FL Studio

[Gabby_Gumz 80]

First I'd like to say thank you for looking at my topic! Well i have been playing around FL Studio for a while now and i still dont know anything, I really want to make pony music mainly dubstep. I've seen people post music of what they made as a tribute to MLP and i would really appropriate a tutorial on how to make dubstep on FL Studio. I've looked at Tuts on youtube and i find them quite hard to follow so i would love for a person to make a tut for me. Thanks - Gabby_Gumz

[Bronies are cool 30]

I use fl studio and would like you to know tht it really does take dedication. I have been using it for about 6 months and am still unable to make dubstep. Dubstep is a difficult genre to make. I would learn a lot of basics to the Digital Audio Workstation first. It is good to know how to make melodies as well so I would look into music theory. Learn how to make a simpler genre first. Like house or drum and bass. These would really help you learn how to make some melodies. I would also recommend remixing existing songs and imitating existing songs to learn how to almake certain noises. It takes more than a few clicking of buttons to make some music, and not only that, it takes actual skill to make something worth listening to. I may sound harsh, but I came into the music scene wanting to make something mlp and it is just plain difficult. It takes a long time to learn too. I have even learned quickly and am still not really good enough by myself. Also, music takes dedication to make. A song should take more than 10 hours to make in order to sound great. I have only successfully made 1 song beyond the 10 hour point. It still sounds kind of bad. (I have a soundcloud if you want to check out my stuff. My name is PROJECT: S!X and the song that too more than 10 hours is calle Nusco) and so just know that it really takes a lot of dedication to learn. Not to mention that it also takes a decent computer to make something good. I would recommend at least 6gb ram if you are serious about this.

 

Sorry if I sound like a wet towel, but you s should know what you are getting into. I should also say that mos of the well known brony musicians have years of experience. Years means that they already have an advantage of making music before they started making music.

 

To be a bit more positive, it is great that you want to learn how to make music. It is really fun to do once you get the hang of things. Creativity is endless in this department. And expression is another great thing music allows you to do.

 

I would make a tutorial, but I do not have a recording program to record my computer screen and am currently too lazy to find one cost free. I would if I was given a link to a site for one or something. But I usually don't have time either. Bi I would make one tutorial if I had a recording program.

[Scootaloodle 1,622]

I use FL studio but Dubstep isn’t really my kinda thing so can’t really do a tutorial for you in regards to the Dubstep genre.

 

But as someone who uses FL studio on a daily bases and makes electronic music, I would advise to just listen to as much music as you can and take inspiration from it, and experiment with FL studio and just generally mess about with it, and just have fun with it when ever you feel like it, and see what you can do.

 

Maybe join a forum like Future Producers: and get second opinions on tracks you may have been experimenting working on and so on, and get second opinions on what works, what doesn’t, and learn some stuff that way.

 

As the old saying goes "Rome wasn't built in a day": just stick at it if you really want to and enjoy experimenting and learning and having fun

 

Good luck

 

P.S sorry for the badly written post here I'm kinda tried so...

Edited January 3, 2014 by Asherdangerdash

[Freewave 1,145]

Your going to really have to view and replicate a LOT of youtube tutorials before you can make music yourself. That's sadly the way it is. Only thing that might speed the process up a little is using some dubstep samples but that's not really the avenue to understanding either. Just keep viewing and practicing until it starts making sense and you can make the sounds you want. Don't be afraid to play around with automation and sounds as sometimes goofing around can create great glitch and dubstep effects. As stated, making good music often takes years. Get on mylittleremix or future producers forums for individual advice and feedback.

Edited January 3, 2014 by Freewave

[galaxysquid 2,122]

I'd like to know as well.

 

I really want to make Progressive house and electro/dubstep kind of music. But I need a ton of tutorials.

[Scootaloodle 1,622]

I'd like to know as well.

 

I really want to make Progressive house and electro/dubstep kind of music. But I need a ton of tutorials.

 

Have you got a digital audio workstation?

