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pk- wrote:

Once I made the jump from FL studio to a real deal program I immediately realized what I was missing.

what were you missing?

money?
a large chunk of your hard drive?
time to spend in the pub?

lol too true!

FL6 is the most user friendly sequencer i've come across, so easy to get stuff down quickly and i love the mixer. Obviously your not going to be able to simply buy it, use the presets and make a banging tune, but if you got the right tools/samples then FL6 is brilliant to make tunes with.

I *heart* Fruity

Its MIDI abilities could be a lot better (with non-FL plugins specifically - hoping that future versions will build on this) but other than that, I really like it. Probably because I've learnt how to use most of its features.

One day I'd like to learn Logic, but that'd be like learning a new instrument. Not worth the time and money right now.

untold wrote:I used to seek new gear as I thought it was going to improve my sound. I wish someone would have told me this:

Make your samples as loud as possible before sequencing them

Sculpt the individual sounds you want by combining samples

Learn about envelopes, lfos, compressors and EQ

Finish your tunes

If you are comfortable using fruityloops then stick with it. You will know when you have outgrown it. All the skills you pick up will be transferable to other software

Best advice someone could give. I also started out trying every VST, sequencer, sample-disk i could get my hands on. Just to learn that they're all worthless if you can't use them at their full potential. That's why most producers only use a small set of VST's, one sequencer-program they're comfortable with and read up on studio-techniques.
The main thing is persistence. i still have a long way to go, but the journey is more important than the destination. Just keep on trying stuff out and you'll eventually settle down and find your own way.

Some other random advice:

- Listen to your loops/tunes on as many speakersets you can get your hands on, in the car, on a stereosystem, in headphones, try to play them on a big rig somewhere at a party (if you organise raves yourself, just play them during the soundcheck), ...

- Teaming up with another producer also helps since you come to know a lot of little tricks he/she uses and you'll learn what you need to do to transport your tracks to someone else.

- Think about every little detail. I often find myself pondering during work on how to progress on a track and i make it a habit to send myself email when i think of something so i can try it out later at home.

Anyway. All this advice is futile if you aren't having fun making beats.

7 below wrote:

pk- wrote:

Once I made the jump from FL studio to a real deal program I immediately realized what I was missing.

what were you missing?

money?
a large chunk of your hard drive?
time to spend in the pub?

Just learn how to use what you've got mate....Learn some basic principles of synthesis. And you will be away.....

untold wrote: Learn about envelopes, lfos, compressors and EQ

Truth.

IMO this is going to get you a lot further than spending top dollar on sequencers and synths. If you can write a decent tune on Fruity + freeware you might need to shell out a bit for some extra kit to take it a bit further (or you might not), but if you can't write a decent tune on Fruity + freeware, spending ££££ on software isn't going to help you much...

It takes time to learn how to make music. There aren't any magic porgrams that can turn whats in your head in to something you can hear. Just spend a little bit of time and effert with what you have and you will eventually come up with something that sounds alright. Don't forget to have fun. Oh btw, Skream uses FL....

CASIO, BITCH!