FL Studio 11 – Conclusion and Verdict

Conclusion

To conclude our FL Studio 11 review we found overall that is great for making electronic music and for existing users the free update, or crossgrade from the entry level version, is a no brainer. For new users looking at the platform it’s very well suited to constructing tracks from sequences and so is probably ideal for anyone less confident as a player, but who wants to create complex projects. That’s not to say players won’t find much to like : they will, but keyboard skills aren’t a prerequisite.

Anyone moving from a more conventional DAW will find a bit of a learning curve due to the slightly different approach to arranging and editing, but once you get around this it’s a very powerful piece of software that does make sense.Performance mode is handy and helps take FL Studio out of the studio and onto the stage, and the longer track count will please those who like their projects big and heavy. FL Studio might be a different take on music production, but it’s a very solid one.

Key Features
Audio and MIDI recording, editing and sequencing
Full automation and MIDI control
Works as plug-in or via ReWire
Live Performance mode
Multiple ways to record and sequence audio and MIDI
Multiple effects and instruments provided
Visualizer and synth building environment
Pitch and time stretching
MIDI pattern generation
Multitouch support
Lifetime free updates

System Requirements
2Ghz Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon 64 (or later) compatible CPU with full SSE2 support.
32 or 64 Bit versions of Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, XP (with service pack 3)
Intel Mac with Boot Camp / Windows.
Running XP (with service pack 3), Vista or Windows 7 (in 32 or 64 Bit)
1GB or more RAM recommended
1GB free disk space

Verdict

+ Excellent for making electronic music
+ Powerful step-based sequencing capabilities
+ Good depth of editing and programming features
+ Great bundled synths and effects
+ New Performance mode is fun and useful
+ Multitouch support will be handy
+ Now has 199 tracks
+ Some advanced tools if you want to use them
+ Less experienced players can still create complex music
+ Fun to use once you’ve learned it

– Iconography is still a little obscure at first
– Recording into modules rather than tracks can initially seem confusing
– Probably still not ideal for band-style audio multitracking

An excellent and affordable environment for making electronic music with some hidden depths.

9/10

A Full and more in-depth version of this review appears in the June issue of Music Tech magazine available from 16th May

FL Studio 11 Producer
Manufacturer : Image Line
Price : Producer Edition $199 download / $299 boxed
Fruity Edition $99 download / $139 boxed
Distributor : Image Line
Contact : Via website
Web : www.image-line.com