, do the first step, and let me know whether it works or has problems . . .

Lots of FUN!

[reubenstone]

Wow, frosting tips and Notion advice. I feel spoiled.

Ok so I have ran into problem number 1.

When I open 'Get info' on my Reason Demo, no option exists to open the program in 32-bit mode! Is this because it is the demo version?

I think you may have discovered my problem there^

Thanks again so much for your detailed response!

Cheers from Australia.

[reubenstone]

I think I might upgrade to Notion 4. This will make things easier me thinks.

[Surfwhammy]

Wow, frosting tips and Notion advice. I feel spoiled.

Ok so I have ran into problem number 1.

When I open 'Get info' on my Reason Demo, no option exists to open the program in 32-bit mode! Is this because it is the demo version?

I think you may have discovered my problem there^

Thanks again so much for your detailed response!

Cheers from Australia.

As noted (see below), if you are using the Reason 5 DEMO, then there will be no "Open in 32-bit mode" option, because Reason 5 only runs as a 32-bit application . . .

NOTE: For the first two questions, you can get the answers by clicking on the "About this Mac" menu item, which will be the menu item when you left-click on the Apple icon at the top-left of the your display, and then click on "More info . . . ", where it will list the general model of your Mac (iMac, Mac Pro, or whatever) and other information, but not the actual model number. Instead it probably will list the date bug more like "Early 2008" or something similar. And "More Info . . . " is where you can verify that Mac OS X is running in 32-bit mode or 64-bit model, which you do by clicking on the "System Report . . . " button which is found on the "More Info . . . " dialog . . . ]

QUESTION #1: Which version of Mac OS X are you running?

QUESTION #2: Which model Mac are you using?

QUESTION #3: Which version of Reason is the DEMO that you are using?

QUESTION #4: Does "Reason" appear in the list of ReWire application in Logic Pro 9 (Apple) when you create an Auxiliary Channel Strip?

If so, then select one of the Reason channel pairs and see if Logic Pro 9 can control Reason via ReWire, where Logic Pro 9 will be the ReWire host controller. If your DEMO version of Reason is 32-bit only, then Logic Pro 9 running in 32-bit mode will be able to act as the ReWire host controller when Reason is running as a ReWire slave . . .

QUESTION 5: Does Logic Pro 9 have the "Open in 32-bit mode" option?

THOUGHTS

From what you described, if I were guessing I would guess Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), or Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), and that you Mac might have a Power PC processor instead of an Intel processor if you are running Tiger or Leopard, or even Snow Leopard . . .

The only explanations for not having an "Open in 32-bit mode" option for the Reason DEMO are either (a) that you are running a 32-bit version of Mac OS X or (b) that you are running an older version of the Reason DEMO which was available only for 32-bits, either Reason 4 or Reason 5 . . .

If you Mac has a Power PC rather than an Intel processor, then it is time to get a new Mac, and the new iMac models are very nice and quite peppy,where the new 24" iMac probably is faster than the 2.8-GHz 8-core Mac Pro with 20GB of memory that I use here in the sound isolation studio, and for reference it makes sense to have a larger display when you plan to run two or three digital music production applications in a ReWire scenario. I have a 20" Apple Cinema Display, and it really is too small to see everything when I run Logic Pro or Digital Perfoemer (7.24 or 8) as ReWire host controller along with NOTION and Reason running as ReWIre slaves, really . . .

Really!

And there are restrictions on some of the early-Intel Macs with respect to being able to run the most current version of Mac OS X, which is Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) . . .

If (a) you are running Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and (b) your Mac hardware supports running in 64-bit mode, then you should be OK to move to Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), but I would check on it, since there are various Mac hardware requirements . . .

Regarding Reason on the Mac, when the version of Reason supports 32-bit mode and 64-bit mode, the Reason installer sets the mode depending on the mode of the operating system, so if you are running a 32-bit version of Mac OS X, then Reason will be set to run in 32-bit mode, but you can change it if you switch to running Mac OS X in 64-bit mode, and the same will apply to Logic Pro 9 (Apple) . . .

