Quick ? regarding FL Studio and M-Audio Radium

[JGEllis]

Hey there all,

Just a quick question. I have done a little bit of searching but I am still not quite clear on something.

I am looking at getting the M-Audio Radium board (not from this place in the link, but that is the best picture I have seen of it so far on the net)

http://www.computersandmusic.com/xcg...tml?E+mystore1

Basically I would either get that to start off my computer music interest, or a cheapy $80 keyboard to just practice theory and chords etc. I figure if I am spending the $80 bucks though I might as well dish out a few more dollars if I can use the Radium board for practicing theory etc. and also use it to start off my computer music adventure

My question is actually concerning FL Studio's compatibility with the Radium board. If I got the Radium, would I be able to use FL Studio to actually use the board in a simple way so that I could at least practice theory etc. with basic keyboard sounds, or is it necessary to have a whole different program to sequence the boards sounds.

Sorry if there is any confusion, I am new to the whole world of midi and pretty new to recording in general.

Thanks, any help would be much appreciated!

JGEllis

[ssscientist]

Almost any master/controller keyboard will be compatable with FL Studio. I have a midiman Oxygen8 that works a treat. (m-audio changed their name from midiman a couple of years ago)

I'm not quite clear on what you're getting at with the rest of your question - are you asking if the whole keyboard will be active at once? If so, the answer is 'yes'. Are you asking if there are soft synths built into FL Studio that will allow you to practice chord shapes and voicings? If so, the answer is maybe depending on the version of FL Studio you've bought.

[JGEllis]

Originally Posted by ssscientist

I'm not quite clear on what you're getting at with the rest of your question - are you asking if the whole keyboard will be active at once? If so, the answer is 'yes'. Are you asking if there are soft synths built into FL Studio that will allow you to practice chord shapes and voicings? If so, the answer is maybe depending on the version of FL Studio you've bought.

Yep you pretty much hit it on the nail. Basically I am trying the demo of FL Studio right now, and considering buying one of the versions because it is a little more budget friendly than buying Reason for example. But my concern is what version of FL Studio would I have to get to at least be able to just use the radium to practice basic theory and chord voicing etc. And also once I get more into midi sampling and the synth aspect of it, would I need to get a more advanced program like Reason say that will be more geared toward sequencing and sampling?

I am just trying to save some bucks in the long run, so if I can get by with FL Studio for now that would be good, but if I am going to have to buy another program in the end like Reason, I might as well do it now I suppose.

Hope that helps with my question! Let me know, and thanks for the help thus far.

[ssscientist]

The upper-eschalon versions of FL are not that much cheaper than Reason...

Remember though that Reason is mostly a midi-recording application - no audio tracks or plugins. You can load wav files into the samplers but this is not anywhere near as intuitive as simply pressing 'record'.

From your description of your needs I would try a demo of both FL and Reason with an eye toward both workflow and productivity. I have both and if I was restricted to FL only I would find it cumbersome from time to time...

[JGEllis]

I would probably eventually get both programs, but I guess my basic need FOR NOW is just being able to at least use the Radium board as a basic keyboard if I buy that. Because if I don't get that now, I will just get an $80 Casio keyboard to practice basic stuff with, but I figured if I'm spending $80 I could just put that toward the Radium so that I wouldn't have to dish out more money later on when I decide to purchase Reason for example.

So my basic question again goes down to if I got the Radium, would I be able to use it like a basic keyboard with the trial version of FL Studio?

[ssscientist]

Sure. Once you've got a midi keyboard that will input notes and controllers it doesn't matter what's on the computer end of the wire.

And I think it is wise to invest in the Radium at this point --- you'd need to replace a Casio within the year if you're planning to pursue this even semi-seriously.

[JGEllis]

Great!

Thanks for the help. You have really helped me out. I will invest in the M-Audio Radium most probably then, but as you will see, I came across another board today while nosing around at Guitar Center. I posted another thread about it in this section.

Thanks again ssscientist!