5 Underrated Logic Pro Stock Plugins For Music Production

There are multiple factors that make Logic Pro one of the world’s most popular Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs), one of which is its impressive collection of premium-quality stock plugins.

Some of Logic Pro's best free stock plugins, include types of analog modelled equalizers and compressors.

However, Logic Pro offers much more than a few fundamental plugins. Many users overlook Logic’s extensive plugin and sound library and rush into installing third-party VSTs. Even with a quick five-minute browse, you’ll be surprised by how many practical plugins you can find in Logic’s Audio FX library.

In this post, I will show you five of the most underrated stock plugins in Logic Pro that you can use in your projects. Some of the plugins on this list can be used for all sorts of tracks and instruments, whereas two are specifically for MIDI instruments.

1. Exciter

You might have noticed that there are no standalone stock saturation plugins in Logic Logic Pro.

In spite of that, there are ways you can saturate audio in Logic using stock plugins. The Exciter is an underrated plugin that works similarly to a saturation plugin when applied to your tracks.

The Exciter adds artificial harmonics to a specific set of frequencies. I personally prefer using this plugin to target a track’s high-end frequencies because the ear can’t really tell if these harmonies are artificial or not above the 15kHz threshold. Adding the Exciter to the low-end frequencies, especially if it’s a vocals track, might sound a little too obvious.

To add the Exciter plugin to your track:

•  Click the little “i” in a circle from the top-left corner of your screen to open the Inspector menu.

•  From the left inspector channel strip, Click “Audio FX” to open the list of effects and plugins.

•  Hover your pointer on “Specialized” and select “Exciter.”

The plugin’s interface is pretty straightforward: you have a graph showing you the frequency spectrum and a big knob for controlling the harmonics. You can move the dot on the graph to change the threshold of frequencies affected by the Exciter plugin.

Moreover, you can have two sets of harmonics by switching between Color 1 and Color 2. The first offers a less dense harmonic distortion spectrum, whereas the latter creates more intense harmonic distortions.

2. Pitch Shifter

Logic Pro’s pitch shifter is a simple yet powerful plugin that you can use in a number of ways, depending on how far your imagination goes!

When applied to a track, the pitch shifter creates a copy of the original sound and allows you to adjust the pitch, either by semitones or cents (1/100 of a semitone), delay it by milliseconds, and mix it with the original signal according to your preference.

To add the pitch shifter plugin to your track:

•  Click the little “i” in a circle from the top-left corner of your screen to open the Inspector menu.

•  From the left inspector channel strip, Click “Audio FX” to open the list of effects and plugins.

•  Hover your pointer on “Pitch” and select “Pitch Shifter.”

I’ve seen experienced producers use this plugin by bussing it on vocal tracks. Add two buses, each with the pitch shifter plugin, and pan them to the left and right. Slightly reduce the pitch by a few cents in one, and increase the pitch by the same amount on another. In this way, your vocal track gets an exciting depth, as if it’s more than just one track!

Tip: Compressing audio is one of the primary ways to make your tracks sound louder and cut through the mix with more clarity. Thankfully, Logic offers excellent compressor plugins that you can use for vocals and different instruments. You can find the ultimate guide to use Logic Pro’s compressors in another post.

3. Arpeggiator (MIDI)

Many producers use MIDI keyboards to play virtual instruments and synthesizers in Logic. The primary aspect of a MIDI keyboard is that it emulates a piano keyboard to trigger different notes and sounds. However, an excellent advantage of MIDI over audio tracks is the flexibility in editing and programming each and every parameter to your liking during production.

Logic’s built-in arpeggiator is an advanced plugin that can help you turn a collection of simple MIDI notes into complex patterns.

To add Logic’s arpeggiator to your MIDI track:

•  From the top-left corner of your screen, click the little “i” in a circle to open the Inspector menu.

•  From the left inspector channel strip, click “MIDI FX.”

•  Select “Arpeggiator.”

The Arpeggiator plugin allows you to trigger up to 16 notes at a time to create patterns. In the center of the plugin’s interface, there are five buttons that you can choose from to change the general pattern of the arpeggiated sound.

To their left, the rate knob adjusts how fast or slow these notes are played based on tempo divisions (1/16 of a bar, for instance).

Tip: when working with MIDI instruments, it is critical to avoid making every note perfectly aligned to the grid with a stable trend in velocity across the entire track. In another post, I have covered multiple tips and tricks for making MIDI instruments sound more natural in Logic Pro.

4. Tremolo

Tremolo is a popular effect mainly used in vintage guitar combo amps, where it is sometimes referred to as vibrato. While similar, vibrato and tremolo have distinctive differences that set them apart.

Logic’s tremolo plugin modulates the amplitude of the incoming signal, which results in periodic volume changes. Tremolo is usually associated with the electric guitar, but you can add this plugin to other instruments to create interesting dynamics in your projects.

To add the tremolo effect to your track:

•  Open the Inspector menu by clicking on the little “i” in a circle on the top-left side of your screen.

•  From the left inspector channel strip, click “Audio FX.”

•  Hover your pointer on “Modulation” and select “Tremolo.”

You can take it a step further and automate tremolo’s rate in your track to make the effect faster and slower in different parts of your song.

Tip: one of the most essential parts of making your vocal tracks sound professional is adjusting different frequencies. Logic’s built-in Channel EQ plugin is a powerful tool for reducing unwanted frequencies and boosting desirable ones.

5. Transposer (MIDI)

Lastly, the transposer plugin in Logic can transpose incoming MIDI notes in real time according to a selected scale. This is particularly useful for less-experienced keyboard players who want to play a track on a specific scale but don’t have a full grasp of all the notes and chord patterns in that scale.

To add the transposer plugin to your MIDI track:

•  From the top-left corner of your screen, click the little “i” in a circle to open the Inspector menu.

•  From the left inspector channel strip, click “MIDI FX.”

•  Select “Transposer.”

You can use this plugin to simply transpose incoming MIDI notes by 24 semitones. Moreover, you can choose a scale and root (for example, A harmonic minor), and all the MIDI notes outside of that scale will be transposed to the closest note in the scale.

The piano roll on the bottom section of the plugin’s interface allows you to create your custom scales by turning notes off.

Tip: besides audio FX plugins, Logic also offers an extensive list of high-quality virtual instruments. Logic’s Alchemy is a mighty synthesizer with an endless list of presets, modes, and effects that you can use to create music.

Final Thoughts: Don’t Miss Out On Stock Plugins

The plugins I mentioned in this post are impressively valuable and practical, but the list of Logic’s powerful plugins does not end here. Make sure to take your time and check out other tools that Logic Pro offers.

Once you’ve familiarized yourself with Logic’s stock plugins, you can take your music production to the next level by installing free third-party plugins.

If you need more help regarding music production, mixing, mastering, or songwriting, I recommend downloading my Free 6 Pillars To Learn Logic Pro Faster.