How far FL Studio has come

PrinceofHades

A wandering soul
Defender of Defoko
In the few years I've used FL Studio for mixing, and then later to create original compositions, FL Studio has really changed. And not in a bad way, either. The program is now easier to use and has more functions.

I think one of my favorite "new" features is just the updated interface. It is much easier to find what I'm looking for and edit the mixing now, as well as swapping between a rhythm editor? and the piano roll for a particular instrument I'm working with.

So, I'm wondering: what do you think about the updated FL Studio? What are your main pros and cons of the program? One of my biggest cons for the program is that it is not beginner friendly at all. I remember really struggling with it at first. My biggest pro is that after the steep learning curve, it is incredibly versatile as far as what you can do with it, despite being more EDM-friendly.
 

Awaclus

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Well, it has been getting better with each update.

Pros:
- super fast workflow for mixing, sound design and songwriting/production
- good for engineer-y people who like to actually know what they're doing, to complement how you hear and feel the music
- comes with Sytrus, Harmor, Vocodex and Maximus, each of which is pretty much the best plugin that I know of for what it does, respectively, and the other stock plugins are good too

Cons:
- a terrible workflow for editing and otherwise dealing with audio clips
- not that good for people who specifically want to avoid actually knowing what they're doing, to focus on hearing and feeling the music
- can't read MIDI tempo maps

Verdict: It doesn't matter which DAW you use as long as you know how to use it. I'm primarily an FL user but I also use Reaper because I prefer editing and recording in it and sometimes I need to read a MIDI tempo map.
 

Ghostysenpai

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
It's such a worth investment too, as you get free updates for life by buying 1 copy, as for being beginner friendly it's actually not that bad, struggled more with logic pro than fl studio tbh.

I feel like it's really worth it and I can't say that about many programs and things.
 

Awaclus

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
Well, Logic isn't exactly renowned for being beginner-friendly either. Most DAWs have been originally designed and marketed for people who already knew how to mix on analog consoles, i.e. not beginners, and while FL Studio is not one of those, it's originally a sequencer. Obviously programs change over time, but they still build upon their previous versions and in most cases, you can tell — it is very easy to get a simple beat going in FL but in order to mix efficiently, you just have to know about a ton of shortcuts and features that are there but they're really hard to find because that isn't the main focus of the program.

For a DAW that's actually really beginner-friendly, Cakewalk is great. Ever since BandLab acquired the IP, their focus has definitely been on making it a DAW that's easy for non-engineers to approach and it really shows both in the program itself as well as the marketing and the fact that it's free.
 
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