[NOTE: Reason 5 was 32-bit only, and when it is examined with Get Info there is no "Open in 32-bit mode" option, but Reason 6.5 is dual-mode, and it has the "Open in 32-bit mode" option, which you can check or uncheck depending on the mode in which you want to run Reason 6.5 . . . ]

As noted, I am running Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion), and Logic Pro 9, NOTION 4, and Reason 6.5 all of the "Open in 32-bit mode" option when you examine them with Get Info, and I set or clear the option depending on what I need to do (32-bit mode or 64-bit mode), but Mac OS X 10.8.2 is a 64-bit operating system, although it has a 32-bit "sandbox" for running 32-bit applications . . .

NOTION 3 is 32-bit only, while NOTION 4 can run in 32-bit mode or 64-bit mode, but not both simultaneously . . .

If you are running Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) and you Mac supports running in 64-bit mode, then you can boot to 64-bit mode, as well as set a parameter so that Mac OS X 10.6 always runs in 64-bit mode . . .

The article at this link provides information on determining whether Mac hardware supports running in 64-bit mode, and it also provides instructions on how to boot to 64-bit mode . . .

Booting into 64-bit mode (Snow Leopard)

And you also need to verify that you can run the Reason DEMO standalone, since after 30 days the Reason DEMO expires, which can be another problem for testing with the FREE Reason DEMO . . .

SUMMARY

The first step is to get the Reason DEMO to run on your Mac, at which time you can do the first test (see earlier posts), which is to have Logic Pro 9 running 32-bit mode as the ReWire host controller with Reason running in 32-bit mode as the ReWire slave . . .

Lots of FUN!

P. S. Regarding the boiled frosting recipe, I am pondering the idea of doing a short video on making boiled frosting, which I then will use to demonstrate using NOTION 4 and DIgital Performer 8 via ReWire 2 for working with a soundtrack, so it is not entirely off-the-wall, where one of the ideas is to make a chocolate cake with boiled frosting, which might be interesting, since the combination of chocolate cake and boiled frosting (a.k.a, "Italian Meringue frosting") is excellent, and I want to do a video tutorial showing how to use Digital Performer 8 and NOTION 4 via ReWire 2 for doing film scoring, really . . .

[NOTE: There are three types of meringue, and Italian meringue is the most difficult of the three to make . . . ]

Types of Meringue (wikipedia)

Really!

[Admin]

Have you set up a Rewire Device in the Logic Environment?

Here is how you do this:

1. Open the Logic Environment window "Command + 8"
2. Go to the "New" dropdown.
3. Go to "Internal"
4. Click "Rewire"
5. This will place a Rewire Device in your Logic Score
6. Now click on the Rewire Device that appeared in your Environment Window
7. To the left of the Window, you must select the device that you are wanting to use. Click the Device Dropdown and click on Notion.

After setting this up, as long as you have set Notion to Enable Rewire as Surfwhammy pointed out, you will be able to set up a rewire track in logic:

1. Add a new software instrument.
2. Right-click on the new software instrument and navigate to Reassign Track>Mixer and click on the Rewire Device that is in the menu.

Once this is set, it will show up in your Library any time you have highlighted that Rewire track.

I hope this helps. I know it is a little convoluded, but that is the way that Logic handles it.

[Reuben]

It worked Admin! Thank you so much. And thanks very much to you to SW - I have learnt a lot about the process of ReWire through you.

I now have another small problem, which I am sure there is an obvious answer to. My N3 track now plays through Logic now when I press play in Logic - but the audio wave is non existant (I mean the audio that you see in green in Logic that you can then tweak, pan, fade etc.)

How do I get this? this is why I wanted to ReWire so I can add effects etc. to individual instruments in my N3 compositions.

Thanks again everyone.

