I dun switched!

Dugg Funnie

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Nov 11, 2012
So, since installing Windows 8 i've been more and more tempted to get into FL Studio because I've been seeing some fast workflow and pretty phat tunes being made with it lately; so I acquired FL 11, and I'm wondering if anybodys got a good resource on workflow/compositional techniques that use FL's features to full advantage?
 
FL11? Is it even worth upgrading from 10? Does it have any major advantages except from new synths and/or plugins that are handy?

I've been using fl as my main daw for so long, tried all the other daws but they just dont cut it. Fruity just has amazing abilities when it comes to routing and midi.

Also I just saw the changes in rep, mixing on three decks thats fantastic. hahaaa
 
FL11? Is it even worth upgrading from 10? Does it have any major advantages except from new synths and/or plugins that are handy?

I've been using fl as my main daw for so long, tried all the other daws but they just dont cut it. Fruity just has amazing abilities when it comes to routing and midi.

Also I just saw the changes in rep, mixing on three decks thats fantastic. hahaaa

your sound design in next level mang
 
watch Emperors ustream videos

...so you wont be using absynth as your daw? :teeth:

Oh don't worry, making sure I had Absynth installed was priority #1; we're having a baby!

But I've been fuggin' about with Harmor and I'm digging that diggity. Also, why does FL feel "warmer" than other DAW's? Like just playing back my samples through it and I swear they just seem slightly fuller and rounder. I like it...
 
you probably left the limiter activated on the master channel

All DAWS sound the same. Scientific fact!

Well, I should say, DAWS don't have a "sound". They are transparent.
 
Welll....why don't you just change your name to DjDreamCrusher :afro:

Of course it makes sense, I've also seen the article that explains the same sort of thing regarding digital equalizers.
 
This is the best article on it. It explains all the different things that can cause people to make the wrong conclusions.

http://www.image-line.com/support/FLHelp/html/app_audio.htm

A lot of people are fooled by marketing. That's why people think they need to spend £1,000+ on a mac just to make music. They believe the music will sound better if it's made on a mac.

- - - Updated - - -

Anyway, sorry to derail your thread.

Check out youtube vids by Seamless for all kinds of crazy techniques using Harmor.
 
There should be a thread with loads of keyboard shortcuts and tips and tricks somewhere on this page.

Ctrl + L-click = selection tool, + R-click = magnifier.
Alt + W in mixer to switch between meters and waveforms.
R-click then A on (almost) any knob or slider to create automation clip (which will be as long as your complete tune OR selected area of tune).
Simply Middle click or R-click then R on patterns or channels to rename / colour.
Use the sequencer for simple repetitive things or when you need a series of hits in different velocities / pitch (there are buttons in the top right corner that let you adjust pitch and velocity for each hit on the selected channel).
Alt + arrow keys to move channels left or right on the mixer.

Things I usually do which I think is really really helpful:
I recolour patterns and samples in the playlist according to the feel and timbre of the different sounds. Hats and crashes are usually yellow, sometimes bright blue, shakers usually bright blue, rides and sort of techy or glitchy sounds are orange, bass is usually deep blue or purple, drums will be given colours according to their feel; tribal drums are often green, breaks have clearly distinguishable colours if I switch between different ones a lot, etc ad infinitum. Same applies for mixer channels.
If an instrument has automation I chuck the automation clip right underneath that particular instrument's channel in the playlist window.
Any channel that is sent to a bus has the prefix "-" (without quotes..), if practically possible, the bus is placed to the right of all the channels that are sending to it. The bus channel is always coloured pink with the prefix "+". A bus with several buses busing to it has the prefix "++" and usually a deeper shade of pink. Channels that are split have the source channel prefixed "-" and the "cloned" channels prefixed "/" and are usually coloured orange.

In the playlist window I usually have all my drums at the top, then FX and stuff, then bass, sub and finally pads and things. Pads are usually coloured bright blue.

