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DuckReconMajor

Fruity Loops Express Edition

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I just got the Fruity Loops trial and of course I'm very confused, but slowly figuring things out. If I do get further into this, though, and decide to get the registered version, should the Express Edition be okay for making midis for Doom and such?

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A friend of mine who used the Fruity Loops trial version just to make bedroom techno told me once that he couldn't possibly make due with just the features in the express edition, so instead, he would use the trial version and keep the program open for a few days until his song was completed (since you can't save project files with the trial version). That was mp3, though, and MIDI support may be complete in Express. Not sure. Of course, it's also debated whether Fruity Loops in any of its versions is the right program for MIDI composing.

This thread is relevant to my interests. What programs do you guys use, anyway?

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Creaphis said:

This thread is relevant to my interests. What programs do you guys use, anyway?

I use Propellerhead Reason for the majority of my music (definitely one of the best purchases I've made in my life), and a Mac-specific (afaik) thing named Easy Beat for the rare occasion when I feel the urge to do a midi for Doom. Reason's sequencer is a thousand times better to work with though; I wish I could use it for general-midi stuff :\

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Creaphis said:

Okay Ralphis, then what's the secret software behind your friggin' awesome ashun doom tracks?


FL Studio, Reason, and Acid working in unison.

Reason is the king of making sounds, but FL studio is pretty much the best program ever for sequencing. I should note that I use FL Studio pretty much incorrectly and not in the intended way however.

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Heh, I guess I'm just so used to the Reason sequencer (pre-4.0, at least...I haven't gotten used to the new one at all) from having used it for so long that working with just about anything else feels really counterintuitive to me.

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I have the producer edition but the lowest common denominator should be fine for just doing midi.

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Ok so I got the FL edition ($100 one) to get the piano roll. Here's my first midi with it. As you can tell, I've just figured out how to copy and paste notes.

Oh, and turn the volume down. Sometimes it will blast noise when you first load it.

Any suggestions on a good place to upload midis, or is Midi Shrine okay?



And are all the instruments supposed to sound the same when you convert them to MIDI? I thought the computer had more instruments than that.

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You need to specify a midi patch. In the menu to make midi tracks, goto channels, add one, midi out.

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Fruity Loops is fantastic. :) I've used it for almost everything I've ever done, MIDI or audio, and it's getting better about the latter.

If you still have any questions I'd be happy to help. I've been using it for almost 8 years or so.

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Well, I guess my main question for you guys right now is how necessary is it to have a midi keyboard and if you guys know where I can get a descent one.

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DuckReconMajor said:

Well, I guess my main question for you guys right now is how necessary is it to have a midi keyboard and if you guys know where I can get a descent one.


You don't need a keyboard at all, I've done everything in Fruity Loops by hand in the piano roll. That sounds incredibly tedious, but you can get really, really fast at it considering that FL's piano roll is better than any program out there.

If you are interested in getting a MIDI controller for the artistic aspect of it all, something like this http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-KeyRig-49-USB-Keyboard?sku=700932 is all you'd really need. :)

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Cursed Lemon said:

FL's piano roll is better than any program out there.

Except Cakewalk's.

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Cursed Lemon said:

You don't need a keyboard at all, I've done everything in Fruity Loops by hand in the piano roll. That sounds incredibly tedious, but you can get really, really fast at it considering that FL's piano roll is better than any program out there.

If you are interested in getting a MIDI controller for the artistic aspect of it all, something like this http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/MAudio-KeyRig-49-USB-Keyboard?sku=700932 is all you'd really need. :)

Alright, thank you. The main reason I'd want a keyboard is that it just seems less confusing making up music sitting in front of a keyboard than using the piano roll and plotting notes out in time. I'm sure that will change as I get used to the piano roll, though.

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True enough, it's nice to have a keyboard instrument around to tinker with, but it doesn't have to be a MIDI keyboard. You can test chords and melodies on any keyboard/piano to see if they work, and then plug them into a sequencer if they do. I think the control that you get from a piano roll interface is preferable to recording a keyboard's MIDI output - at least at my piano-playing skill level.

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