[Surfwhammy]

I now have another small problem, which I am sure there is an obvious answer to. My N3 track now plays through Logic now when I press play in Logic - but the audio wave is non existant (I mean the audio that you see in green in Logic that you can then tweak, pan, fade etc.)

[NOTE: Answering the questions about your Mac and software continues to be important (see my previous post for the questions) . . . ]

One of the things I discovered is that it did not appear to be possible to hear the audio for an Auxiliary Channel Strip, but I solved the problem by using a Bus to send the ReWire audio from the Auxiliary Channel Strip to an Audio Track, where the Input to the Audio Track is the Bus from the Auxiliary Channel Strip, all of which is explained in the video that I did on using Logic Pro 9 as the ReWire host controller for NOTION . . .

In Logic Pro 9, you will see tiny buttons labeled "I", "M", "R", and "S", where the "I" button is for input monitoring, "M" is the mute button, and the "R" button is used to record-enable a track prior to recording the track, and "S" is used to solo a track, where there is a particular sequence of button actions in Logic Pro 9 for playing vs. recording . . .

THOUGHTS

[NOTE: This is how it looked after I did the Admin steps with a few modifications, where the thing that did not work was clicking on the tiny "ReWire" icon shown at the right between the "NTN-AUX" auxiliary channel strip and the "Output 1-2" track, but clicking on "Device" at the far-left allowed me to select "Notion", which I think is the goal, although this is new aspect of Logic Pro 9 for me . . . ]


Logic Pro 9 Environment ~ NOTION ReWire

It is not so easy for me to determine exactly what you are doing at present in terms of auxiliary channel strips and audio tracks, so I am doing a bit of guessing based on what I know works . . .

[NOTE: This is the aforementioned video, and it explains the tiny square buttons and the way they are used for playback vs. recording, and it also explains the way to use a Bus to send the audio from an Auxiliary Channel Strip to an Audio Track . . . ]

How to use ReWire to work with a NOTION 3 Score in Logic Pro 9 (Surfwhammy) -- Windows Media Video -- WMV (26.8MB, approximately 17 minutes and 2 seconds)

And this is the more recent video where I used Logic Pro 9, Reason 6.5, and NOTION 4 in 64-bit mode to demonstrate a more advanced ReWire 2 session . . .

[NOTE: Special thanks to the Techno Squirrels, who did the Reason 6.5 Demo song that I used in the video, with everything running in 64-bit mode in Mac OS X 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) . . . ]

Logic Pro 9, NOTION 4, Reason 6.5, and ReWire 2 -- 64-bits -- High-Resolution QuickTime Movie -- MOV (19MB, approximately 6 minutes)

SUMMARY

Everything works, and the key is to configure it correctly, which is based on knowing certain information (32-bit mode vs. 64-bit mode, versions of applications and operating system, and so forth) . . .

Generally, being able to hear audio in Logic Pro 9 is a matter of having input monitoring enabled and set, which is done with the tiny square "I" button, but you need to distinguish between hearing real-time incoming audio from NOTION and hearing already recorded soundbites in Logic Pro 9, where the key bit of information is that NOTION will continue to stream real-time audio to Logic Pro 9 even though you have recorded it, so if you want to hear the already recorded audio, this has a different setting from hearing the real-time streaming audio, where the tiny square 'I" button is the key, since when enabled the tiny square "I" button tells Logic Pro 9 that you want to hear the input rather than what you already have recorded for the respective track in Logic Pro 9, which is the way it works in Digital Performer (MOTU), as well, except the button is larger and is labeled "Input" rather than being smaller and labeled "I" . . .

If you have a way to do a screen capture and to post it, then seeing the Audio Track and Auxiliary Channel Strip in Logic Pro 9 will be helpful, since I need a frame of reference to answer your question without needing to guess what you are doing . . .

And the key bit of information is that it works on the Mac, and I have verified the two scenarios (NOTION 3 with Logic Pro 9 in 32-bit mode and NOTION 4 with Logic Pro 9 in 64-bit mode), where (a) it works and (b) I proved it via the video tutorials (see above) . . .

