Fruity Loops Tutorial. Part 1

Preamble

I know this is ultimate-guitar.com, not ultimate-techno, ultimate-synth, ect. But, there is something to learn from every style of music. Not so mention, with the right soundfonts and samples, you can write a professional sounding backing tracks for your song. (Will probably include something in a later lesson.) This program isnt the best sequencer out there, but it is easier than most, and it can produce results just about as amazing as Reason or Cubase.

I used FL Studio 6 XXL. Obtain it somehow.

Using Fruity Loops

The Step Sequencer

In order to understand this tutorial, you will need to know the basics of operating FL. When you start up FL studio you should be greeted with a screen with a bunch'a blocks on it.

This is the step sequencer. The step sequencer is where you make the patterns that make up the song. The different drum parts, the different "riffs", and so on. Then you assemble this riffs in the playlist, which I will explain next. I will explain the parts.

01. This adjusts the beats per measure in this pattern. (By default it shows -- and it has 4 beats in the measure)
02. The pattern in the blocks will repeat while a piano roll sequence is playing. For example, If you set a kick to go off on each beat, but you assign a piano roll pattern to an instrument in this pattern to go for 8 beats, the 4 beat kick pattern will repeat once over the 8 beat intrument pattern (will explain better later..)
03. This little slider adjust the swing, When set all the way left, there is no swing, when all the way right, each beat is heavily accented and the notes in between each beat are kind of grouped together in a kind of triplet feel.
04. Graph editor - Controls note velocity, cut-off, resonance, ect.
05. Keyboard Editor - A worthless simplified version of the paino roll.
06. Clicking this little LED mutes the track beside it.
07. Adjusts the panning of the track (All the way left makes the sound play only in the left speaker, all the way right makes it only play in the right speaker) Defaults to center.
08. Adjusts the volume, default is 75%, and there is almost no reason it should go higher than that. Dont just go cranking up the volumes for no reason.
09. Sequencers, Add a note left clicking on one of these boxes with all a note there. Get rid of a note by right clicking. (the note will be the root for the song, more on that later) These are pretty much only used for drum tracks, you should use piano rolls for instuments. (more on that too..)
10. Drop down menu shows different sets of intruments, used for better organizing songs with alot'a synths, I dont ever use it though.
11. Little white "LEDs" show what note the sequencer is on while playing.

Drums

I know, reading this is boring, so I'll give you a little something to do.
Make sure you are editing the first pattern. (make sure the little led display with "PAT" underneath it says 1)

See the kick instrument? Left click on the box at the beginning of each beat. Like so..

Hit the play button. You have just made an extremely basic drum beat.

Mess around with the drum instruments you see here, left click to add, right click to remove. Dont go overboard with the drums!

When you are ready to move on.. move on!

The top bar thing.. I dunno what to call it.

01. These little buttons switch between the pattern in the step sequencer, and the entire song in the playlist.
02. Little slider to slide through the song.. :P
03. Play, Stop, and Record.
04. Adjusts tempo, just click and move the mouse up or down.
05. Selects a step sequencer pattern. Adjusted like tempo.

06. Playlist editor. (F5)
07. Step Sequencer. (F6)
08. Piano Roll (F7)
09. Browser. (F8)
10. Mixer. (F9)

Basslines

Now you will learn how to add a bassline using the piano roll.

But, first, remove all the fiddling you did with the drums, or open a new project with File > Open.

Now, put a kick on each beat, and a hihat on each offbeat, and a clap on the 2nd and 4th beat. like so.

Click play to see how it sounds. Nice and simple. Now, for the bass. Right click on the snare, and go to Insert > BooBass. A screen will appear with the boobass settings, this synth is very basic, and only has 3 knobs, Treble, Bass, and Mid. Mess around with them if you like, and see what it sounds like with the little keyboard on the bottom.

Once you are done with that, right click on the BooBass and select Piano Roll, a window will appear, it will have a keyboard on the right, and a buncha empty slots. It appears a little daunting at first, but it isnt hard at all. Basically, on the big bunch of squares next to the keyboard, you place notes. The time goes from left to right when you click play. You place notes just like you did with the drums. But now, you can drag them around, and change the notes. Make something like this.

