Image Line FL Studio 6 review

When it first appeared, this software was a pretty basic program for knocking together drum loops. Over the years it’s grown fatter on its success and piled on the features.

Now you can use it to create not just drum breaks, but whole songs, because it includes lots of synths, drum machines, samplers and effects along with quite complex arranging and mixing tools.

FL Studio is at heart a pattern-based sequencer. You put together tracks by creating short patterns of one or more bars, before telling the software how you want it to string them together into a song.

The patterns are created using the step sequencer that is tied to each channel in the main window. The arrangement of these patterns is then built up using the Play List editor, which looks a little bit like the arrange window in Steinberg's Cubase or Cakewalk's Sonar Home Studio, except it’s much simpler.

This pattern approach makes it really good for building dance or electronic music that’s based on repeating riffs and phrases, but it also means that FL Studio isn’t really suitable for those wanting to create pop or rock tunes.

The step sequencer makes the software easy to get to grips with. However, using the step sequencer all the time can become a bit limiting, especially when you want to enter more complicated synth patterns, so you’ll be thankful a piano roll editor has been added to this latest version.

Patterns can be used to trigger either samples or virtual instruments. There’s a good range of samples and virtual instruments included, so you get a wide sonic palette to choose from straight out of the box.

But FL Studio also works with a huge number of plug-ins, so you can load up VST plug-ins or Buzz instruments to enhance its sound-making capabilities.

One of the best things about FL Studio is the way it makes it easy to tweak your sounds. When you click on a track in the step sequencer, it brings up the channel settings window that lets you quickly change all the main parameters you’ll need to tweak, including pan and volume controls as well as pitch and filter cut-off.

Once you’ve completed your patterns, you can switch to the Play List editor where you arrange your patterns into full songs. Patterns are listed horizontally and you draw in blocks along the timeline for where you want each individual pattern to play.

The system is functional, but not quite as straightforward to use as the arrange window in Steinberg's Cubase or Cakewalk's Sonar Home Studio, because you have to keep track of which samples or instruments you’ve set to play in each pattern.

We weren’t that keen on the non-standard way FL Studio approaches some tasks. For example, certain effects settings are tweaked via the track-settings box, but others are tweaked via the mixer.

They should really all be grouped together. Matters aren’t helped much by the manual, which simply fails to cover some areas of the application properly.

Nevertheless, despite its small quirks, FL Studio 6 is great fun to use and offers a vast range of music-making features, especially for those interested in creating dance music.

And its Rewire support means you can use it in conjunction with applications such as Reason and Cubase, if you feel the need to upgrade later.

This article is part of a group test of budget audio-sequencing software. Others are:
Intro and Editor's Choice
Arturia Storm 3
Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio 4
Magix Music Studio 11 Deluxe
Steinberg Cubase SE 3
Setting up your home studio