OH...MY...GOD...
So...much clicking! So many sub menus! Thanks guys, but I give up on FL again! I tried to use the F1 manual, but that thing reads like...well...a manual. My eyes were seeing the words, but it was all Charlie Browns teacher in my head. I don't believe any dose of Adderall big enough to get me through page one would be safe for my body.
I know myself and I...won't bother with any program where I can't start to figure out and understand how to do rudimentary things by just playing with it for ten minutes and that's just not happening with me and FL. I keep getting the same midi clip over and over. I was proud that I got one midi clip with some data in it on track 1. Nothing that makes sense to me will let me put another blank clip on the remaining tracks. It just keeps making copies of the first clip and my windows keep popping away, sending me back to sub-menu hunting...vomit. There should at least be a thumb tack icon on the piano roll, step sequencer, etc. to keep them showing on the desktop when you click off of them. I looked and looked and saw no thumb tack icon. It doesn't seem to auto route? It doesn't seem to let me just click and drag a synth to a track and boom, channel routed, blank midi clip ready to draw in?
Well, whatever. I'm just going to buy some of the Image Line stuff I really like as plugins and use them in Studio One.
It was a good effort though everyone! Thanks again!
Am I The ONLY Person Who Finds FL Studio EXCEEDINGLY HARD To Understand And Use?
-
- KVRAF
- 2930 posts since 29 May, 2009 from New Zealand
-
- KVRist
- 387 posts since 30 Mar, 2006 from North Florida
I detest it
i
i
Now the proud owner of an avid 11 Rack, Running Pro Tools 10.3.3 - for me it's heaven!
-
- KVRAF
- 2618 posts since 17 Apr, 2004
It's not really that different from "standard" DAWs. The terminology is different, but the concepts are quite similar and the implementation is slightly different (but you can work in a very similar way to most other DAWs).
1) Patterns are "clips" and they are added from the step sequencer or by pressing F4, not in the playlist. Patterns can also contain more than one instrument (channel in FL parlance). The currently selected pattern is the one you draw into the playlist. You can click on a pattern in the playlist to select it and make it the one you're drawing. Or select it from the menu. Or press + and -.
So to add a new clip/pattern to the playlist:
a) Press F4.
b) Click in the playlist where you want the pattern to go.
2) Channels in FL are probably best thought of as "instruments", though with reservations. They do not have their own mixer channel as such. Instead, you can send them to any mixer channel by clicking on the channel in the step sequencer and selecting the mixer from the FX slot. This has slight disadvantages and slight advantages.
You can easily route multiple channels to the same mixer. This is very useful if you've loaded multiple samples that are in effect the same instrument, such as open, pedal and closed hi-hat samples, which you want on the same mixer channel - the hi-hat channel. Ditto for vocal samples or FX samples that should be on a single mixer track despite being multiple step sequencer channels.
The disadvantage is that you need to do this for each channel individually and you need to take a bit of time naming channels and tracks in the mixer to make it possible to find things. So a bit of organisation goes a long way.
3) You don't need to use the step sequencer boxes at all if you don't want to. Right-click on a channel and open the piano roll. The step sequencer has its uses though. It's great for quickly laying down a rough drum beat. It's great for playing one-shot samples or arpeggiated synths. You can always send the step sequencer data to the piano roll for fine-tuning later (great for drums).
4) The playlist is not like a traditional multi-track playlist in that you can in theory put any pattern (clip) on any playlist track. There's no link between a channel/instrument and playlist track. There is an option to "lock to content" which gives each pattern it's own track, but I don't use this at all - it's really just a legacy option.
You can however use the playlist very much like a traditional multitrack - put all your bass patterns on one track and call the track "bass". Put all your lead patterns on one track and call it "lead". Voila, you now have a standard DAW approach in FL. This does presuppose that you're not putting 14 instruments' parts in the same pattern (which is highly inadvisable IMHO) and instead have one instrument per pattern (though not necessarily one channel - think of the hi-hat example or multi-layered synth parts).