This makes an eighth note play on every offbeat at C5. Press play. Starting to sound like a song isnt it? I put the bass on the offbeat, so the mix doesnt get muddy, if I had the bass and the kick going at the same time they both take up a very similar frequency range, and things would get kind of muddy. The Kick-Bass pattern is a staple in most electronic music styles.

Now go to the next measure in the piano roll, place the same pattern at F5, then the next measure should be G5, and then F5 again, A simple I,IV,V progression. Click play. Didnt sound right did it? The drums only played during the first measure didnt they? Easy fix. Toggle the little box next to the arrow at the top right of the step sequencer. (Labeled with a 2 on the diagram). Press play, and the drums should repeat every measure.

CLICK HERE FOR THE IMAGE

Playlist Editor

Press F5 to open the playlist editor. It looks kinda similar to the piano roll, but you organize patterns instead of notes. Place the pattern with the bass and drums you just made, which should have been pattern 1, so just click next to pattern one, and position it to take up the first 4 bars. Place another to take up the next 4 bars. Mouse over to the play button, but before you click play, toggle the little square with the word "SONG" next to it, to play the stuff in the playlist, instead of the one pattern in the step sequencer. Then click play. (You can click anywhere on the blackish horizontal bar with the numbers on it to skip around the song.)

Making A Good Synth Sound

Time to program a nice lead synth!

01. Right click one of the instruments in the step sequencer and go to Insert > 3xOSC.

This synth has some pretty complex controls compared to BooBass. This synth has 3 synths that play at once. (Hence the 3xosc). Press some buttons on the little piano keyboard. By default, this synth is pretty plain sounding. Lets spice it up a bit.

02. Under Osc 1 click the shape that looks like a backwards N, this changes the wave of the sound to a rough saw shape, instead of a smooth sine. Still sounds pretty plain though doesnt it? Go ahead and change all the OSCs to this shape.

Osc stands for oscillator, it basically generates a very simple sound waveform in the shape you specify (The white buttons), This intrument, layers 3 oscillators over each other. The settings we just plugged are refered to as a Super Saw most of the time, these settings are very overused, and appear in hundreds of trance songs. Producers have grown sick of this preset, and most hate it to death. But, it will work for now.

The Knobs next to the osc are Volume, Pan, Course Tuning (1 note at a time), and Fine Tuning (around a cent at a time, up to 50 cents in either direction). By default, the Course tunning is set to have a 3 octave harmony, and the fine tunnings are all at 0 detune.

03. On Osc 2, very slightly adjust the Fine knob to the left, and on Osc 3, move it slightly to the Right.

This will create a chorus/flanger effect. The slight dissonance between the 3 oscillators makes the intument sound wider, fuller, and bit fatter.

04. At the top of the 3xOSC window, click on Misc, and toggle the box that says Porta.

This will make thesynth slide from note to note, mosts lead synths sound better with a subtle slide. The knob labled slide, changes the speed of the slide, leave it at default for now.

05. At the top right of the 3xOSC click on the box label FX, and drag your mouse slightly upward, so it says 1.

This routes the instrument through the first Effects channel. Press F9 to open the mixer. There should be a master, and a bunch of inserts, and 4 sends. The inserts are the places where you insert intruments to add effects, adjust volume, EQ, ect. The master add effects to the entire track. The sends are a little weird. Sounds can be sent here via plugin, or sometimes synths have options to send parts of the synth to one of the sends. I will explain the uses of the sends in a later lesson.

06. Click on Insert 1.

This is the insert you just routed your new synth too. All the way to the left. There is 8 things labeled from 1 to 8, these are the 8 slots for effects.

07. Click on the arrow next to one of the eight slots, and go to Select > Fruity Reverb.

Adds a reverb effect to everything in insert 1, which is only the lead synth we made.

08. On the new window click on the button in the very top right corner and go to Presets > Subtle.

This will change the settings of the reverb to something more subtle.

