Even though I’m a 3D artist, I like to dabble in other forms of digital art. While in school, I had several classes in audio production and enjoyed it immensely. I have never used my skills in a professional setting, but I’ve played around with audio production as a hobby for over a decade, using programs such as Pro-Tools, Acid, Sound Forge, and Reason. Recently, I picked up FL Studio (formerly known as Fruity Loops) a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) by Image-Line. So far, I am really impressed by it. Not only is FL Studio complex and powerful, it’s fun!

FL Studio uses a “piano roll” and a step sequencer to create a foundation for creating professional sounding music. In the past, I had to use several audio programs to get the sound I was looking for. FL Studio has all of the features necessary to produce and record music. No longer do I have to render loops and import and export files to create tracks. FL Studio does support all of the rendering and importing/exporting options; if I feel the need to use them. The work flow is intuitive and really easy to get into, even for a novice.

FL Studio supports VST, DX, and Rewire, which allows producers to use their existing software sequencer. Its ‘native plug-in’ architecture is pretty sweet. It supports many interesting instruments and effects. Most of the plug-ins will come with a (sometimes steep) price. However, the plug-ins come as a demos and some are bundled with the program; so, it’s nice to try them out before making a purchase.

My favorite feature is the automation tool. It’s as easy as right-clicking a parameter to add an automation function. From there, it opens a timeline, much like the animation graph editor used in most audio programs and 2D /3D animation software packages. From the timeline, you can manipulate Bezier curves to get the effect you are looking for. Very cool indeed.

In all, I believe FL Studio is an outstanding DAW for the novice and audio professional alike. I can really see it sucking up much of my PC game time free time.