--------------------------------------------------
The slightly different approach has its advantages in some cases, and to most intents and purposes, you can approach FL like any other multi-track DAW. I tend to have 85% of my stuff laid out like in a standard DAW. 1 playlist track per instrument; one instrument per pattern (clip); 1 mixer track per instrument. But the other 15% makes use of the fact that I can break these conventions to organise stuff in a way that - to me at least - makes a lot more sense.
Of course, if you use predefined drum kits or create your own Kontakt instruments for multi-samples or whatever, a lot of the things that FL can do out of the box aren't that interesting. But with a few tricks you can easily set FL sampler channels up to work as a muli-sampled key-split sampler (in the true sense of the word, as you can actually SAMPLE in FL). For example, I often set up a layer channel for my drums, with each drum sample on it's own child channel with standard GM drum mappings. I find it cool that I can do this, but appreciate that if you use Kontakt or whatever and premade drum kits, you won't give a damn.
The layer, envelope controller and keyboard controller allow you to do all sorts of funky things, e.g. use velocity to control any parameter you want (e.g. resonance or cut-off) for any instrument, or even other instruments.
To cut a long story short - FL excels at some things, but is not very good at the traditional "5 guys in a band" scenario. If you're just recording audio, possibly with basic MIDI parts, FL isn't that geared towards your needs, and you're better off using something else. If you're mixing and matching traditional instruments with lots of computer-based stuff, or do everything exclusively in the box, then FL is great, especially if you want to use its modular capabilities to wreak automation havoc.
1) Patterns are "clips" and they are added from the step sequencer or by pressing F4, not in the playlist. Patterns can also contain more than one instrument (channel in FL parlance). The currently selected pattern is the one you draw into the playlist. You can click on a pattern in the playlist to select it and make it the one you're drawing. Or select it from the menu. Or press + and -.
So to add a new clip/pattern to the playlist:
a) Press F4.
b) Click in the playlist where you want the pattern to go.
2) Channels in FL are probably best thought of as "instruments", though with reservations. They do not have their own mixer channel as such. Instead, you can send them to any mixer channel by clicking on the channel in the step sequencer and selecting the mixer from the FX slot. This has slight disadvantages and slight advantages.
You can easily route multiple channels to the same mixer. This is very useful if you've loaded multiple samples that are in effect the same instrument, such as open, pedal and closed hi-hat samples, which you want on the same mixer channel - the hi-hat channel. Ditto for vocal samples or FX samples that should be on a single mixer track despite being multiple step sequencer channels.
The disadvantage is that you need to do this for each channel individually and you need to take a bit of time naming channels and tracks in the mixer to make it possible to find things. So a bit of organisation goes a long way.
3) You don't need to use the step sequencer boxes at all if you don't want to. Right-click on a channel and open the piano roll. The step sequencer has its uses though. It's great for quickly laying down a rough drum beat. It's great for playing one-shot samples or arpeggiated synths. You can always send the step sequencer data to the piano roll for fine-tuning later (great for drums).
4) The playlist is not like a traditional multi-track playlist in that you can in theory put any pattern (clip) on any playlist track. There's no link between a channel/instrument and playlist track. There is an option to "lock to content" which gives each pattern it's own track, but I don't use this at all - it's really just a legacy option.
You can however use the playlist very much like a traditional multitrack - put all your bass patterns on one track and call the track "bass". Put all your lead patterns on one track and call it "lead". Voila, you now have a standard DAW approach in FL. This does presuppose that you're not putting 14 instruments' parts in the same pattern (which is highly inadvisable IMHO) and instead have one instrument per pattern (though not necessarily one channel - think of the hi-hat example or multi-layered synth parts).
--------------------------------------------------
The slightly different approach has its advantages in some cases, and to most intents and purposes, you can approach FL like any other multi-track DAW. I tend to have 85% of my stuff laid out like in a standard DAW. 1 playlist track per instrument; one instrument per pattern (clip); 1 mixer track per instrument. But the other 15% makes use of the fact that I can break these conventions to organise stuff in a way that - to me at least - makes a lot more sense.