09.Now add an effect to slot 2, Insert > Delay 2. Set the preset to Stereo Effect, and adjust the Cut knob to a little less than half way.

The cut knob adjusts the effects low pass filter. This will make the higher frequencies the repeat be cut out, so the repeat isnt as pronounced as the note itself. Play around with the keyboard some more, see how it sounds.

CLICK HERE FOR THE IMAGE

The settings for the synth, and the effects. (Dont just copy this, there is another step, and valuable information in the above paragraph)

Now, to write the lead. Got to pattern 2. I felt like doing a corny major happy riff thing. So I did. (See the pattern below)Basically, its the root of the chord in that measure, the major 3rd, and the 5th, its basically and arpeggio of the Cmajor chord. And then, you select the lasso tool from the tools at the top of the piano roll, and select all of the notes. Hit Ctrl+c to copy, scroll over to the next measure and paster, drag the notes up to F6, so it transposes to an Fmajor arpeggio. Do that for the paste and transpose to G for the next measure, and then F measure for the last measure, a simple, happy sounding major lead. Now, place that pattern in the play list matched up with the second 4bars for pattern 1.

CLICK HERE FOR THE IMAGE

Hit play. The bass and drums should play, and then the lead should kick in the second time around.

These are some of the basics of Fruity Loops, the next chapters will cover more techniques I use, how to program a Sytrus synth, how to make a complete song, and how to mix and master it!

Download the Fruity Loops project file here.

POSTED: 09/07/2006 - 10:12 am

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Comments

[jamstation]

great! this is just what i need.
hope you continue with this

[Ary]

very good i was searching for this

[AbsenceOfFaith]

Nicely done (: Got my 10

[Joe_Wilcox]

excellent! just what i've been needing, a nice and simple intro to flstudio. Keep it up!

[Idiot Pineapple]

Very good. You should do lessons for more music software. Lots of people just figure out the basics on their own and never learn what the program really has to offer.

[NemesisX]

Wow..

Yeah. Do it. Keep going. I'm gonna learn how to use it now - really. Thanks man.

[bTOMd]

is there anyway i can get rid of the thing where it says i need to register or send me a valid key or something? could i restart my computer a couple days before would that work?

[amorebelladonna]

this is good except can someone tell me how to get fruity loops?

[GuitarGod610]

This is great! I've been using FL for awhile now and this is very helpful!

[Bkkkk]

Just what I needed great!! Been thinking of getting a sequencer for the PC. Thanks

[invisible_man]

As I mentioned in the thread where you posted this, awesome job. Thanks for this!

[msierragtz]

Very nice, I've been using FL for a couple of months, and it is a bit tricky. Hope to find more tutorials

[ChordMonger]

PLEASE DO ONE ON CUBASE!
IM FUCKIN LOST!!!!

[santhony1987]

Thanks for that, please do another.

[Moody727]

booya

[powerstroke]

Dude fruity loops is the shit, my friends and I make rap beats with it (my friends want to be rappers) and its so much fun to screw around with but I couldnt figure out how to use it that well until I read this tutorial. Thanks!

[BEAST89]

I can't wait for the more techincal stuff

[johnmalkin]

Whoa! I've been looking for one of these for ages! Cheers mate, that is awesome!

[Travis Tricky]

the_extremist00 wrote:

now this
is one useless tutorial

if you want to make anything do it yourself, not with a computer, plug yo guitar in and record stuff
easier
faster

actually, the types of music wich you can learn something from are not popular at all
this sucks

Yeah, it's really easy to get a drum line out your guitar .... did you even read the tutorial?

[dustafust]

Travis Tricky wrote:

the_extremist00 wrote:

now this
is one useless tutorial

if you want to make anything do it yourself, not with a computer, plug yo guitar in and record stuff
easier
faster

actually, the types of music wich you can learn something from are not popular at all
this sucks

Yeah, it's really easy to get a drum line out your guitar .... did you even read the tutorial?

and lets not forget the 200 dollars worth of gear you need to make a decent synth noise come out of your guitar.....

[U.P]

excellent, just what i needed

[Midori: DDR God]

Thanks a lot.

