FL Studio 10

[Syntex]

Alright so I always wanted to make music, mostly of the electronic type and found this really powerful program for it called FL Studio.

This is basically the Adobe Photoshop of making, mixing, and producing music in the right hands and I've been fooling around with it for about 2 weeks.

I was wondering if anyone on here has some experience with the program and actually makes music with it. I'm just starting out and being that this is more of a hobby(since I know next to nothing about music in general) I'm pretty bad at it but its a work in progress.

I'm currently using the demo and its pretty amazing. Free trial here http://flstudio.image-line.com/documents/download.html

The demo AFAIK is the full version but won't let you open stuff.

Anyone else played with this and has some tips/tricks/music they want to share?

Oh And here are some videos of what you can do with it...

Spoiler: show

[isladar]

Describing FL Studio as a "powerhouse" made me smile. I've been using it since like.. fuck, version 2 point something? It's come a long, long way from its beginnings. The DAW-snobs will probably continue look down their collective noses at it, but it really has improved and expanded. I haven't upgraded to 10 yet (still using 9 point something), but from everything I've read 10 is pretty neat. Have they upgraded it to support X64? FL can be semi-limiting if you're trying to record actual instruments into your computer, but if you want to use it as a computer-only vehicle for VSTs and the like I think it's tops. The general rule of thumb with DAWs is use what is the most intuitive for you, and so far I haven't found a piano roll that I like as much as FL.



Made the above to show Woozie (another FL junkie) a particular piano I liked, but that was done with the piano roll entirely.

I've used Logic, Cakewalk (or whatever they call it now), Sonar Studio One, Ableton Live and Reaper, and while they all have strengths, I really prefer FL.

[Syntex]

Well there is this video that shows you all the new features of 10.



Song was made with FL Studio btw.

[Mathematics]

flstudio is the program to use if you dont have any kind of midi controller. its kindof like the best of the worst.
i dont know what kind of music youre trying to make but youre gonna need to download some nicer sample packs and such.
you should toy around with the plugin generators and download more of them
sytrus, i think, is the best one that comes with flstudio. you can use your keyboard as a controller kindof(play keys using keyboard)

[ByeByeTasai]

FL studio has a lot of potential if you really get involved with editing the effects, and get many different plugins. If you want realistic sound without getting too deep into the editing look into Project 5, or whatever the current cakewalk/sonar program is. Been a few years since I've looked into new programs.

[vagus]

FL Studio is a good start if you're looking into sampling. You should look on CL and find a basic midi controller. It will make the experience much better and only cost $50. When i was doing production work I used Propellerhead's Reason as it had better kits for making hip-hop. Once the track was done i would import into Pro Tools. Nowadays producers use whatever makes the best sounds. Reason is a virtual studio rack and has some nice features. ReDrum is an amazing drum kit, Malström & Subtractor are great synths & NN-XT a crazy sampler. Reason is a bit more difficult to learn as you have to run all these devices and a lot is going on at a time. But it's something to look into if you want an experience closer to a hardware setup. If you find FL Studio the best then stick with it. Good luck and have fun.



Some inspiration. Madeon is a kid from France and this song is mixed live.

P.S. Didn't know you were interested in music production Isladar.

[Shuichi]

FL is a cool program. If you are so inclined, also check out Sequel (http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/sequel.html), or for more advanced usage, Cubase SX, Logic, or ProTools. ProTools is the music industry standard at the time, due to their integration of hardware and software. A true ProTools (not ProTools LE) rig can cost in the thousands, however, the hardware is pretty good. However, it's been my experience that ProTools runs like shit on anything other than a Mac (and has sub-par MIDI features), so definitely look into Sequel. If you are putting together loops from a library of samples Sequel is quite good and affordable (The price for the full version of Sequel is $99). When you're ready to go into more detail with your works check out hardware like the RME Fireface 800+Cubase SX.