Of course, if you use predefined drum kits or create your own Kontakt instruments for multi-samples or whatever, a lot of the things that FL can do out of the box aren't that interesting. But with a few tricks you can easily set FL sampler channels up to work as a muli-sampled key-split sampler (in the true sense of the word, as you can actually SAMPLE in FL). For example, I often set up a layer channel for my drums, with each drum sample on it's own child channel with standard GM drum mappings. I find it cool that I can do this, but appreciate that if you use Kontakt or whatever and premade drum kits, you won't give a damn.
The layer, envelope controller and keyboard controller allow you to do all sorts of funky things, e.g. use velocity to control any parameter you want (e.g. resonance or cut-off) for any instrument, or even other instruments.
To cut a long story short - FL excels at some things, but is not very good at the traditional "5 guys in a band" scenario. If you're just recording audio, possibly with basic MIDI parts, FL isn't that geared towards your needs, and you're better off using something else. If you're mixing and matching traditional instruments with lots of computer-based stuff, or do everything exclusively in the box, then FL is great, especially if you want to use its modular capabilities to wreak automation havoc.
Last edited by sjm on Fri Sep 21, 2012 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
- KVRist
- 51 posts since 12 Mar, 2012 from United Kingdom
Some excellent posts on how to use FLS
For me, as a relative noobie, the hardest parts for me to understand were these:
1 The difference between "automation clips" and "pattern events". All very confusing until I realised the first one applied to the whole song and the second to individual clips (aka "patterns" in FLS). Had to learn and read the Ableton Live manual to realise this!
2 Realising that the pasted clips (aka patterns) in a song track are only sliding window "frames" to the original clip/pattern i.e. if you crop them or change the staring position, it only changes that one instance - the clip/ pattern is not affected elsewhere. This is different from say Live where each clip is treated in it's own clip box
Also agree with the OP that right clicking = deleting is v annoying! 20+ years when R Click = context sensitive menu is a long habit to break!
FL Studio is very flexible - and the manual covers everything. But there are a few essential details buried deep within, which could be highlighted to help beginners and those coming from other DAWs - ideally a few 15 minute Dan Worrall tutorials would help!
For me, as a relative noobie, the hardest parts for me to understand were these:
1 The difference between "automation clips" and "pattern events". All very confusing until I realised the first one applied to the whole song and the second to individual clips (aka "patterns" in FLS). Had to learn and read the Ableton Live manual to realise this!
2 Realising that the pasted clips (aka patterns) in a song track are only sliding window "frames" to the original clip/pattern i.e. if you crop them or change the staring position, it only changes that one instance - the clip/ pattern is not affected elsewhere. This is different from say Live where each clip is treated in it's own clip box
Also agree with the OP that right clicking = deleting is v annoying! 20+ years when R Click = context sensitive menu is a long habit to break!
FL Studio is very flexible - and the manual covers everything. But there are a few essential details buried deep within, which could be highlighted to help beginners and those coming from other DAWs - ideally a few 15 minute Dan Worrall tutorials would help!
-
- KVRian
- 1110 posts since 30 Jan, 2004 from UK
I spent loads of time with FL, mainly because so many people seemed to think it was the bees knees, even back then. After a while I had to admit to myself that it just wasn't for me. Infact I hated it to be honest! Like the OP I just found it very unintuitive and awkward to use. Not for me, but many, many people love it. Horses for courses as ever
-
- KVRist
- 397 posts since 1 Jul, 2011
+1.GeorgeZ wrote:Funny, I find it exactly the other way around. I find FL very intuitive, and lane based, "locked" DAWs (Cubase, Sonar, Reaper etc) very confusing, frustrating, and unintuitive.
I guess it goes both ways
When it comes to MIDI sequencing, I've always found FL very intuitive, quick and easy to use. On the other hand linear hosts like Cubase and Sonar made absolutely no sense to me at all - they seemed really much more focused on audio recording than MIDI sequencing (even though I know they can do both, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how).