It also is important to understand that doing ReWire is an activity that is in the upper echelon of Geekdom, and until you discover how and why it works, it is a bit beyond mind-boggling, but once it makes sense, it is very easy to do, which is a bit of a "Catch 22" . . .

This also is one of the reasons that when I get around to writing the technical book on digital music production, I am doing it based on the requirement that you need to have an Apple computer and a specific set of software, since this simplifies the variations for doing the required configuration stuff, where I will limit it to whatever is the current version of Mac OS X and so forth and so on, because otherwise there are exceptions, caveats, and other stuff that makes everything overly complex, and everything already is vastly complex, so keeping it as simple and straightforward as possible based on a verified "formula" or "system" is the best strategy, where if I include screen captures at least some of the information will be outdated in a month or two, but so what . . .

So what!

And part of the idea is that if one has from $6,500 to $25,000 (US) and is reasonably smart, then there is a verified way to do digital music production where the songs will sound as good technically as the songs the Beatles recorded at Abbey Road Studios under the guidance of George Martin and the Abbey Road Studios' audio engineers . . .

There are no guarantees that the songs will be as good as Beatles songs, but they will sound as good, which in the grand scheme of everything is excellent and is based in part on using professionally recorded and sampled sounds of the various high-quality instruments being played by skilled musicians, all of which you control via music notation . . .

For reference the aforementioned budget generally is apportioned as follows:

(1) Apple computer and external audio interface (MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid): $2,500 to $5,000 (US)

(2) Microphones and Cables: $500 to $1,000 (US)

(3) Digital Music Production software: $2,500 to $5,000 (US)

(4) Calibrated Full-Range Studio Monitor System (includes calibrating equipment and software): $1,500 to $2,500 (US)

[NOTE: If you cannot hear the music and singing accurately, then you are spinning wheels and wasting your valuable time. The only way to ensure that you hear everything accurately is to have a calibrated full-range studio monitor system, where "full-range" refers to 20-Hz to 20,000-Hz at a flat equal loudness curve at 85 dB SPL . . . ]

The Fabulous Affordable Studio Monitor System Project (IK Multimedia FORUM)

(5) Real Instruments: depends on your specific needs, desires, and budget . . .

And the purchasing and working can be done in steps, but getting an Apple computer is the first step, which should be followed immediately by getting NOTION 4 (Notion Music), MachFive 3 (MOTU), Kontakt 5 (Native Instruments), and Total Studio Bundle 2 (IK Multimedia), since you need to be able to work with music notation, VSTI virtual instruments, and VST effects plug-ins at least somewhat proficiently, which can keep you busy for a year or longer if you need to learn music notation, during which time you can start saving money for getting more of the stuff you need . . .

Your songs and lyrics might be beyond terrible, but the instruments and singing will be recorded correctly, and it will sound good from a technical perspective, which is an excellent foundation, since even though your songs and lyrics might be terrible at first, if you work on it for a while, then it probably will get better, where the basic premise is that if you want to be a good golfer, then you need a good set of professionally measured and fitted golf clubs, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

P. S. The importance of using an Apple computer is that so long as (a) your Mac is from early 2008 or later and (b) you are running Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) or Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion), then it will work the same for everything as the 2.8-GHz 8-core Mac Pro with 20GB of memory (Early 2008) here in the sound isolation studio, which for example maps to my being able to help you in great detail if you have a new Mac mini, iMac, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, or have one of the various models obtained sometime over the past four or so years, since there is great consistency in the Mac universe . . .

And even if you are using a different external digital audio interface (something other than a MOTU 828mkII or MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid), we can switch to using Built-In audio, which will be Core Audio, and then we are on the same page with respect to configuring stuff and setting parameters so long as we are running the same version of Mac OS X, within a version or two , which makes it easier to explain all this stuff, really . . .

Really!