Okay, let's see what the fuss is about (FL Studio)

[chimp_spanner]

I used to work on this WAY back in the day. Like, version 3 or something. It was my first introduction to music making that wasn't strictly General MIDI and I absolutely loved it. Somewhere along the way, I just lost touch with it and went over to Cubase, and then Reason, and now a mix of Reason and Live. But literally every electronic producer I know and enjoy is singing FL's praises so...in I go.

I just followed this tutorial:

so I've got the absolute basics down. Some simple pattern creation and painting, bit of automation, mixing and effects. Any up to date videos/channels other FL users would recommend? I basically wanna know everything.

[cymek74]

Jesus, I would so love to get on with FL, trialled it about 10 times, and each time more determined to make it work..... it didn't. Free updates for life, no subscription, easily cracked, and still coming out with constant updates and requested features, really makes you wonder, maybe Reason could look at it and learn that building a pyramid from the base upwards is better, or maybe FL is the greatest creative charity organization to ever exist.
Anyhow, sorry for going off-topic, for me personally it was a mess, all over the shop, it's obviously a great piece of software and simply for the way they do business, if I could choose a DAW to be instantly totally competent with it would be FL Studio.

[jlgrimes]

I used to work on this WAY back in the day. Like, version 3 or something. It was my first introduction to music making that wasn't strictly General MIDI and I absolutely loved it. Somewhere along the way, I just lost touch with it and went over to Cubase, and then Reason, and now a mix of Reason and Live. But literally every electronic producer I know and enjoy is singing FL's praises so...in I go.

I just followed this tutorial:

so I've got the absolute basics down. Some simple pattern creation and painting, bit of automation, mixing and effects. Any up to date videos/channels other FL users would recommend? I basically wanna know everything.

Although I'm not a pro at FL, I'd recommend the "In The Mix" series. He offers tons of good advice alot of it is "Non FL based" though but the tutorials I've watched he seem to offer good advice and appears to know his program.


I find FL Studio to be kind of what I call "Anti-DAW", in while it pretty much does all of the stuff a typical DAW does (and sometimes more), it does them in a usually "non-intuitive" way. FL Studio is known for its great piano roll but to be honest, I don't find it all that great but i'll admit it is pretty powerful (as it has alot of stuff like arps, pattern generators, note transformations built-in.). My problem is that it's workflow is so Non-intuitive that its commands/terminology don't often make sense to someone trained on a Traditional DAW. I think the idea though is to think of FL Studio as more of a step sequencer than a piano Roll. As it's note division system utilize "steps" instead of note divisions. To be honest this is probably alot easier for someone who grew up using step sequencers but. The step situation isn't that bad but they tools and key commands combinations don't make sense to me either.

FL's Basic tool commands

Draw = P, Paint = B, Paint in Drum Sequencer = N, Delete = D, Mute = T, Slice = C, Select = E, Zoom = Z, Playback = Y


Reason has a more traditional DAW approach especially in the sequencer section. Its mixer and device Rack goes more against the grain. But I remember learning the Reason sequencer in 2003 without any tutorials or needing to read the manual, except for like the key command list. And while Reason's Piano Roll isn't as developed, it's key commands are much more easier to remember. "Start with Q and go to the right to select the toolbar". Studio One takes a similar approach. This allows for less memorization and makes a more intuitive sequencer.


FL is a DAW too where I think it will be hard to "know everything" as it is pretty deep. Probably much better to take deep dives on specific sections, but areas I would focus on:

1. Piano Roll
2. Pattern/Playlist sequencing
3. Loop Recording
4. Channel Rack
5. Mixer
6. Browser/Plugin Customization
7. Note/Grid Snapping
8. Arps
9 Automation
10 Edison
11. Recording audio


While it has many power features that Reason don't have, its workflow is also drastically different from Reason (and other DAWs) which may/maynot be a good thing. That said if you are less of a Traditionalist, you might appreciate FL's workflow as many people find this to be one of the most "easiest" DAWs but I suspect FL is probably the first DAW they really learned on. I do find the built-in step sequencer in FL Studio for its Sampler super cool. It is basically Redrum/Drum Sequencer built directly into the DAW. So if you do alot of drum machine style programming, FL will probably be one of the best (which is probably why it is so popular with Trap).

