FRUITY LOOPS v3.4

Loop-based Sequencing Software For PC

Published in SOS August 2002
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Reviews : Software

Fruity Loops from Image Line Software is a streamlined sequencer environment designed for dance music production using samples and software synths.

There is no doubt that top-of-the-range MIDI + Audio sequencers are very well specified, but there are times when having too many choices can actually get in the way of the creative process. On these occasions, a more streamlined working environment can sometimes prove more productive, and Image Line Software's Fruity Loops attempts to provide just such an environment. It combines step-based sequencing with pattern-based arrangements in a software interface that emulates the key features of classic Roland TB and TR-type hardware. Samples and synths are provided along with some MIDI support, but there is a strong emphasis on efficient and creative sound tweaking in a way that lends itself to dance music creation. However, being streamlined also means that Fruity Loops does not contain all the functionality of Cubase or Logic, and the key element you do not get here is multitrack audio recording.

Fruity Loops is distributed by Image Line Software, and both Fruity Loops Pro ($49) and Fruity Loops Full (the $99 version tested here) are available as downloadable products; a demo version can also be downloaded. The Full version contains a number of features that are not present in Pro, including a piano-roll editor, full automation of almost every control and ASIO support. However, both versions come with free 'lifetime' updates. A boxed version (at $139) can also be ordered on-line, and includes a printed manual, a CD containing over 3000 royalty-free samples, and the full version of the Dreamstation DXi soft synth (worth $35 if purchased individually). Interestingly, this version does not include the free update offer.

Fruity Loops $49/$99 pros Streamlined application for dance music production. Very easy to use. cons No multitrack audio support. Display a little compact and dark. summary Fruity Loops is both fun to use and, for dance styles of music, capable of some great results if you can manage without multitrack audio support. Download the demo and start experimenting!

Once the user has downloaded Fruity Loops and paid for it, they are sent a 'key' file via email, which will fully enable the software. The whole installation process was totally painless, and was complete within a few seconds on the test PC. As well as sample playback, Fruity Loops supports software synths, and Image Line produce a number of Fruity Loops-specific synths; some are included and there are demos of a number of the more sophisticated models. DX and VST Instruments are also supported. The software has a reference manual available via the Help menu, and a Getting Started manual is also available as a free download from the Fruity Loops web site. This is clearly aimed at newcomers to computer-based music production, and provides a very effective introduction to the software.

The Fruity Loops display is split into three main areas. The upper area is divided into various toolbar sections and contains the menu options, while the left-hand side of the screen contains the Browser, which operates as a file Explorer-type window. The main body of the window contains the Step Sequencer window, and other windows pop up within this area when a particular Channel is selected. As the screenshots show, Fruity Loops doesn't follow some of the more routine visual conventions of Windows applications. For my taste, things are a little on the dark side, and some of the information is displayed in a rather 'compact' fashion.

Once the program is installed, the user has to configure its Environmental Settings to establish the defaults for various MIDI, Wave (audio card), General and File settings. The Wave settings will influence the audio latency and depend upon the particular soundcard and driver mode used; Fruity Loops supports DirectSound, MME and ASIO drivers (the latter only in the Pro version). The current version only allows a single stereo output to be selected (although version 3.5 will support multiple outputs), and Fruity Loops mixes all its audio internally prior to sending it to the selected stereo output. Most musical parts are recorded into Fruity Loops using the step sequencer, meaning that its real-time response is not critical, so Fruity Loops does not really require a state-of-the-art PC. Low latency can, however, become an issue when you're doing creative tweaking of synth or effects controls, as these can be recorded in real time.

The core functionality of the program is built around a combination of step-based sequencing and pattern-based song construction. Patterns are built up by combining musical parts from a collection of 'instruments'. Each instrument that is used within a song is added to its own Channel, which then appears within the Step Sequencer window. Fruity Loops refers to these instruments as 'Generators', the idea being that a Channel requires a sound generator in order to produce sound. A Generator can be either a single audio sample (such as a WAV file) or a software synth.

