Image Line’s FL Studio is a highly-developed digital audio workshop station. Although it’s primarily geared towards electronic music production, it’s great for any type of audio project.
Make and edit tracks
Although FL Studio had capabilities to run on Mac, it was quite glitchy and complicated. In 2018, Image-Line finally created a compatible version FL Studio for Apple Mac users. Therefore you can now run FL Studio on your Mac Book Pro with full VST and AU support! Purchasing FL Studio gives you a valid licence to use both macOS and Windows versions, including Lifetime Free Updates. How to use FL Studio on a Mac Install the FL Studio native macOS version (requires macOS 10.13.6 or higher). FL Studio’s vector-based is sharp and easy to read despite its complexity, especially on Retina-class monitors. The UI is fully scalable, even across multiple displays. It also supports multitouch; with an appropriate touch-screen monitor on a PC, you can use it like a live physical mixing board and move multiple faders simultaneously.
FL Studio is a powerful one-stop-shop for sound recording and music production.
The headline feature here is a native 64-bit Mac version, meaning that FL Studio can now be used on OS X/MacOS without the need for a clunky work-around. Pleasingly, licenses are shared between both Mac and PC versions. Mac Pro 6,1 - 69 deg c with the fan/s running at 790 RPM. Mac mini 2018 - 84 deg c with the fan/s running at 3935 RPM. Of course in a studio, the real question is how much noise does the fan make? We measured the room which had an ambient noise level of around 50 dBA over a 1-minute sample. FL Studio isn't native yet unfortunately so it's going through Rosetta. Rosetta is entirely useless for DAWs. Unusably slow even for really simple projects that run without issue on incredibly old hardware. Emulation was never going to be good for music production, but this is surprisingly bad.
FL Studio software comes in four editions, the prices of which correspond to the available function. With the better editions, you get to edit audio clips, access the full version of the DirectWave sampler, and more. With its progressing feature sets, FL Studio is worth the money, and you'll get lifetime free updates from the developer.
The vector-based interface is easy to read, scalable across displays, and supports multitouch. Fl studio free 2018. The Browser, Channel Rack, and the Pattern list contain all the functions from the program.
The main arranging window is the Playlist, where you can bring up the step sequencer and piano roll for closer editing.
Recording requires several clicks, and as you work, you can switch between pattern and song modes to fine tune your tracks.
FL Studio comes with included instruments, but they tend to be too simplistic. However, with some of the built-in effects, it’s possible to make them sound better.
Where can you run this program?
FL Studio runs on macOS 10.11 and Windows 8, or later versions. There are mobile options for iOS and Android, too.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes, if you’re a professional, LMMS is the best choice out there. Ableton Live offers similar features to FL Studio. Ardour and AudioTool are great free alternatives.
Our take
Although the program comes with some clear limitations, it can do wonders and create complex, well-produced pieces of music from a single interface.
Should you download it?
Yes, if you have some experience with such programs already. The UI features a learning curve that’s not ideal for beginners.
11.0.2
GarageBand
There’s been a seismic shift in how records are made. Now, you can do it with the built-in software that comes with every Apple computer, thanks to the free GarageBand. Unlike the cartoonish version that debuted in the early aughts, the new GarageBand features a surprisingly serious presentation that roughly mirrors the high-end Logic Pro X digital audio workstation, or DAW. Although GarageBand lacks Logic’s amazing flexibility, vast array of instruments, and powerful mixing and mastering features, it’s almost as powerful when it comes to handling other tasks. The fact that GarageBand is free makes the app all the better, and a clear Editors’ Choice for entry-level recording software.
Setup and User Interface
GarageBand’s basic interface layout mimics that of Logic Pro X and other proper multitrack software. Selecting one brings up the main interface. The top-right portion of the window is where you add and mix new tracks. You click any recorded data to bring up an editor in the bottom portion of the display. Here you can switch between piano roll and score views, an audio editor, and, where appropriate, an EQ tab that displays a beautiful, clean-sounding parametric equalizer for the given track.
The left side of the display shows your selected instrument. The top bar includes icons for triggering the various windows, a transport bar for recording and playback, an LED-style readout for the current beat, bar, tempo, meter, and other information, icons for loop recording, a guitar tuner, a count off, and a metronome. It’s easy to resize the various windows and zoom levels using the on-screen sliders. To the far right, you can launch a Notes page, an audio loop browser, and a media drawer for recorded audio and movies you want to sync music to. Apple also added support for the Force Touch trackpad and Touch Bar that come built into the latest MacBook Pros.
Recording, Smart Controls, and Remote
Recording is as simple as arming a track and clicking the Record icon. You can record at 24 bits with a mic, if you have a USB-powered one or an audio interface with a mic preamp into which you can plug a microphone. You can record and mix up to 255 tracks, and only your audio interface limits how many you can record simultaneously. Basic editing is simple, but if you want to really dig into GarageBand, advanced features are available, too. Flex Time lets you massage the groove of a given audio track, while Groove Matching perfectly matches the timing, tempo, and feel of the other tracks to the one you have set up. These are surprisingly transparent sounding, as long as you use them within reason.
There’s still no proper mixing board. Instead, you use the left side of the Arrangement window as a mixer, with horizontal sliders on each track. There’s a reverb effect, and you can pan tracks from left to right in the stereo field; you can also apply compression to recorded audio tracks. GarageBand includes a basic mastering track to boost your levels and get a finished sound, though it’s nothing like what you’d get in a professional-level digital audio workstation, such as Logic Pro X or Pro Tools. Still, it’s a much-appreciated inclusion in a free recording app.
