If you read CDM’s last ten blog posts backwards, you might discover the following: Paul is dead. The Environment is no longer in Logic Pro 8. Neither is true.
Despite numerous rumors to the contrary, general speculation that it might go away as Apple refocuses on ease of use, and me misreading tech sheets and panicking long-time users, the Environment remains in Logic Pro 8. The Environment is an entirely modular setup that allows you to effectively rewire the way MIDI and audio are managed in Logic. There’s never been anything else quite like it in a traditional DAW, particularly when you start manipulating MIDI data note-by-note, channel-by-channel, and so on.
From the tech specs, as caught by a couple of eagle-eyed readers, under Ultimate Writing Studio:
“Creative MIDI processing and routing in the Environment”
So, there you have it: the Environment lives. This may be non-news to some of you, but having seen what Logic ninjas can do with the Environment, I am convinced it could remain beloved by power users — and even that, with proper explanation of what the heck it does, could be accessible to new audiences. It’s not Max/MSP, but then, that’s not the intention: Max is useful for building ground-up synths and interactive setups, whereas the main advantage of Logic’s Environment is its integration with your DAW. (And odds are, if you can use one, you can learn the other.)
My apologies for scaring Environment fans and generally being inaccurate, but I’m at least happy to bring this news, even if belated.