FruityLoops question

  • Thread starter Thread starter jgetman
  • Start date Start date
J

jgetman

New member
Does anyone know whether or not you can create chords using the FruityLoops Pro version? I know you can in the full version, but I'd rather save the $50.
 
chords in fruity loops pro

i have fruity loops pro version 3.4 and i think it is wonderful..wht do you mean by chords? if i want to playa piano triad (for instance), i just select 3 grand piano samples/seperate tracks obviously and notate it accordingly with the "drop keyboard screen." does this help? you can also record live instruments briefly and use those as your own samples to tweak. ised to do that, but was very discouraged by only being able to record 10 second samples...you can record longer with fruity loops full, but i decided to go ahead and get Cool Edit 2000, because i can record individual tracks, as long as i like, and use those in Fruity Loops, the real benefit being that i could export FLP files (Fruity Loops) into Cool Edit and finalize everything with multi-tracking, EQ's and such...

hope it's been insightful
 
Hey - thanks a lot for the feedback. Since you obviously use FLoops, let me ask you a few more things.

The thing I'm confused about is the piano roll. What is it, and how is it different in the pro vs. full versions?

Also, what I want to do is create realistic sounding beats, possibly some synth sounds for use in N-Track. Will Fruity Loops fit the bill?

Do you use N-track?

Do all of the sounds (drums, synths, strings, etc.) that are in the demo version included in the Pro version? I was really impressed with the sounds.

Thanks again!
 
You need to be using the piano roll. The method described by samich is sort of the version 2 way of doing things. Fruity Loops 3 introduced the piano roll and it's the best damn piano roll editor I've used. I think the piano roll is only available in the Full version of fruity (the $99 version). It's worth it.

From any track, just right click and choose "send to piano roll". The piano roll editor will open and what you need to do next should be very obvious. Note that the piano roll isn't limited to the length of your patterns. Also, the piano roll editor has a cool chord picker that can make inserting chords very fast.

Of course if you're using samples you'll need to work with a few samples at each octave. Simply pitching a single piano note, for instance, isn't going to produce great results. So you might have three or four piano roll editors going at once, one for each sample. You'll also find that while you can adjust the velocity of each note, it basically just means turning the sample down which isn't realistic.

If you use a synth, you can do everything in one piano roll. If the synth is velocity sensitive (most will be), then you can also work with more realistic dynamics. Plus with a synth you can draw the bars to the length you want the note to be, whereas with samples the length of the note is the length of the sample (although samples with loop points kind of work around this, but not as well IMHO).

Yes, you can do everything that you're thinking about doing in fruity loops. The only drawback that is really annoying, is that you can't change time signature. The easiest way to get around this is to create multiple songs and just put em together in n-Track or your multitracking software.

Slackmaster 2000
 
You rule Slackmaster!

Though, I must ask you, can I do a reasonable facsimile of everything you described in the PRO version (even if it might be harder)? For me, saving the extra $50 is worth some extra busy work.

Also, can you explain a little more the concept of the Piano Roll? How does its inclusion in the Full verion make this kind of creation easier?
 
FLPro

Piano Roll....i have never used it, because it is only available in the Full version...i imagine it would be nice to have if you really wanted to be meticulous about your sound, which i hope you are already. i haven't upgraded to Full, simply due to the fact that i have no money.

Real SOunding Beats.....hmmm, i want to believe that the drum tracks i make with Fruity Loops sound real, but the more improtant issue is that they suit your music...personally, i like machine/robot sounding drum tracks with acoustic guitars..sounds unusual, but it's what i like...if you want real enough sounding drums, i suggest you really listen to drums on cd's that you want yours to resemble and then become more anal retentive than you've ever been, when trying to get it similar...it will be worth it to you and that is the key.


N Track...no, i use Cool Edit 2000 for all my recording, mixing and mastering. i've never used N track, i believe it to be a simplified version of the big dogs. it may be perfectlly suiting to your needs...keep in mind that more expensive and/or votes doesn't make a program better...really get to know the one you use, so much so that you could explain how to use it to the dullest of folk.


Pro vs. Full....i'm not sure if you get more sounds, effects, etc...in the Full version...easy enough to find out though...just go to FruityLoops.com and read the difference.//

take care//
 
You NEED the full version, trust me. Remember, if you buy online you get free upgrades for LIFE, so this is a good investment. With the full version you get Piano Roll, automation, ASIO support, and internal controllers. If you're confused about anything, just visit fruitloops.com.

The Piano Roll is real simple. Basically you have a grid that travels horizontally. Each row represents a piano key, each column represents a moment in time (a beat, measure, etc). Now to play a C5 on the first beat of the first measure, you simply click in the appropriate grid space and a cute little bar will be drawn, representing the note. To sustain the note longer, just grab the edge of the bar and stretch it. To move the note to a different position, just grab it and move it. To change the start time of a note by a value smaller than the grid, just double click it and adjust the start time. To make a chord, just draw several notes that occur on the same beat. Very simple. Now underneath the piano view, is where you can modify the velocity and other settings for each note/chord. It'll be obvious once you see it.

Can you work without the piano roll and save the money? No. Well, yes, but you don't want to. You basically have to have an instance for each finger that you're going to play simultaneously. So if you insert a synth and want to play a 4 note chord, you have to insert 3 MORE synths and pitch each one using the little keyboard menu thing. This quickly becomes unbearable. Then if you're using samples, man the number of seperate channels you'll need grows very quickly. What a pain! Plus you're stuck with the stupid beat editor which is only good for beats. AND you have to break all your synth/piano work up into patterns. Yuck.

If you want to hear an example of some piano stuff that I did with fruity loops using the piano roll editor, then check out my tune Thursday at my site http://www.slackmaster2000.com . That song is through a lofi plug so the piano sound quality is of course intentionally degraded. Oh, and I used piano samples for that one...now that I have a VSTi piano synth I don't have to use samples and have much more control. "Saturday" and "Sunday" were both done exclusively in fruity loops using all samples collected here and there around the net. Then the semi-natural drums in "Monday" were done in fruity loops as well.

Slackmaster 2000
 
BTW, I just recently started a collection of free vst synths. Some are really damn cool, and they can all be used in fruity loops. I'll be posting a list here one of these days.

Oh, and did I mention that fruity loops can also import buzz generator machines now? Buzz tracker is another tracker, and a buzz generator is basically a synth. The cool thing is that there are TONS of free buzz generators out there.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Upgrading to FUll

i agree with you, i think i should upgrade, because i've been having a hard time dealing with the fact that i was stuck in a 4X4X4 box...

i can hear the difference with the piano roll in Tuesday, but where's the beat, i needed to feel a phat beat behind all that atmosphere...i was let down, but nice work, you have solidity in your space...if you ever want to collaborate, let me know. i could hook up the phat bass and drum lines,..
 
It will be the best 99$ you ever spent. Although I'm still bitter that when I bought it it was 139$...

Damn, I dig "Monday." Very nice song, cool vocal effects. The drums sound a little fake, it does take some work to get them to sound realistic in Fruity... But if you do some slight editing of the pitch, shift, and velocity for your samples, sort of at random in your loops it can sound as realistic as any drum sampler out there.
 
i got pro full max - whatever, the biggest version, lol.

I love it, its got a chord picker with the piano roll - saves me a TON of time!
it's also great with samples, overall - A+ program.

a lot of the times i use it in addition to N-Track, just because there are certain MIDI noises i go for a lot, and N-Track is simpler for that.
 
Back
Top