[enzoslashslash]

Nice man

[axiom]

thanks for that bit of information, would have been nice to have about 3 months ago, though. To people that want a better experience, I suggest learn to use it yourself. FL is fairly simple.

[AiC]

Great lesson dude...i've had fruityloops for the last few months...& didn't know where to begin...the help files have nothing of use in them...looking forward to the next one...:

[zeroyon]

You have your right and left mixed up a couple times in this writeup.. may be confusing to some. Otherwise it was a great lesson! I learned a couple things myself.

I've used Fruity Loops/FLstudio for several years. It's great for producing any type of backing track you're looking for, no matter the type of music.

I don't have a whole band sitting in my living room, but I sure can fake it.

I have my laptop setup with FLStudio on it, and the audio output going directly into my Line 6 MP3 input jack.

I usually just put simple drum beats on it and let them go while I play over the top of it. You can quickly adjust the tempo, and change the beat when you get bored of it. This beats the sh#t out of using a metronome.

For decent sounding drums, go into the "realdrumkits" listed under the avaiable instruments/samples.

[GuitarManiac09]

great lesson brenden. This will be pretty useful.

[leander m.]

fa'q wrote:

the_extremist00 wrote:

now this
is one useless tutorial

if you want to make anything do it yourself, not with a computer, plug yo guitar in and record stuff
easier
faster

actually, the types of music wich you can learn something from are not popular at all
this sucks


wtf?!

I think extremist only knows how to criticize.. juz get a life man, this tutorial is for all.. not only for you! it is usefull for others and not usefull to you


EXCELLENT TUTORIAL, I CANT WAIT FOR PART 2.. thanks

[Nybb]

I used FL Studio 6 XXL. Obtain it somehow.

lol



Good stuff, although I'd already figured all this out. I'm looking forward to the more advanced stuff.

[-spiderman-]

That was mindboggling

[Vermillion85]

Great tutorial mate. I've been using FL4 for my backing tracks but im now upgrading to 6. 'dumbed down' nicely to make it easy. Not the best program ever made, but its still a good starting point for all of us bedroom rock stars :P 10/10

the_extremist00 :
now this
is one useless tutorial

if you want to make anything do it yourself, not with a computer, plug yo guitar in and record stuff
easier
faster

Buddy your a deadset moron. FL can be used for rock metal jazz pop whatever, you just have to play around. id rather see someone put a basic FL beat to a song to help em get somewhere then never get there at all. Go suck on a tailpipe, maybe you can get a beat from that!

[HopePoisoned]

I should have written one of these, I'm very good in FL.

[Muusik]

Where do you get FL?

[The_Raven]

DAMN GOOD JOB!!!!! THE ONLY DRUM MACHINE I seemed to be able to obtain was FruityLoops and I am a hard Rocker, and was getting v. frustrated trying to make a good drum beat with it; thanks lots! 11/10!

[morello_man]

reason reason reason reason. i tried this, i got reason and never looked back.

[Muusik]

How much would it be to by FL? And any suggestions as to where from?

[Muusik]

Man, I just posted pretty much the same thing twice. Such and idiot :o

[Will-eh]

I figured it out by myself,it was tricky.Good work though.

[CZHunter]

It was quite hard for me to figure thigns out, and I've had FL for a while. Thanks a lot, this'll help loads for later musical ventures.

[tHewHiteHendrix]

awesome i just got frootyloops and havent been on this site forever but sweet.. ill have to read it when im not completely high.. i mean jeez im high

[The Fiddler]

What we need is a CoolEdit Pro tutorial or Adobe AUdition Tutorial since those programs are more advanced and allow for more professional recording and editting.

[QliMaX_NiNJA]

were is insert 1 ??

would be very pleased for answer! (:

[Greenfinger182]

Haha this was added 3 days before the poor guy was banned. Hopefully he'll be back soon to write more.

[Co&Ca182]

can you download this program for free?

Checked/Deleted.

