Fantastic (Fruityloops 3)

Member Name: Pingu

Product:	Fruityloops 3
Date:	30/03/01 (456 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic ease of use

Disadvantages: No MIDI capabilities

For those who thought FruityLoops was just another tracker, or loop sequencer, think again. I used to think the same. I use several very powerful bits of kit, including Cubase5 in conjunction with the mighty Pulsar studio-on-a-card, all of which have more facilities than FruityLoops in their left little fingers.

Certainly, it is not the range of what FruityLoops can do that makes it so fantastic. Its virtual synths are basic, its effects average, its audio-editing facilities minimal. What makes it the bees-knees is its PHENOMENAL ease of use. Just try writing the same track in FruityLoops, and then using the Pulsar environment with Cubase as its sequencer. Eventually the Cubase track will sound better, but you'll spend about 100 times as long on it.

Take, for instance, working with audio loops. If you want to alter the pitch of a sample in Cubase, you need to go into the Audio editor and pitch-shift it, saving the shifted sample as a new version, paste it into a track where you want it triggered, then do the whole thing again if you want it at yet another pitch. In FruitLoops you simply dedicate a track to that sample, open the keyboard editor and click on the pitch you want at each 16th note of your pattern. And, although the audio-editing facilities are limited, you can do them in real time. So you can decide, half way through a track, to reverse a sample, or stretch it, etc.

I still used to prefer Cubase because of some serious shortcomings in FruityLoops. The inability to play chords for instance, without dedicating several tracks to one sound. And playing long sounds, such as those searing strings, that need to extend beyond the 16 note pattern, used to be nigh on impossible. But the addition of the piano roll editor in version3 has solved these problems.

The program comes with an absolute tonne of samples included, but you can use any wav or aiff file as well. There are lots of other gimmicks, such as the ability to lo
ad a GIF or JPEG into a track and have it turned into sound. Don't let these persuade you that this is in any way a gimmicky piece of kit. If I'm writing dance tracks I rarely click on any other shortcut anymore.

If you are going to buy it, do buy the full version - as opposed to the pro-version. There are regular free upgrades, and most features of the full version eventually wind up in the pro-version. Except automation! And where would dance music be without automation? Buy this now!

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