[chimp_spanner]

Jesus, I would so love to get on with FL, trialled it about 10 times, and each time more determined to make it work..... it didn't. Free updates for life, no subscription, easily cracked, and still coming out with constant updates and requested features, really makes you wonder, maybe Reason could look at it and learn that building a pyramid from the base upwards is better, or maybe FL is the greatest creative charity organization to ever exist.
Anyhow, sorry for going off-topic, for me personally it was a mess, all over the shop, it's obviously a great piece of software and simply for the way they do business, if I could choose a DAW to be instantly totally competent with it would be FL Studio.

Yeah this was me until this afternoon. Tried so many times but something's clicking. Everything - and I mean everything - is in a different place than I expect it to be haha. Definitely having to un-learn a lot of things. But so far standout features for me are the much fabled piano roll (it actually is sick), the mixer (love the icons, grouping and dividers) and the built in content (super current, very clean).

[chimp_spanner]

I used to work on this WAY back in the day. Like, version 3 or something. It was my first introduction to music making that wasn't strictly General MIDI and I absolutely loved it. Somewhere along the way, I just lost touch with it and went over to Cubase, and then Reason, and now a mix of Reason and Live. But literally every electronic producer I know and enjoy is singing FL's praises so...in I go.

I just followed this tutorial:

so I've got the absolute basics down. Some simple pattern creation and painting, bit of automation, mixing and effects. Any up to date videos/channels other FL users would recommend? I basically wanna know everything.

Although I'm not a pro at FL, I'd recommend the "In The Mix" series. He offers tons of good advice alot of it is "Non FL based" though but the tutorials I've watched he seem to offer good advice and appears to know his program.


I find FL Studio to be kind of what I call "Anti-DAW", in while it pretty much does all of the stuff a typical DAW does (and sometimes more), it does them in a usually "non-intuitive" way. FL Studio is known for its great piano roll but to be honest, I don't find it all that great but i'll admit it is pretty powerful (as it has alot of stuff like arps, pattern generators, note transformations built-in.). My problem is that it's workflow is so Non-intuitive that its commands/terminology don't often make sense to someone trained on a Traditional DAW. I think the idea though is to think of FL Studio as more of a step sequencer than a piano Roll. As it's note division system utilize "steps" instead of note divisions. To be honest this is probably alot easier for someone who grew up using step sequencers but. The step situation isn't that bad but they tools and key commands combinations don't make sense to me either.

FL's Basic tool commands

Draw = P, Paint = B, Paint in Drum Sequencer = N, Delete = D, Mute = T, Slice = C, Select = E, Zoom = Z, Playback = Y


Reason has a more traditional DAW approach especially in the sequencer section. Its mixer and device Rack goes more against the grain. But I remember learning the Reason sequencer in 2003 without any tutorials or needing to read the manual, except for like the key command list. And while Reason's Piano Roll isn't as developed, it's key commands are much more easier to remember. "Start with Q and go to the right to select the toolbar". Studio One takes a similar approach. This allows for less memorization and makes a more intuitive sequencer.


FL is a DAW too where I think it will be hard to "know everything" as it is pretty deep. Probably much better to take deep dives on specific sections, but areas I would focus on:

1. Piano Roll
2. Pattern/Playlist sequencing
3. Loop Recording
4. Channel Rack
5. Mixer
6. Browser/Plugin Customization
7. Note/Grid Snapping
8. Arps
9 Automation
10 Edison
11. Recording audio


While it has many power features that Reason don't have, its workflow is also drastically different from Reason (and other DAWs) which may/maynot be a good thing. That said if you are less of a Traditionalist, you might appreciate FL's workflow as many people find this to be one of the most "easiest" DAWs but I suspect FL is probably the first DAW they really learned on. I do find the built-in step sequencer in FL Studio for its Sampler super cool. It is basically Redrum/Drum Sequencer built directly into the DAW. So if you do alot of drum machine style programming, FL will probably be one of the best (which is probably why it is so popular with Trap).