The Full version of Fruity Loops features a piano-roll editor.

Anyone who has previous experience of a step- or grid-based sequencer in hardware or software will find working in Fruity Loops a familiar process. On startup, a blank Pattern 1 is displayed with four sample-based Channels set up to use kick drum, clap, hi-hat and snare drum samples. This Pattern defaults to 16 steps, although it can be easily adjusted via Options / Song Settings. Patterns are simply constructed by clicking grid positions (each grid position is called a 'dot') on or off, and playback can be looped while a Pattern is under construction.

Extra Channels can be added via the Channels / Add one menu item, which provides a number of different Generators to select from. The most basic is a Sample-based Channel: as well as using drum samples such as those in the default Pattern, these can employ samples suitable for building bass or melody parts. If you're constructing a pitched sequence like a bass line, you can specify both the rhythm of the part (by choosing which dots the sample is to play on) and its pitch: clicking on the keyboard icon at the top right of the Step Sequencer window opens a keyboard display for the currently selected Channel, where the pitch of each note for that Channel can be entered. This keyboard only allows mono sequences to be constructed. However, the Full version of Fruity Loops also includes a conventional piano-roll editor, which allows more complex musical parts to be entered.

The Playlist window allows Patterns to be arranged into a song.

A Channel Generator can also be a software synth, and some basic but very usable synths are included with Fruity Loops. TS404 is a TB303-style monosynth for creating bass lines, while SoundFont Player is a sampler instrument that supports the popular SoundFont2 format, and 3xOSC is also a sampler plug-in: as it name suggests, it provides a set of three oscillators that, together with filters, envelopes and LFOs, can be used for lead lines, synths, strings and bass lines. The Plucked instrument is aimed at string sounds while, more bizarrely, BeepMap generates sounds based on a custom bitmap image. Demo versions of some further Generator instruments (SimSynth Live, Wasp, DX10 and Dreamstation) are also provided but in their demo form, any Channels that use these Generators are removed from a song when it is saved.

The Playlist window provides a straightforward grid system where Patterns can be arranged. Any number of Patterns can be played back simultaneously, which means that different elements of the instrumentation can be created within individual Patterns — drum and percussion Patterns can, for example, be created separately from bass or melody line Patterns.

Things get more interesting in the sound tweaking department. Clicking on a Channel within the Step Sequencer opens the Channel Settings window. The screen shots overleaf show an example for a basic Sample-based Channel where the settings are split into four groups — SMP, INS, MISC, FUNC — and provide controls that can alter the properties of the sample, envelopes for volume filter resonance, filter cutoff and pitch, overall level and effects settings. Different sets of controls are available for the various synths.

The Effects Of Fruit     The following effects are supplied with Fruity Loops: Buzz Effect Adapter. 7-band EQ. Balance. Bass Boost. Big Clock. Blood Overdrive. Centre. Chorus. Compressor. DB meter. Delay. Delay 2. Fast LP. Filter. Flanger. Formula Controller. Free Filter. LSD. Mute 2. PanOMatic. Parametric EQ. Peak Controller. Phase Inverter. Phaser. Reeverb. Scratcher. Spectroman. Stereo Enhancer. X-Y Controller.

All of these parameters can be edited under mouse control, and one of the key features of the software is the ability to record these changes in real time — Fruity Loops refers to this as 'Live' recording. The documentation suggests putting all of a song's automation into a single Pattern that lasts the entire length of the song. Selecting a suitable blank Pattern and then clicking the Record and Play buttons enables this real-time recording and works a treat — all the usual dance-style clichés are easily achieved! However, working this way means that the overall arrangement of the other Patterns has to be pretty much complete before any Live recording is done, or the automation can get out of sync with the musical parts. An Event Editor is available for more detailed editing of recorded controller data.