[repsol rave 2,963]

just as everyone else said, youtube tutorials is your best bet at doing this. FL studio can be hard to undertand, especially to people who are intirely new to making electronic music.

if you want to start making dubstep, i recommend to start with something calm like chillstep first, and then make your way up to dubstep or other glitchy stuff as time goes on.

if anything, do not expect to learn doing this overnight!

[RubyVesper 100]

If you want to make dubstep, FL on its own will not cut it. You need some good sample pack(s) (preferably from vengeance) for the drums, you need some plug-ins like NI Massive, FM8 and others for synths and bass, you need to have something like Izotope Ozone 5 for mastering, it's really quite a lot of stuff. I use Logic Pro X, and I'm in the process of getting good at NI Massive. After that, I'll learn FM8, then I'll try to learn drum synthesis in Ultrabeat, then I will get better at arranging and mixing, then I'll learn mastering and THEN I can finally produce.

[Commander Fresh 36]

If you want to make dubstep, FL on its own will not cut it. You need some good sample pack(s) (preferably from vengeance) for the drums, you need some plug-ins like NI Massive, FM8 and others for synths and bass, you need to have something like Izotope Ozone 5 for mastering, it's really quite a lot of stuff. I use Logic Pro X, and I'm in the process of getting good at NI Massive. After that, I'll learn FM8, then I'll try to learn drum synthesis in Ultrabeat, then I will get better at arranging and mixing, then I'll learn mastering and THEN I can finally produce.

That's not the most important bit when trying create dubstep. Sure, those tools do create a lot of the sounds we hear in mainstream EDM music, but FL Studio on its own comes with everything you need to make a proper song. 3xOsc, Sytrus, Harmor, Maximus etc. are powerful stuff and shouldn't be underestimated.

 

Practice makes perfect, but what'll help you loads is if you can learn some sound design basics, like timbre, sine/triangle/square/sawtooth waves, and basic mixing/mastering. If you want a pre-made song for you to play around in, go to the Cool Stuff folder in Image-Line>FL Studio>Data>Projects. Open anything by Seamless, that's pretty close to the kind of stuff you're trying to make, and seeing how someone else does it can really make it easier for yourself to find someplace to start. Seamless is a brilliant EDM musician and his songs are living proof that you do not need any of those extra plugins to create a good dubstep-ish song within FL Studio. If I remember correctly, he uses almost exclusively Sytrus, Harmor and Vocodex.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Commander Fresh

[Gabby_Gumz 80]

That's not the most important bit when trying create dubstep. Sure, those tools do create a lot of the sounds we hear in mainstream EDM music, but FL Studio on its own comes with everything you need to make a proper song. 3xOsc, Sytrus, Harmor, Maximus etc. are powerful stuff and shouldn't be underestimated.

 

Practice makes perfect, but what'll help you loads is if you can learn some sound design basics, like timbre, sine/triangle/square/sawtooth waves, and basic mixing/mastering. If you want a pre-made song for you to play around in, go to the Cool Stuff folder in Image-Line>FL Studio>Data>Projects. Open anything by Seamless, that's pretty close to the kind of stuff you're trying to make, and seeing how someone else does it can really make it easier for yourself to find someplace to start. Seamless is a brilliant EDM musician and his songs are living proof that you do not need any of those extra plugins to create a good dubstep-ish song within FL Studio. If I remember correctly, he uses almost exclusively Sytrus, Harmor and Vocodex.

Yeah that's a good idea, I have a few pre made songs and i know how to make a basic beat and change 3xOsc to my liking but i struggle putting all the pieces together and not double crossing beats sometimes the music doesn't even play. I've read all the replys and all of them where very helpful but i think ill just stick to YouTube tutorials and other stuff. Thanks thou guys much appreciated!

[Vinyl Scratch. 604]

If you want some tutorials check out Beats4beets he does alot of really good ones for all sorts of genres

Also if you want to make more brutal dubstep check out falloficarus he had a good dirty sream wobble and scream synth

[Bronies are cool 30]

Also, whoever was saying that sytrus is a powerful program, that person is 100% correct. You can use the presets, some are good and some are not. But you can also make your own presets with it tweaking it all how you want. If anybody knows Emforay (feature on rainbow and rooted) then you must know that a lot of his music is made entirely from sytrus. Including his glitch hop and moombahcore and drum and bass. Just saying, you may not actually need to download a bunch of VSTs to make some good sounds.

