Though it has contracted its name to the more-professional-sounding "FL Studio," the software program formerly known as FruityLoops has maintained a reputation for producing powerful and useful software that can be used to great effect by musicians, songwriters and producers of all levels. With constant improvements made to its interface and program architecture, "TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award" winner FL Studio has continued to expand and evolve parallel alongside and, in some cases, ahead of, the modes, methods and technology of audio and MIDI production.
With a newly-designed, graphically-driven interface, customizable workflows and workspaces and intuitive MIDI mapping features, quickly recording and editing or composing and sequencing MIDI files is a facile process, far removed from the rough-hewn, guesswork that typified MIDI software programs and applications nary a decade ago. With 255 ports available for MIDI data, as well as automated features like MIDI "Master Sync" and stops/starts-on-a-dime synchronization features, performing MIDI-related tasks is virtually a plug-and-play affair for the initial recording process, while its composition, sequencing and editing features streamline the other processes to take loops, parts or entire projects from scraps, bits and loose threads to ergonomically-sealed quilts.
Standout MIDI Features
- MIDI Master Sync
- Simultaneous Response
- Omni Preview MIDI Channel
Sequencing and composing MIDI files and channels is, more often than not, at the mercy of both program architecture and interface design. That said, FL Studio is a perfect example that MIDI and audio production software programs don't need to be complicated in order to make complex, detail-rich productions.
Most keyboards, including MIDI keyboards, range from 61-88 keys and are largely the hub of the MIDI production process. With FL Studio, users can customize their workflow to suit their needs, using the tried-and-true "piano roll" and step sequencer interfaces to lay the groundwork. From there, musicians, songwriters and producers can use FL Studio's "palette playlists," where ideas can be arranged, rearranged with full freedom. Palette playlists function as a time-delineated virtual canvas, on which scores, audio events, effects and automated functions can perform simultaneously and users can make changes to structure and sequence where needed.
No two producers or songwriters work--or think--exactly alike. With that in mind, FL Studio makes not only the workflow and workspaces customizable--but the sequencing methodology as well. Producers can compose, record, sequence and edit MIDI files as patterns or tracks or both.
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