Book Image

The Music Producer's Ultimate Guide to FL Studio 21 - Second Edition

By : Joshua Au-Yeung
Book Image

The Music Producer's Ultimate Guide to FL Studio 21 - Second Edition

By: Joshua Au-Yeung

Overview of this book

The Music Producer's Ultimate Guide to FL Studio 21 is the essential handbook for any aspiring or professional music producer looking to take their craft to the next level. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to make the most of FL Studio 21's powerful tools and features. You will learn the secrets to creating professional-sounding music, from creating chord progressions to tailoring your sounds to perfection with compression, equalization, and stereo width effects. You'll begin by getting up-and-running with FL Studio 21, creating a beat, and composing a melody. Once you're familiar with the piano roll and mixer console you'll learn how to use plugins to create your own instruments, explore audio width effects, and engage in sound design. You'll get insights into mixing and mastering, as well as promoting and selling your music. This new edition covers some of the most popular features and plugins in FL Studio 21, including FLEX, Luxeverb, Vintage Chorus, Vintage Phaser, Distructor, Fruity Newtime, VFX Sequencer, Pitch Shifter, Frequency Shifter, Fruity Granulizer, Multiband Delay, and Frequency Splitter.

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Table of Contents (20 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What’s new in the second edition
How to use this book
What this book covers
Get in touch
1
Section I: Getting Up and Running with FL Studio
Section I: Getting Up and Running with FL Studio
Free Chapter
2
Getting Started with FL Studio
Getting Started with FL Studio
Technical requirements
Exploring the music production landscape
The musician’s career path
Steps of composing a song
What is FL Studio?
Exploring the FL Studio workspace
Making your first song
Summary
3
Exploring the Browser, Playlist, and Channel Rack
Exploring the Browser, Playlist, and Channel Rack
Introducing the FL Studio workbench
Using the browser
Using the channel rack
Using the playlist
Using the main header toolbar features
Summary
4
Composing with the Piano Roll
Composing with the Piano Roll
Using the piano roll
Composing great chord progressions
Recording into the piano roll with MIDI instruments
Exporting sheet music
Using and exporting MIDI scores
Summary
5
Routing to the Mixer and Applying Automation
Routing to the Mixer and Applying Automation
What is mixing?
Routing audio to the mixer
Navigating the mixer console
Applying automation
Editing automation clips
Applying automation to external third-party plugins
Freezing audio clips
Summary
6
Section II: Music Production Fundamentals
Section II: Music Production Fundamentals
7
Sound Design and Audio Envelopes
Sound Design and Audio Envelopes
What is sound?
What causes a note’s pitch?
How do we hear things?
How do instruments create sound with different pitches?
Why do different instruments playing the same pitch sound different?
Modifying sound envelopes
Using Mod X and Mod Y for automation
Summary
8
Compression, Sidechaining, Limiting, and Equalization
Compression, Sidechaining, Limiting, and Equalization
Understanding compression
Applying gates and expanders
Applying sidechaining
Using limiters
Applying equalization
Summary
9
Stereo Width (Panning, Reverb, Delay, Chorus, and Flangers) and Distortion
Stereo Width (Panning, Reverb, Delay, Chorus, and Flangers) and Distortion
Panning audio
Using reverb
Using LuxeVerb
Using delay effects
Using chorus effects
Using Vintage Chorus
Using flanger effects
Using phaser effects
Using Vintage Phaser
Understanding distortion effects
Understanding mix buses
Summary
10
Recording Live Audio and Vocal Processing
Recording Live Audio and Vocal Processing
Technical requirements
Understanding microphones
Setting up your recording environment
Recording audio into FL Studio
Using pitch correction with Newtone
Retiming audio samples with Newtime
Vocals effect processing best practices
Summary
11
Vocoders and Vocal Chops
Vocoders and Vocal Chops
Understanding vocoders
Understanding MIDI
Using vocoders
Using Vocodex
Creating vocal chops
Summary
12
Creating Your Own Instruments and Effects
Creating Your Own Instruments and Effects
Understanding glitch effects
Creating glitch effects with Gross Beat
Creating instruments with DirectWave
Creating effects with Patcher
Send any instrument to Patcher
Exploring Patcher presets
Using VFX Sequencer
Summary
13
Intermediate Mixing Topics and Sound Design Plugin Effects
Intermediate Mixing Topics and Sound Design Plugin Effects
Using Pitch Shifter
Using Frequency Shifter
Creating granular synthesis with Fruity Granulizer
Creating delay effects with Multiband Delay
Multiband processing with Frequency Splitter
Summary
14
Section III: Postproduction and Publishing Your Music
Section III: Postproduction and Publishing Your Music
15
Mastering Fundamentals
Mastering Fundamentals
What is mastering?
Equalization in mastering
Using multiband compressors
What are saturators/harmonic exciters?
Understanding limiters
Understanding stereo imaging with vectorscopes
Exporting audio for third-party mixing and mastering
Summary
16
Marketing, Content Creation, Getting Fans, and Going Viral
Marketing, Content Creation, Getting Fans, and Going Viral
Marketing essentials
Creating a brand
Making the most of your live performances
Collaborating with others to promote yourself
Creating music visuals with ZGameEditor Visualizer
Summary
17
Publishing and Selling Music Online
Publishing and Selling Music Online
Registering your music
Tagging your music in preparation for distribution
Selling music on online stores and streaming services
Claiming revenue from songs on YouTube using AdRev
Summary
Share your music
Conclusion
More from the author
Further reading
18
Other Books You May Enjoy
Other Books You May Enjoy
19
Index
Index

Understanding distortion effects

Distortion is an audio effect created by overloading audio. It changes the waveform and compresses sound in a way often described as “warm or dirty” sounding.

There are several types of distortion:

  • CLIPPING occurs when your audio is louder than the sound system can handle. Unintended clipping is an unpleasant sound to the ear. You’ve heard clipping whenever you hear audio feedback from phone or video calls. This type of audio can occur when the audio gain is turned above 0 dB. Unintended clipping distortion is undesirable; however, there are many kinds of desirable distortion that can be used in creative effects for your music to add unique character to your sounds. For the purposes of this chapter, we will be talking about intended distortion being used as a creative effect, rather than unintended clipping distortion.
  • SATURATION adds harmonic frequencies to your sound. It adds some compression and smooths...
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