Image-Line FL Studio

About this release

FL Studio works differently from the tape derived sequencers, and that difference is why a whole generation of producers learned on it. Ideas are built as patterns in a step sequencer and a piano roll, and those patterns are then arranged into a track in the playlist. Writing a loop takes seconds, which suits the way most electronic music actually gets written: by making something short that works and then building outward from it.

The piano roll is widely considered the best in any production application, and it is not a small thing. Note entry, chord and scale tools, arpeggiation, strumming, velocity and articulation editing, ghost notes from other patterns for reference, and slicing and quantising that behave predictably. A great deal of the writing in this program happens in that one window.

The Producer Edition is the full working tier. Audio recording, full automation on any parameter, the playlist without restrictions, and the complete mixer with unlimited inserts, sends, routing and effect chains, plus recording of everything the program does to disk. Below this tier the recording and mixing side is limited, which is why this is the edition worth having.

The bundled instrument and effect set is unusually deep, and the extensions add the sample library front end with a very large browsable collection. Synthesisers, samplers, drum machines, granular tools, equalisers, compressors, reverbs, delays, distortion and mastering processors all ship in the box, and third party plugins load alongside them. Lifetime free updates are the other reason people stay: the program you install keeps becoming the next version.

What it does

Pattern based workflow

Build ideas as patterns and arrange them into a track, which suits fast writing.

Piano roll

Chord, scale, arpeggiation, strum and articulation tools in the best editor of its kind.

Full mixer

Unlimited inserts, sends, routing and effect chains with automation on everything.

Deep bundled instruments

Synthesisers, samplers, drum machines and a large processed effect set included.

Sample library front end

A very large browsable collection with preview in time with the project.

Lifetime updates

The installed program keeps becoming the next version rather than expiring.

Changed in this version

• Piano roll gains additional scale and chord tools.
• Faster project load on very large arrangements.
• New effect presets and instrument patches added.
• Improved plugin delay compensation on complex routing.
• Mixer interface scaling corrected on high density displays.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a folder with room for the sample content.
2. Run the installer and choose which extension packs to include.
3. Launch once and set the audio device and buffer size before recording.
4. Point the plugin scanner at your existing plugin folders on first run.

Worth knowing before you start

File details