I've had experience with Cakewalk/Sonar, ProTools, and Cubase, but by far Cubase is my favorite. I am still using Cubase SX 3 that I purchased a few years ago, because I'm comfortable with it and don't want to spend money to upgrade. Though, I hear the latest iteration of Cubase is quite nice. I also have a dusty copy of ProTools LE that came with an also dusty Digi002 I bought a few years ago as well but haven't touched it since I bought Cubase. Good luck with your music production and enjoy!

Edit: Here's the full site for Sequel. A demo version is available. http://www.sequel-music.net/en/home.html.

[Franzer]

Personally, i've always found Ableton Live to be soooo much better. While FL Studio is a great program, I just find production in Ableton a lot better. Obviously the cost is a lot larger, but you get what you pay for in my opinion.

[isladar]

It's honestly gotten to the point with DAWs that you can do anything you want to in any of them, and that people's preferences are in the ease of workflow rather than in "oh, PROGRAM X is far better at this than PROGRAM Y". A good portion of my friends swear up and down about Ableton, so I was determined to give it a shot. The program is amazing -- I just don't think about music like that. It was fun as hell to mash up all kinds of files and do a 'live' remix, but as far as composition went I felt completely strapped. I know a lot of people use it to spark ideas, and for that I can totally see it.

I've had no issue with FL with regards to MIDI controllers either, though obviously some DAWs are pretty much built entirely for plugging in hardwear and making it go. I see FL as a familiar shell that I can use to run VSTs and compose in, but I move my pieces over to yet another program for arrangement -- FL's arrangement/mixer doesn't 'feel' right to me! It's really all about how you think.

I do like that you only buy FL once -- free updates for life! Reaper is another amazing DAW, and with a $40 license cost, there is really no excuse not to have a legit copy. Obviously a full ProTools setup is not within the means of most people, but even still, more expense does not equate to the program being the 'right' one for you. Demos are seriously your friend.

[vagus]

Ableton is a great step from FL Studio from what I hear. Cubase seems to be very popular and the least amount of problems when using VST's. Also there is a stereotype when you admit to using FL Studio. I'll be honest i looked down on producers that used it when I was in audio engineering class. Now at the end of the day, don't matter what you use as long as it sounds good. ProTools is meant more for post-production. If you're serious about producing music at some point you will run into a Pro Tools setup to do final editing.

[Moridam]

i've been messing around in FL a bit since this thread came up, although i really have no idea what i'm doing, or what i want to do with it. but it's pretty fun so far! my first impression is that interface-wise it seems a lot more approachable than reason, which i've seen a friend of mine use to great effect but just looking at his setup made my eyes glaze over trying to work out what was going on.

[Franzer]

Another program I should also recommend is Renoise. While its a lesser known program, those with experience with trackers (fasttracker, milkytracker, etc) will feel right at home. The licensing cost is very low considering what you get, and as far as a tracker goes, its unbelievable.

[Darus Grey]

Anyone have some tutorials they'd recommend for Ableton? I've used Logic and FL a lot and gotta say, Ableton is not intuitive at ALL. But I'd like to spend some time learning it before I make any judgements, so if anyone knows some good tutorials they'd recommend I'd love to know.

[Aevis]

erm...there are included tutorials in ableton, which get you through the basics pretty fast. i personally love ableton, although i spent way too much time just fooling around with the launchpad controller lol.

or just forget everything about software, get yourself a decent sampler and pull a jeremy ellis:

[Inactive]

I had no idea there were so many people into making music on BG! I've been using FL studio since version 8 and really enjoy it. I've used ableton and logic as well, but found that the interface and workflow of FL studio just fit me more than the others. Each daw (aside from reason unless you rewire into another daw) has the ability to use VST's and downloadable plugins/effects. What kind of music are you trying to make? I'm no expert, but if you've got any questions or anything I'd be more than willing to help (using fl9 btw, haven't bothered to upgrade to 10).
http://soundcloud.com/huts/midnight
This is the most recent song I made