Horses for courses.
-
- KVRAF
- 14166 posts since 20 Nov, 2003 from Lost and Spaced
When it comes to recording, you may find Cubase or Sonar better suited. Logic if you're on Mac. One thing no one mentions @ here is Synapse Orion Platinum, which is also a great DAW.
I don't like the midi editor in Reaper, but you might. I think it's a little bloated and not at all intuitive to use (and the Reaper manual is like, 800 pages long).
FL is VERY easy to use. I was a bit lost and frustrated when I first got it, but it's really nice when you get what's going on. (And I've hardly had to look at the manual)
I don't like the midi editor in Reaper, but you might. I think it's a little bloated and not at all intuitive to use (and the Reaper manual is like, 800 pages long).
FL is VERY easy to use. I was a bit lost and frustrated when I first got it, but it's really nice when you get what's going on. (And I've hardly had to look at the manual)
-
- KVRian
- 1166 posts since 24 Jul, 2008 from England
After reading this thread, I suddenly feel like an FL Studio God. It's so easy I taught my 9 year old brother how to make songs 
Despite my unconditional love for FL, if it doesn't click with you, don't force yourself to use it. If it's really your DAW, I'm sure most FL users will attest to this, everything would come pretty easily. It's a doddle to those proficient with it.
You're going to get much better answers over at looptalk. KVR isn't really the place to talk FL; I noticed that about 5 years ago. Some of these guys hate it with passion
I
the right-click behaviour. Urgh, why would I want pop-up menus everytime I click it? 
Despite my unconditional love for FL, if it doesn't click with you, don't force yourself to use it. If it's really your DAW, I'm sure most FL users will attest to this, everything would come pretty easily. It's a doddle to those proficient with it.
You're going to get much better answers over at looptalk. KVR isn't really the place to talk FL; I noticed that about 5 years ago. Some of these guys hate it with passion
I
the right-click behaviour. Urgh, why would I want pop-up menus everytime I click it? -
- KVRAF
- 6113 posts since 7 Jan, 2005 from Corporate States of America
I just wanted to chime in and tell the original poster that I felt clueless with FL Studio too. I have a lifetime license and I'll probably never use it. Especially now that I'm pretty much done with Windows. It's a shame because I like the built in synths and such.
- dysamoria.com
my music @ SoundCloud
my music @ SoundCloud
-
crazyfiltertweaker crazyfiltertweaker https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=277536
- KVRian
- 918 posts since 25 Mar, 2012
Yes you are right, many many basic functions are hard to find out how you can do it...
It is like Cubase, Logic, Reaper, Sonar and Ableton Live.
That is way I use Presonus Studio One and Propellerheads Reason.Maybe not as many functions as the other DAWs, but the best workflow, especially Studio One, which has the possibilities of VSTs.
It is like Cubase, Logic, Reaper, Sonar and Ableton Live.
That is way I use Presonus Studio One and Propellerheads Reason.Maybe not as many functions as the other DAWs, but the best workflow, especially Studio One, which has the possibilities of VSTs.
-
- KVRian
- 804 posts since 18 Apr, 2011
sounds like a serious case of RTFM.. it's not that confusing.
They also have a lot of tutorial videos. I mostly work in Studio 1 nowadays, but FLS is fantastic as well, just different.
They also have a lot of tutorial videos. I mostly work in Studio 1 nowadays, but FLS is fantastic as well, just different.
-
- KVRist
- 59 posts since 6 Oct, 2004
I was the opposite, I was used to flstudio's pattern style sequencing and had a harder time adapting to linear DAW's. Just takes some time reading and practicing is all and you can learn any DAW (or software for that matter).
-
- KVRAF
- 2674 posts since 18 Mar, 2006 from The Void
Because it's the standard Windows behaviouraudiosabre wrote:I
unless you reconfigure all of your other apps to delete things on right-click -
- Banned
- 22457 posts since 5 Sep, 2001
[DELETED]