 

And if I have time in the next few weeks, I might try to make some tutorials going over the most basic stuff of fl. Because I understand the system well enough to show others, but not well enough to make anything great from it.

[Jamesblorg39welsh 125]

Peres a tip get audiotool and mix some effects you made in there with fl

[Bronies are cool 30]

I tried to teach a kid at school yesterday how to use fl studio. Giving a live demonstration is pretty easy, but trying to make something that sounds good when making something love was probably not so easy

[John 793]

I use fl studio and would like you to know tht it really does take dedication. I have been using it for about 6 months and am still unable to make dubstep. Dubstep is a difficult genre to make. I would learn a lot of basics to the Digital Audio Workstation first. It is good to know how to make melodies as well so I would look into music theory. Learn how to make a simpler genre first. Like house or drum and bass. These would really help you learn how to make some melodies. I would also recommend remixing existing songs and imitating existing songs to learn how to almake certain noises. It takes more than a few clicking of buttons to make some music, and not only that, it takes actual skill to make something worth listening to. I may sound harsh, but I came into the music scene wanting to make something mlp and it is just plain difficult. It takes a long time to learn too. I have even learned quickly and am still not really good enough by myself. Also, music takes dedication to make. A song should take more than 10 hours to make in order to sound great. I have only successfully made 1 song beyond the 10 hour point. It still sounds kind of bad. (I have a soundcloud if you want to check out my stuff. My name is PROJECT: S!X and the song that too more than 10 hours is calle Nusco) and so just know that it really takes a lot of dedication to learn. Not to mention that it also takes a decent computer to make something good. I would recommend at least 6gb ram if you are serious about this.

 

Sorry if I sound like a wet towel, but you s should know what you are getting into. I should also say that mos of the well known brony musicians have years of experience. Years means that they already have an advantage of making music before they started making music.

 

To be a bit more positive, it is great that you want to learn how to make music. It is really fun to do once you get the hang of things. Creativity is endless in this department. And expression is another great thing music allows you to do.

 

I would make a tutorial, but I do not have a recording program to record my computer screen and am currently too lazy to find one cost free. I would if I was given a link to a site for one or something. But I usually don't have time either. Bi I would make one tutorial if I had a recording program.

 

FL studio is a great DAW for novices in digital music production.  Yes, Dubstep (weather it have a half-step feel or double-time) is a relatively hard genre to understand mechanically.  Good Dubstep production requires syncopation and a drummer's ear.  These things can be acquired over time.  I'm glad to see you've spent six months on audio production (most people give up in the first two months).

 

Before you try Dubstep (which deviates from the electronic-music norm), I would suggest making syncopated electronic beats that are four-to-the-floor with a punchy kick drum.  Getting a feel for a DAW in general is important before diving into official production.  It is good to make many noob/practice beats before you start delving into full productions.  Always remember that the best way to get a feel for this is to practice.

 

A lot of novice producers tend to ignore audio mastering as a final step in production.  Mastering is very, very important for getting a clear, finished sound.  Mastering requires a certain degree of knowledge, finesse and professionalism, however practice can allow novices to master their tracks adequately.  There are many YouTube videos to consult on this subject.

 

Novices also tend to abuse equalizers (such as the 7-notch parametric equalizers which I'm sure you're familiar with in FL) or use them incorrectly.  EQ are used for many different purposes.  The three main equalizer functions which all digital audio artists should learn extensively would be:

1.)  Toning and shaping:  Using the equalizer to shape a sound.  This is more for fine-tuning.

2.)  Removing unwanted frequencies:  Using the equalizer to remove frequencies which muddy up the mix.  This technique is used when an artist wants to remove frequencies from a sound that interfere with other frequencies from concurrently playing sounds.

3.)  Boosting:  A good producer knows when to amplify a sound, where to amp it, and how much to amp it by.  I like to consult this chart when I want to know frequencies of different tones.  http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html

 

Pro-tip:  You should ALWAYS slap an equalizer on your master track (BEFORE YOUR LIMITER) to sharply cut out all frequencies above 17-18k and below sub-bass frequencies.  These frequencies are unhearable, and will clutter up your mix .  One of the many keys to a good mix is to not have any more (non-contributing) noise than you need.

