The just-before-the-holiday-break software updates just keep coming. Next: the evergreen, lifetime-free-updates latest release of the DAW the developer calls FL Studio, and everyone else calls “Fruity Loops.”
FL Studio has given people reason to take it more seriously of late, too. There’s a real native Mac version, so FL is no longer a PC-vs-Mac thing. There’s integrated controller hardware from Akai (the new Fire), and that in turn exploits all those quick-access record and step sequence features that made people love FL in the first place.
AKAI Fire and the Mac version might make lapsed or new users interested anew – but hardcore users, this software release is really for you.
The snapshot view:
Does your DAW have a visualizer built on a game engine inside it? No? FL does. And you thought you were going to just have to make your next music video be a bunch of shaky iPhone footage you ran through some weird black and white filter. No!
Stepsequencer looping is back (previously seen in FL 11), but now has more per-channel controls so you can make polyrhythms – or not, lining everything up instead if you’d rather.
Plus if you’re using FIRE hardware, you get options to set channel loop length and the ability to burn to Patterns.
Audio recording is improved, making it easier to arm and record and get audio and pre/post effects where you want.
And there are 55 new minimal kick drum samples.
And now you can display the GUI FPS.
And you have a great way of making music videos by exporting from the included video game engine visualizer.
Actually, you know, I’m just going to stop -t here’s just a whole bunch of new stuff, and you get it for free. And they’ve made a YouTube video. And as you watch the tutorial, it’s evident that FL really has matured into a serious DAW to stand toe-to-toe with everything else, without losing its personality.
https://www.image-line.com/flstudio/