Would a keyboard with after touch work with logic

Question

Hi anybody out there know if a master midi controller keyboard with" after touch " feature make any difference to triggering extra features on a software instrument?
The keyboard I'm using at the moment is just a midi / USB ...
Don't get me wrong it works perfectly with LOgic
Let me give an example on a trumpet sound with the keyboard I had years ago you could press the keys after playing the note and get a vibrato effect ...
Which was very nice and made it sound more authentic....
The effect was delayed slightly and made it sound event more real,
I'm just wondering if a similar function exists in logic ...or will I be wasting my money...
Thanks...let me know...

Answer 1

"After touch" as you have called it is controller data. So is modulation (from your mod wheel) volume, expression, pitch bend, velocity, and many others. All of these are sen by Logic as just that, controller data. You can edit the controller data in Logic, as well assign it to various parameters in the sound that you are using.
It sounds like you have been thinking about a keyboard where certain sounds are programmed so that the after touch data is interpreted as a vibrato cotroller, with a pre programmed delay. This is programming that is specific to the sound (I bet the piano sound doesn't behave like this)
So the answer to your question is, yes, Logic can read and record the after touch information (it would probably be called "channel pressure"), and use it to modulate your sound in any way you choose. You may find some sounds are pre programmed to do this, others you would be able to program to respond to the channel pressure in all manner of ways (like open or close filters).
Personally, I find it a clumsy way to conduct business, and I have it permanently turned off on my Korg Trinity when I use it as a controller keyboard. (Generally I prefer the USB controller from M Audio, which has no channel pressure). Unless you are an extremely gifted keyboard player with a very delicate touch, you will want to come back and re edit the data anyway to get exactly what you want, in which case you may as well program it after the fact with the mod wheel, which would be much more controllable.
Many libraries are layered extensively, and some of the layers and articulations have vibrato included n the sample (eg with orchesral instruments). Now that's more authentic than merely applying an LFO to a single sound.
But that takes a lot more money and experience and time. That's why good music production costs money.
If you had a keyboard that you really liked with after touch programmed into sounds that worked for you, of course you could hook it up to Logic, and then loop the midi back out to it and also use it as a sound module (don't forget to turn the "local" keyboard function off in the settings). This would work.
But to expect that all or most of Logic's own VI's have perfectly programmed after touch parameters, er, probably not. But you could program or tweak them once you got into the programming deeply enough.
Good luck with that.