General Trouble Shooting Tips for New Users

Question

Ok so we're starting a Topic to help out people just starting up with Logic Express.
Me and a few others who frequent this board with a load of good answers thought it would be a good idea to offer a little helping hand to new users. Hopefully avoiding them their lapses in confidence and creativity by the way of limited techincal knowledge.
As far as Professional sequencers and recorders go Logic is pretty straight forward and quite basic too. If you're coming from either using Garage Band 1/2 or maybe even a PC with Cubase, Cool Edit, Sonar or otherwise. You may find it baffeling to start with.
So we hope this can be of some help to you.

Answer 1

Crack open the champagne it's Tip 1.
First off if you are using an external audio interface make sure it's plugged into your computer, it's powered up and drivers are installed. If using the internal sound card make sure all your connecting cables work ok and they are plugged in.
If you're running Logic for the first time, it should recognise compatible audio interfaces when you run the initial setup. It should also set this to be the default interface from now on.
If you've already been using Logic for a while and have just invested, then make sure and to to Preference/Audio and to the drivers panel. Select the driver there and leave all other settings as they are by default to avoid confusion.
This should then allow you to record audio. SO go to the Edit/Arrangement window and make an Audio if there's not already one there. Then head over to the Mix window and find that channel (Audio 1 is normally all the way to the left). You'll see the faders and just above them the panners, above these will be two boxes the top is to set the input channel on your interface, and the second is the output.
Set these according to the signal path you're trying to record hit the "Rec" button on that channel and you should either see the meter move up and down corresponding the sound, or you'll see the meter and hear the sound as well.
You can turn off the software monitoring (ie being able to hear the sound coming in) in the same preference panel we looked at earlier. Under "Software Monitoring".
Now you should be ready to record the sound. Switch back to the Edit/Arrange window and hit record in the transport bar. PERFORM. Hit stop. Go back to the start of the sound and hit play.
NOW
If you don't hear sound check the easiest things first. Is you audio interface or internal sound card connected to a set of speakers? Be it by means of an amplifier first or maybe you got some flash active ones!?
Do the cable you're using to connect with actually work?
Is the volume control up on the amp? Are the speakers plugged in?
This may sound stupid but it's the most annoy thing to do wrong and it DOES happen.
If this still doesn't work then double check all your drivers are there present and correct, the volume control in the computer is turned up, you have assign a valid output, and all levels within any software mixer that came with your interface are also all the way up.
Still nothing? Post a detailed description of your setup and problem in the forum and someone will answer it probably within a day or so.
Don't forget READ the manual, don't expect this to as easy as Garageband it's a different scale of operation which given time can reap massive rewards. Not always monitary mind you.
Good luck.
HTH
P.s. don't forget to rate posts you find helpful.