The automation feature is further enhanced by the ability to work with an external hardware MIDI controller such as the Keyfax Phatboy. As with Propellerhead's Reason, the 'Link to Controller' function allows the user to link a particular software control to a specific fader or knob on a hardware MIDI controller. This is a doddle to set up and worked well with my own Evolution MK249C keyboard.

Of Fruity Loops' other creative features, two are worthy of further mention: the Arpeggiator and the Effects. Both sample-based and some synth-based Channels offer the Arpeggiator as an option under the FUNC Channel Settings. This allows a chord type to be selected and the direction of the arpeggio (up, down, up/down and random), the octave range, speed, note slide and staccato effect to be set. This function is easy to use and can create some great results.

Further fruitiness can be added with the effects functions. Fruity Loops is supplied with a range of the usual reverb, delay and modulation effects, but can also use any VST or DirectX plug-ins installed on the host PC. The Effects window provides a Master Effects track, 16 Regular Effects tracks and four Send Effects tracks, each Effects track supporting up to eight effects chained together. Effects on the Master Effects track are applied to all Channels within the song, while Channels can be sent to one of the Regular Effects tracks by specifying the track number in the Channel Settings window. The output from the Regular Effects tracks can also be passed to any of the Send Effects tracks using the Send controls at the bottom right of the Effects window. These various routing options provide a reasonable amount of flexibility, and the quality and range of effects supplied is good. Effects controls can also be linked to an external controller for 'Live' recording.

Even though Fruity Loops is a fairly streamlined application, it still has plenty more options. The Getting Started manual doesn't make great play of note entry via a keyboard (indeed, the tone of the document suggests that the software is aimed as much at non-musicians as those with traditional keyboard skills), but this is possible. As with Live recording of Channel settings or Effects controls, with a blank Pattern and a suitable Channel selected, recording can be initiated; any note information received via the MIDI input will be stored as a single, multi-bar Pattern and can be edited via the piano-roll editor. Of course, low audio latency will be needed for real-time recording.

If single-sample-based Channels seem a bit restrictive, you can use Fruity Loops' Layer option. Essentially, a Layer Channel contains the required note information and is linked to several 'Child' Channels, each of which can be based upon a sample or synth Generator. The Child Channels can, for example, be used to set up a crossfade or keyboard split between samples. In this way, quite complex multisampled instruments could be constructed, although it would be quite a lot of work to replicate what is possible in something like HALion, GigaStudio or EXS24!

A range of file import/export options is available. For example, Fruity Loops allows MIDI files to be imported, and each MIDI channel used in the original file can be allocated to a different Channel within the Step Sequencer window. In terms of output, as well as the software's own FLP file format, a 'zipped' format allows the samples used to be saved along with all the sequence data. Audio can also be rendered to WAV and MP3 files.

Fruity Loops is an interesting application. While it does not boast the comprehensive feature lists of a mainstream MIDI + Audio sequencer, it contains all the essential tools for dance music production based on samples and soft synths, within a user interface that is actually quite easy to use (even if the graphics are a little on the dark side!).

Obvious competitors include Making Waves (reviewed in SOS December 2000 and in this issue) and Reason (reviewed in SOS March 2001). Reason is more expensive than either Fruity Loops or Making Waves and probably has the more professional user in mind. In contrast, the Audio version of Making Waves and Fruity Loops are similarly priced. Making Waves is probably a little better in terms of real-time MIDI input of musical parts and does include audio recording, but if software synths, sound tweaking and effects manipulation are your thing, then Fruity Loops would be the better bet. As a budget, bloat-free music application, Fruity Loops is both fun to use and, for dance styles of music, capable of some great results.

Test Spec     Fruity Loops v3.4. Pentium 4 1.6 GHz PC with 512MB RAM, running Windows 98SE. Echo Mia 24, Yamaha DSP Factory and Yamaha SW1000XG soundcards.

information

Pro version $49 (download only); Full version $99 (download) or $139 (boxed). Image Line Software +32 900 10 292. +32 9 281 15 01. Click here to email www.fruityloops.com