hey guys, i was wondering if any of you had the patience to help a clueless producer wanna-be. i have been playing with fruityloops for like a year, but im no expert and don't get any good sounds out of it. anyway, i want to try some other programs such as logic and cubase...but i have no clue about vsts, where to get them, how they work, how they are installed or any of this. if any of you guys could give me pointers to get moving i'd really appreciate it. also, i have plans to buy a synth, what is something simple and economical to start with that does the job? my main interest in all of this is getting improved sounds! my generic fruity sounds suck hard, but that's because i don't know where to go for samples etc.

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Originally posted by umes23 hey guys, i was wondering if any of you had the patience to help a clueless producer wanna-be. i have been playing with fruityloops for like a year, but im no expert and don't get any good sounds out of it. anyway, i want to try some other programs such as logic and cubase...but i have no clue about vsts, where to get them, how they work, how they are installed or any of this. if any of you guys could give me pointers to get moving i'd really appreciate it. also, i have plans to buy a synth, what is something simple and economical to start with that does the job? my main interest in all of this is getting improved sounds! my generic fruity sounds suck hard, but that's because i don't know where to go for samples etc.

Why would you move from Fruity to Cubase or Logic for the purpose of using VSTs?

I think u know very little about producing, I think u should stick with Fruity, spend ALOT of hours learning the program, reading the manual... cause if u cant work your way around Fruity there is really no point in getting Cubase, especially Logic.. and forget about that Hardware synth at the moment..

and BTW: u CAN use VSTi with Fruity.

good luck!

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well i wanted to do the difficult learning on a program i would like to stick with when i actually do know what i'm doing. all the interfaces are tough to get used to. i want to use a program that provides maximum control. maybe the version of fruity i have doesn't come with all the functions... but i've found myself pretty limited with it.

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Originally posted by Tranc3 Why would you move from Fruity to Cubase or Logic for the purpose of using VSTs?

i want to learn to use vsts, now that im trying to learn new software. i just thinking that learning how to use the software is very tedious, and i don't want to do it all with fruity and then do it all over again.

i see your point, but i don't know what it is i should figure out with fruity. i just started playing around with it a year ago and i have made tunes with it without knowing all that much i suppose....but i dont know what it is it can do really. ive spent many, many hours with this program...just trying to make things sound better.... but i suppose its not working since i dont know how to use the program to do it. i think i have a good feel of the music itself, structure and everything.

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Originally posted by Subtle I think u know very little about producing, I think u should stick with Fruity, spend ALOT of hours learning the program, reading the manual... cause if u cant work your way around Fruity there is really no point in getting Cubase, especially Logic.. and forget about that Hardware synth at the moment.. and BTW: u CAN use VSTi with Fruity. good luck!

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Originally posted by umes23 i want to learn to use vsts, now that im trying to learn new software. i just thinking that learning how to use the software is very tedious, and i don't want to do it all with fruity and then do it all over again.

Ok, I'll ask again.

If you want to learn how to use VSTs, why leave Fruity?

Well, can you try to pinpoint the difficulties you are having -- maybe some of us could help more if we knew what you were having troubles with.

Yea you can use vst's in fruity and I do. I'm using Crystal which is pretty good and its completely free. You can get it from www.greenoak.com/crystal. I know a guy that uses Absynth 2 in FL4.

If you have a good grasp on music theory and electronic music but still not getting the right sound, you probably need to learn how to use the mixer and effects -- and that's what I'm trying to do now. I never really touched that at first. I can definetely see how you can go from a simple but flat track, to something that won't put you to sleep simply by mixing it properly and using effects.

In case you don't know how to do that, go to the Step Sequencer (where you add your samples to) and click on a sample. It will bring up the channel settings for that sample. In the upper right, there's an "FX" box. Change that to some number, go to the Mixer and then add an effect on that channel.

trance3, point taken.... i am now going to try and figure it out on fruity... i guess i just didnt know how to do it and the manual didnt really help.

rungekutta,thanks for the tips. i do know how to add effects but they run through the entire pattern... what i haven't figured out is how to specifically add effects to certain parts of the song, and create other modifications to the sound, like bringing out particular frequencies.... the "cut" adjustments just don't seem to be enough, i would like to have EQ control and stuff, and i really do need to learn more about how to mix the whole track. finally, i just get my sounds from the samples in the browser and as you know, they are pretty weak on the whole part... that is why my my sounds suck i know,i just haven't learned what to do about it. i am going to focus on figuring out this whole VST thing and i will check out the free vst you linked.

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Originally posted by umes23 rungekutta,thanks for the tips. i do know how to add effects but they run through the entire pattern... what i haven't figured out is how to specifically add effects to certain parts of the song, and create other modifications to the sound, like bringing out particular frequencies.... the "cut" adjustments just don't seem to be enough, i would like to have EQ control and stuff, and i really do need to learn more about how to mix the whole track. finally, i just get my sounds from the samples in the browser and as you know, they are pretty weak on the whole part... that is why my my sounds suck i know,i just haven't learned what to do about it. i am going to focus on figuring out this whole VST thing and i will check out the free vst you linked.

Well you have a couple options that I know, and if someone else knows a better way PLEASE share so I know how to do it too. First, if you only have a couple of varying effects with the same instrument, you can always add two of them and apply different effects on each instrument. Thats if you want to effects with the same instrument. Remember, you can always have two different note structures with the same sample by placing them on different patterns in the playlist.

If you only want an effect to last for a small period of time and not the whole song, do this. Add your sample, set your effects in the mixer. Then right-click on the "Mixer" knob for that specific effect and select "Edit Events". So if you added the "Fruity 7 Band EQ", right click on the knob that is to the right of the name. That will bring up a new window that looks similar to the Volume settings under the Piano Roll. The window is at "default" when it first opens, but you can change things. Then you can edit the levels there.

If you want I can make some screenshots later.

this is useful information i will definitely try out, thanks a lot.

also.. to use vst's in fruity... first go download a free one or something at www.kvr-vst.com

put the .dll file in the fruity/plugins/vst folder and then depending on if it is an fx or channel, go add a instrument/fx channel and then where you can choose what instrument/fx, select the "more..."

now go to the bottom right of the screen.. click on the menu.. and do a fast search(recommended) and it should list all your newly found vst's in red

also, another tip is to learn how to use fruity's sampler... there are many things you can edit when you have a new sample...

i got a lot of other tips but it's 5 am and it's way too late for me to be up lol