 

 

Also, a good producer will know how to use a compressor, weather it be single or multi-band.  Gates are important as well, but not nearly as important as the compressor.  There are many different types of compression used for many different types of effects.

My favorite type of compression is called "dynamic side-chain compression."  This technique is widely used in electronic music of many genres (even Dubstep.)  It can be used to either create a pumping-breathing effect in the track, or to temporarily turn down the bass/lead so that the Kick drum shines through brightly.  One problem that novices typically have with their tracks is that they cannot hear their kick drum (or other drums/sounds for that matter) because their bass (which generally needs to be louder in many types of music) is dominating the track.  Side-chain compression is the solution to this problem.  If you sidechain compress your bass with your kick-drum and you adjust the threshold and timings correctly, you will be able to crisply hear your bass drum without distorting or weakening the bass.

 

Another great type of compression (which can be especially important in dubstep production) is called "New York Compression."  This technique involves using a seperate channel in your mixer and having extreme EQ and compressor settings (in the return channel) in which the mids are completely cut with the EQ and the compressor is set to act immediately and strongly.  New York compression is complicated and somewhat hard to explain, however there are many videos on YouTube which explain it nicely.  Basically, you are sending a sound in your mixer to a separate channel in addition to running it through its own channel.  Both channels (the original and the one being sent to) go to the Master channel.  The trick lies in the fact that the return channel will process only lows and highs from the sounds being sent to it.  This offers the effect of ultimately "fattening" the sound being sent by boosting the bass and treble.  A similar (although not identical) effect can be achieved with the VST "Sausage Fattener" by Dada-Life.  It is a pretty useful tool, especially in Dubstep where you want a prominent, fat and dominating bass.

 

Another problem I see frequently with novice producers is that they abuse reverb.  Reverb is used to make things resonate, echo, and warm up a cold sound.  It can be abused though, and will mess up your mix if abused.  There are many different types of reverb parameters which must be adjusted correctly depending on the sound it is being used on.  This depends heavily on what you are trying to achieve stylistically.

 

Also, as a producer, always make sure you're using samples and sounds from a variety of sources  (Especially drum samples).  Fl studio has some great sounds to offer and noodle with, however they can be overused frequently.  (Just listen to some novice mixes on YouTube and you'll see what I'm saying.)  Remember for electronic music that you usually want a good punchy shaped kick drum in your mix.  A good place to go for affordable samples is loopmasters.com.  I know that the Ableton-live teacher ArtFX also offers some great free samples in one of his demo-videos.  I was so impressed by these samples that I have used them in full tracks before.  The second kick he offers is great, especially after It is shaped correctly.

 

As a side note, this is rather arbitrary, but make sure you're using colors to help you know which channels are which.  Trust me.  It will save you time and effort.

 

Also, I wouldn't call drum and bass simpler than Dubstep  It's quite complex.  I would argue Dubstep to be a simplified two-step derivative of drum and bass.  It's whatever though.  Both genres are very good.

 

Source:  Ableton Producer and hobbyist.  Also worked with FL studio and Logic.

Also, whoever was saying that sytrus is a powerful program, that person is 100% correct. You can use the presets, some are good and some are not. But you can also make your own presets with it tweaking it all how you want. If anybody knows Emforay (feature on rainbow and rooted) then you must know that a lot of his music is made entirely from sytrus. Including his glitch hop and moombahcore and drum and bass. Just saying, you may not actually need to download a bunch of VSTs to make some good sounds.

 

And if I have time in the next few weeks, I might try to make some tutorials going over the most basic stuff of fl. Because I understand the system well enough to show others, but not well enough to make anything great from it.

 

Sytrus, and all Frequency Modulation Synths are generally very fun to use, but I suggest learning to adjust the parameters to achieve your own sounds rather than use the presets.  I find many of the presets to be bloated sounding, although there are a select few which are great.  If you learn how to use FM synthesis correctly, you will be able to achieve great milestones in sound-design.