Using this uniform system really helps me keeping track of what's going on, keeping a minimal of different instruments, or at least different kinds of instruments, on each channel in the playlist helps a lot. This regime is flexible when it comes to different parts where some elements are completely absent and some show up for a one off performance, ie the breakdown might have a completely different set of drums, the hats replaced by rides and a synth that is never heard in anywhere else in the tune.

Those are my workflow tips off the top of my head, but as with everything it all comes down to getting accustomed to using the tools in front of you over time.

Oh; and L-click and then M to make new a copy of a pattern or sample, U to make the sample "unique as sample", ie rendering it as audio and saving it in your samples folder for ever and ever and ever.

Backspace to swap between snapping to grid and placing tings wherever you like, there's a little box in the top right corner of the playlist window to zoom in and out vertically, mouse wheel while over the bar that shows what bar you're on in the playlist view to zoom horizontally.
 
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I use Fl for my music, and I love it!

I don't have a "rule" for my workflow, but I tend to group things by color, on the mixing table, like drums-red, basses-blue, fx-green, and so on.

I second that post that tell you to watch Seamless videos. This guy is a beast when it comes to bass design using Harmor!
 
Thanks for the tips broskis! Cheers!









But if ya'll SSOOOOO smart, how do I make automation clips of parameters inside a VST plug-in? I know if it's a native plug just right click -> create automation clip, but I can't use Absynth to it's full potential without automations, ya dig?
 
Tweak knob with mouse.

Something like; Options > last tweaked > create automation clip.

As I said, this won't work with all plugins, other options include Edit Events or Record something-something and Automation, twist the desired knob, and then edit the slightly different looking automation clip that should show up on the playlist.
 
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Dugg, you can hit the record button up over near where you click play, and then click record everything. From there, make sure you are in a fresh channel or in one that doesn't have anything in it you want to screw up and click play. From there, do all your stuff in Absynth, and then click stop. Then, you should have all of that automation in the playlist as a channel and when you play it back, it will be there. You can do this for pretty much anything in the DAW, with other VST's, plugins, etc. Cheers mate!


Thanks for the tips so far m8's! Now I've got this instance of patcher with an EQ and I want to automate it, so I added some knobs to control the frequencies of the notches I made, but do I have just do automation recording again? Or can I add the automation clip manually and edit it from there since it's in patcher?

Edit: NVM, just found the "activate" button to get that operation rolling.
 
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There should be a thread with loads of keyboard shortcuts and tips and tricks somewhere on this page.

Here are some I use:

CTRL + Click and drag: Quickly use the selection tool, letting go of CTRL sends you back to whatever tool you were using before.
Right click and drag in the timeline to loop sections.
Hover over timeline and mouse wheel scroll to zoom in and out.
After you've looped a section, CTRL + Left and right arrows to move the loop left and right.
Similarly, ALT + Left & Right moves Mixer inserts left and right. Good if you want to organize stuff like Kick - Snare - KICK&SNARE - Hats - DRUMS.
ALT + Up & Down to do the same thing to the little buttons in the sequencer.
Shift + Click and drag: Duplicate whatever clips you've got selected.
Middle mouse scroll on VST's in the FX chain to move them up and down.
F2 to rename mixer inserts.
If you're stretching clips, hold ALT to temporarily turn off grid snapping.
If you can't seem to slice things in the playlist precisely, turn off zero-crossing. If things keep getting stretched when you just want to extend the clip, turn off stretch. (Took me so long to figure out.)
In the Piano Roll, if you select a bunch of notes you get this little circle thing next to them. Use it to squash or expand all the notes, hard to explain. It's kinda like changing the BPM just for those notes.
Enable legacy precomputed effects in Options - General, play around with the Sine FX. Put it on 'siney' basses and find the right frequency around 0-5%, sounds cool. Watch your stereo field though.

All I can think of for now. Put Vocodex on everything.
 
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