PROS
- Streamlined, professional interface.
- Makes it easy to record and mix music.
- Apple’s built-in sound and loop library keeps getting bigger and better.
- Enjoyable instrument lessons, including now-free artist lessons.
- Supports 24-bit recording and third-party plug-ins.
CONS
- No mixing console view.
FL Studio
Image-Line’s FL Studio, known affectionately by long-term fans as FruityLoops (the app’s original name, when it debuted in 1998), has matured into a powerful digital audio workstation (DAW). While it’s still clearly geared for electronic music production “in the box,” as opposed to recording live musicians playing acoustic instruments, you can record or create just about any kind of audio project with it. And now, for the first time, Mac users can also join in on the fun. If your memory of FL Studio is closer to its roots—when the Belgian company’s audio editing app looked more like a 1980s Amiga tracker than a proper DAW—prepare to be amazed at how far the program has come.
Setup and User Interface
FL Studio’s vector-based is sharp and easy to read despite its complexity, especially on Retina-class monitors. The UI is fully scalable, even across multiple displays. It also supports multitouch; with an appropriate touch-screen monitor on a PC, you can use it like a live physical mixing board and move multiple faders simultaneously.
Starting from the left side, the Browser contains all of your presets, instruments, audio clips, project files, and other assorted material to work with. The Channel Rack contains whatever sound generators are in use in the current project. The Pattern list shows all of the clips in use. The Playlist serves as the main arranging window, and looks a lot like the view in other DAWs. You can also bring up the piano roll and step sequencer, both of which let you edit more closely. The mixing console and meter bridge view can be set to multiple sizes. You can adjust the borders of or hide any of these windows as you see fit. If you’re used to a much earlier version of FL Studio, prepare to get reoriented; a number of main pieces like the Channel Rack and Pattern Menus have been moved around.
For the first time, FL Studio supports time signatures—you’re not just constrained to 4/4 anymore. You can set time signatures for both patterns and the playlist, and you can play multiple time signatures on top of each other.
Recording, Smart Controls, and Remote
The way each project works is as a collection of patterns—beginning with Pattern 1, which you can find underneath the transport. You can start a song just by clicking on the 16th-note step sequencer buttons to lay down notes, or by right-clicking the channel and choosing Fill in Steps to speed up the process. To add a new sound, select Plugin Preset > Generator, and drag the one you want into the Channel Rack, either over an existing channel or after adding a new one first.
To record from a MIDI keyboard instead, click the Record button, and then choose Everything at the bottom of the dialog box asking what you want to record. When you’re done, CTRL-Q quantizes the notes you recorded in that pattern. As you create new patterns, you drop them into the Playlist, where you can then duplicate them, or zap them with the right button if you change your mind. It’s easy to cut and paste notes, drag them around, adjust their size, and so on; the pattern automatically lengthens and snaps to make building longer ones a quick process. As you work, you can alternate between Song mode, to hear everything, or Pattern mode, to focus on and develop individual patterns.
Most of this is easy enough to grasp, but there are a few odd interface conventions. For example, don’t be fooled by the single Undo and Redo options in the Edit menu drop down; the real undo history is hidden in the Browser, or you can bring it up by hitting CTRL-ALT-Z. And while the interface contains a lot of small, obscure icons, no tool tips seem to appear when you hover over them. Instead, look up and to the top left, where a small window displays the purpose of each element of the interface as you pass the cursor over it. There’s no score editor, so you’ll need something else if you prefer working with music notation.
PROS
- Brilliant loop and pattern-based MIDI composition tools.
- Visible automation clips are easy to manipulate.
- Free lifetime updates.
- There’s finally a Mac version!
CONS
- Convoluted, inflexible audio recording (in higher-priced versions).
- Must manually assign instrument tracks to mixer channels.
- Built-in sound library could use some updating.
- Lacks notation editor.
Check the price here – Amazon
Conclusions
While there are some clear limitations, you can produce exceptional work using just FL Studio. The preloaded demo song sounds every bit as polished and engaging as you’d expect from a finished master, and it’s created entirely within FL Studio. There are dozens of such demo tracks included; stepping through them is a great way to learn what’s possible with the program, and you can break each one down by its individual pieces to get your own ideas for sounds.
I enjoy the freedom of linear open tracks and unlimited hard drive storage we have today. As a result, I don’t personally take to an environment like FL Studio, which is largely pattern- and loop-oriented (and I felt this way about Ableton Live as well when I tested that program, so read into this what you will). The obvious difference is while you’re still creating patterns like we did back then, the process in FL Studio is visual and flexible in a way it never was with lists of numbers in tiny two-line LCDs, my original point of reference for pattern-based recording. Starting out today with something like FL Studio, you could easily become a natural with the technique.
Fl Studio For Mac Torrent
Even so, FL Studio still feels like a better fit for producing contemporary EDM and hip-hop. While you can use it to record and mix linear audio tracks from, say, a singer/songwriter, or in a rock band context, it’s not FL Studio’s core mission. Of the available packages, FL Studio Producer is probably the best value; at $199 it undercuts both Ableton Live and Propellerhead Reason. FL Studio Producer is flexible enough to get everything you need to be done for in-the-box composition, and without unnecessary restrictions on vocal clip recording or sample editing that the base version brings. If you’ve got the money, by all means, spring for Signature or All Plugins, though you may want to put that cash toward some third-party virtual instruments instead.