[kt_guitarist]

I knew the most already but its a good basics tutorial for fruity loops. i would like a part 2 to dig in the prog deeper becouse i am a starter... just had a few lesson in it @ school. nice 1

to Co&Ca182...
jou cán download it for free. but not legal

[GeneraLNinja]

I used FL Studio 6 XXL. Obtain it somehow.

lol.... hahahaha!!

[EpitaphMan440]

Wow, that actaully was very helpful. I have finally made a drumtrack for a song I'm writing that sounds decent... I just needed something to guide me through.

[thebigal]

This is great. I have been using FL studio for years, but had i known this stuff when i was first starting it would of saved a lot of headaches.

[doggy_hat]

Great Tutorial. Can't wait for the second one, Sytrys is way too confusing.

[Sandaniam]

Tutorials are a great idea!

Can anyone do one on using Sonar 4 Producer edition? I'm trying to learn how to record with it.

G.

[bropark08]

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I've had it for years but have never really used it because I thought it was so confusing, the tutorial helped out a lot. Thanks man!! Please continue with these

[Botulism]

Awhsome tutorial.
Keep it up, I wanna learn more.
For lack of a better program I use FruityLoops to program my drums and such. But I still have trouble doing some of it. More!

[inXP]

Oooh, i'm gonna get it.

[inXP]

Greenfinger182 wrote:

Haha this was added 3 days before the poor guy was banned. Hopefully he'll be back soon to write more.

Why was he banned?

[inXP]

£239.00, how the heck does one afford this? And what is £239.00 in american money. I'm a tad bit slow at math. Is there anything cheaper for someone slightly less hardcore?

[bananaguitar]

it's almost the same

[maddd0g]

Hey guys, I'm back from my 45 day ban, for spam in The Pit. Bored, Tired, Stupid, you know the deal.

Anyhow. I will begin writing the next lesson, I want to cover alot, but I'm afraid I might cover too much.

I will most definatly devote a section to Syrtrus, because its an incredible synth if you can use it right, and will also cover arpegiators and such.

I will also introduce you to automation.

Checked.

[maddd0g]

inXp, there are alternative methods, that dont involve money.

[Midori: DDR God]

maddd0g wrote:

Hey guys, I'm back from my 45 day ban, for spam in The Pit. Bored, Tired, Stupid, you know the deal.

Anyhow. I will begin writing the next lesson, I want to cover alot, but I'm afraid I might cover too much.

I will most definatly devote a section to Syrtrus, because its an incredible synth if you can use it right, and will also cover arpegiators and such.

I will also introduce you to automation.

Thanks. And to inXP, £239 is $499.

[Wattso]

ehh..i downloaded the zip file, but i dunno how to work it, somebody help me

[futurejmmy102]

is there a way to make my pattern longer

[maddd0g]

futurejmmy102 wrote:

is there a way to make my pattern longer

Top right corner, you can change the number of beats in the pattern, or, you can go to project options, and change the time signature for the whole song.

[futurejmmy102]

ty

[Shanksta_ver0.7]

fisrt of all you need to get some decent samples.... look around on the net for some free samples. check out some great projects at
http://www.sectionz.com/home_fruityloops.asp?homeType=fruityloops

[Galjo]

http://www.junodownload.com/search/?q=recyd&precision=all&co
lumn=all&x=8&y=3
Go here and see what Fruity Loops can doYea really

[tweeres04]

Totally awesome.

[r_i_c]

hi,

ric = newbie: into guitar-blues/rhythm'n'blues styles

i have FL Studio 6 - can i use it to create a rock drums'n'bass backing track?

;

ric

[zekk]

Great tutorial, alot of help. But I still haven't gotten the lead to play... any ideas?

[zekk]

Ignore my previous comment, I figured out what I was doing wrong. Thank you for this brilliant tutorial. I recently got FL studio, and I'm already loving it.

[Snorglorf]

DO PART 2

Synth part helped me, I didn't know how to do it before. I'm completely self-taught with FL. :P

[Guitar_Dude777]

This rocks! haha "Obtain it somehow"

[gallagher2006]

Bit hard to follow towards the end...

[2fast2curious]

Is there coming a follow up soon?

[MedicreDemon]

I need a second article. Fruity loops is so kickass.