Thanks so much for this! Really appreciate it Yeah as I just said in another comment, something has finally clicked a little today. It is *very* different to anything else I work in. There are so many ways to do the same thing. I guess the idea is that there isn't really any singular 'right' way. It's just what's best for you in the moment. Already getting some cool sounds that I would struggle to in Live or Reason so, promising!

[DaveyG]

FL Studio has some crazy workflows and some really odd UI implementations but... it also has Harmor. I've no idea how it works but it makes some truly great sounds. If you have never tried it then do so. It will remind you how far behind the times Reason's Synths now are.

FL Studio also has the best piano roll anywhere, ever. It's just a shame I just can't bear the mixer routing madness haha.

[chimp_spanner]

FL Studio has some crazy workflows and some really odd UI implementations but... it also has Harmor. I've no idea how it works but it makes some truly great sounds. If you have never tried it then do so. It will remind you how far behind the times Reason's Synths now are.

FL Studio also has the best piano roll anywhere, ever. It's just a shame I just can't bear the mixer routing madness haha.

^ That was exactly my feeling until I found Track Mode. You can drag instruments directly into rows on the Playlist and they get auto routed and linked to mixer channels. The names, colours and icons can be changed in any of the three areas too. Feels a lot more 'normal'!

[Aosta]

I messed about with it in the days of 'Fruity Loops' version 2 or 3? Version 20 now You'd think they'd change the product name once it hit 14ish to something different but nope, they picked FL Studio and by golly they stuck by it.

[Chi-Individual]

I used to watch this channel and he almost made me a convert https://www.youtube.com/c/SeamlessR/playlists

[miyaru]

I have it (FL Studio), installed it, but never use it. Why learn another DAW when one uses LIve 10 Suite and Reason 11 Suite? As far as I know, it gives me all I ever wanted!!!!!

[chimp_spanner]

I have it (FL Studio), installed it, but never use it. Why learn another DAW when one uses LIve 10 Suite and Reason 11 Suite? As far as I know, it gives me all I ever wanted!!!!!

I mean at this point, I couldn’t see myself doing recording heavy stuff in it (like my metal/rock music). It has audio warp/pitch but via a plugin, so you have kinda capture the audio into it, then edit, and I’m not into that workflow. From a MIDI perspective, there’s a lot to like. The piano roll and MIDI tools are really good, fun and inspiring. And I really like the included synths. Also I like that a single clip can contain multiple tracks worth of note and automation data so it’s really easy to paint in and arrange complex sections without having to deal with a million tracks. That’s really nice, especially vs Reason which gets hella messy with large projects.

It’s just a different tool for a different job I think. But a very different tool. I almost feel like FL is like…the OS. And the ‘plugins’ in it are like little applications that run in it. They all have their own menus and functions. Initially that threw me off because it just felt like there was no standardisation and everything was all jumbled up. But thinking of it in that way, it makes a lot more sense.

[avasopht]

Jesus, I would so love to get on with FL, trialled it about 10 times, and each time more determined to make it work..... it didn't. Free updates for life, no subscription, easily cracked, and still coming out with constant updates and requested features, really makes you wonder, maybe Reason could look at it and learn that building a pyramid from the base upwards is better, or maybe FL is the greatest creative charity organization to ever exist.
Anyhow, sorry for going off-topic, for me personally it was a mess, all over the shop, it's obviously a great piece of software and simply for the way they do business, if I could choose a DAW to be instantly totally competent with it would be FL Studio.

That can only work with large enough sales.

It's why Apple could reduce the price of Logic and Final Cut Pro by so much. They've got so much in the kitty they could afford to give it away for free (which is practically what they're doing by selling it for $200).

But the free "upgrades for life" is a little bit misleading as the tiers have shifted to the point that what was pro 15 years ago is 2 or 3 tiers down from the top package.

Anyway, free upgrades for life would essentially mean Reason Studios would have made close to nothing from upgrades in the last 15-20 years (beyond RE purchases). There might also be a portion of the upgrade price going into licensing for their content.