Edited January 7, 2014 by John

[Bucky McGillyCuddy 956]

You want to make Dubstep music? Open > FL Studio File > Open > Cool Stuff > Seamless - Bass Antics.flp

 

Scroll across to the drop and ask yourself if this is really what you want to do with your time. If the answer is yes the good news is your half way there and the bad news is you're crazy.

 

As for tutorials here is a good place to start. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQDvnfleST0&list=PL5353C9EB8A886421

Edited January 7, 2014 by Bucky_McGillycuddy

[Gabby_Gumz 80]

All off you where very helpful, i realize it is alot of work and have learnt alot more since i made this thread, Even know it is alot of work i still have a really strong desire to make music and i just gotta keep thinking it can be done. Ive tampered around with setting and noises and have found some really good ones thanks to you guys, i can now make a start on a rough song have alot more knowledge than i used to. Thanks guys!

[Gabby_Gumz 80]

Well its been hard and it still souds shit but atleast its a start my first ever song!

Listen to my first song here : https://www.mediafire.com/?dlt65kkfbbhm7pw

[Bronies are cool 30]

That was a pretty interesting song. I would recommend going onto mylittleremix.com to get some advice. Pretty much every on there is a brony musician or at least musician. They would be able to give way better advice than I could

[Commander Fresh 36]

You've got a pretty solid rhythm going on in the song, I could see some people putting this onto their iPods (or whatever newfangled  devices kids these days are using. Mp5?). I have noticed that the wubs that come in every once in a while do tend to drown out your drums. If you want to fix that, you could play around with an EQ and eliminate the frequencies in the wubs that clash with your drums.

[Gabby_Gumz 80]

Since ive made this post ive been playing around alot with Fruity Loops i have learned

loads and now im working on a song thats so far took me 3 weeks but i o it to you guys

[tropicolacrescent 2]

FL Studio can be hard to learn at first but after a while you get used to it and realise how awesome it is!

[Moonbacon 384]

I use fl studio and would like you to know tht it really does take dedication. I have been using it for about 6 months and am still unable to make dubstep. Dubstep is a difficult genre to make. I would learn a lot of basics to the Digital Audio Workstation first. It is good to know how to make melodies as well so I would look into music theory. Learn how to make a simpler genre first. Like house or drum and bass. These would really help you learn how to make some melodies. I would also recommend remixing existing songs and imitating existing songs to learn how to almake certain noises. It takes more than a few clicking of buttons to make some music, and not only that, it takes actual skill to make something worth listening to. I may sound harsh, but I came into the music scene wanting to make something mlp and it is just plain difficult. It takes a long time to learn too. I have even learned quickly and am still not really good enough by myself. Also, music takes dedication to make. A song should take more than 10 hours to make in order to sound great. I have only successfully made 1 song beyond the 10 hour point. It still sounds kind of bad. (I have a soundcloud if you want to check out my stuff. My name is PROJECT: S!X and the song that too more than 10 hours is calle Nusco) and so just know that it really takes a lot of dedication to learn. Not to mention that it also takes a decent computer to make something good. I would recommend at least 6gb ram if you are serious about this.

 

Sorry if I sound like a wet towel, but you s should know what you are getting into. I should also say that mos of the well known brony musicians have years of experience. Years means that they already have an advantage of making music before they started making music.

 

To be a bit more positive, it is great that you want to learn how to make music. It is really fun to do once you get the hang of things. Creativity is endless in this department. And expression is another great thing music allows you to do.

 

I would make a tutorial, but I do not have a recording program to record my computer screen and am currently too lazy to find one cost free. I would if I was given a link to a site for one or something. But I usually don't have time either. Bi I would make one tutorial if I had a recording program.

 

try bandicam or comstudio those are free

[Bronies are cool 30]

So i did get around to making a tutorial. It is a super basic tutorial, but hopefully it would at least help you start to learn how to use the DAW. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U-J6gzXx_I&feature=youtu.be (it would be nice to also get a sub or two )

[Deesinn 393]

I'm not a fan, basically because their free VSTs kinda suck!