is FL Studio really all that bad? Other programs to use?

[skychain]

Is there really any recommended program to make VN music? FL studio has a bad rap but I've seen some good things made from it, like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI1ZEO-444o, which really is perfect in style for my games. Any tips with it? Or a different program suggestion to get my ideal result?

[Tenken]

The industry standard is Sibelius or Finale for scoring and Logic or Protools for mixing and recording. I personally use a combination of Sibelius and Abelton. You can also buy Kontakt and external samples if you need to expand your sample library. But these are really expensive so you might want to consider other options if you're only doing it as a hobby.

[Noyemi K]

There's nothing wrong with FL studio. A lot of the bad rap for FL studio comes from about a decade ago, when it was still just a rhythm machine and not a full DAW. It supports VSTs, automation, and use of external DAWs and whatnot via ReWire.

[Anthony]

Yeah, I agree with the last answer. Nowadays, FLStudio is a great DAW. But if you are planning to move into a more "professional level", you could try Reaper (or Cubase if you don't care about your money). It all depends on what do you want to do, how would you like to do it and how much money would you spend on it

[DangKem]

Or you can alway try LMMS out that suppose to be an FLSTudio alternative and I believe it can load flstudio sound packs
https://lmms.io/. I love it when I got this I could justify buying FLStudio. It meets my needs.

[Fluffyrobotdog]

Oh I really hate it when people talk bad about FL. I've been using it since late Version 7. It is equally powerful, if not at times more powerful than any electronic production program when it comes to pure composition. It is not very good for recording, and its shifty with production at times. But as a compositional tool, there is no program I can think of with a better workflow.

If you ever have a question about the program feel free to ask me, I've been meaning to kick start an old tutorial series I began a while back.

[FlyingCarParts]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with FL Studio. The only things that make different DAW's suitable for certain people are factors involving workflow, compatibility, plugin support, price, etc. Not "how good it is." Its the responsibility of the end user to understand the fundamentals of music production in order to know how to make things happen.
"You can only make this kind of music in this program" is mostly a myth. Their workflows might be more suited for this or that, but when it comes down to it you should be able to make any genre on any daw. Provided you know what you're doing.
I primarily use FL Studio and make metal music with it, even though it's widely known for leaning towards electronic/rap&hip hop. A good amount of people seem to like it. I think. lol

That said, if you don't feel like shelling out a lot of money, you can always go for LMMS. If your musical needs aren't so great that you need large-budget bgm, that is. For a free program, it's fantastic and its development is currently ongoing. There are tons and tons of tutorials on YouTube for LMMS, and its community is very responsive if you ever need assistance.

Enough talk, here's something I made with LMMS and there will be more to come (hopefully to distribute for free use)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cux_jfFesqI

[Lyedka]

I have fl Studio11 and is amazing! but, everything depends on the user who uses it.

[Noyemi K]

FL 12 is out and I participated in the open beta. It adds a lot of new interface features and stuff.

[Ziassan]

FL Studio is a really good DAW.
It drags a "bad reputation" from his debuts when it was really different and used for cheap things, but it's just a thing from the past.

Fruity Loop is maybe less "professional looking" (if that means anything) but what matters is the song you make, it will not scream MADE WITH FRUITY LOOPS when listening to it anyway. The thing is that the people who learned in school & others had mostly Pro Tools or Logic already installed or with reduction on the price afterward, so often they'll like the idea their soft is better than others, while it's pretty much the same.

I personnaly use FL Studio since... always, and I've worked for indie games & VN and did paid work with it without problem.
Of course you'd want to use another soft if you want really neat mastering but that's the same story for others DAW.
In term of quality/price I think FL Studio is among the best too.
(I'm not paid by them I swear)

[FlyingCarParts]

Of course you'd want to use another soft if you want really neat mastering but that's the same story for others DAW.

Professional mastering is completely possible in FL Studio. Have a listen at some of the demo projects.

[Ziassan]

Professional mastering is completely possible in FL Studio. Have a listen at some of the demo projects.

I was implying it was probably more work doing it in FL when looking for a neat mastering, not that it was impossible, but maybe I don't use it enough who know.

[Matthewdeargameaudio]

Reaper is good, quite a few top sound designers, composers and game devs use it.

It's optional to pay for it, so you can use it for free.
http://www.reaper.fm/

[FlyingCarParts]

I was implying it was probably more work doing it in FL when looking for a neat mastering, not that it was impossible, but maybe I don't use it enough who know.

Oh, my bad. Guess that just depends on the end user's experience with their program, idk, I've only ever used 2 hosts extensively.

[ProjectTrinity]

Not sure if it's still a relevant question at this point, but in the event it is:

The link you provided is the stuff FL Studio was made for, so in the case of your visual novel, it's a perfect fit. Everything is streamlined and catrered for that very thing. Shoot, if I knew for sure what the sounds were, I could more or less reproduce the beat. I actually use FL Studio for sweeping orchestras and bombastic choirs. (Proof is nice though: Here.)

So depending on who spoke the words, it will never be as bad as some want it to be. It's biggest sin is that it doesn't initially appear to be very catering to anything outside of fun beats. (Ironically, I have yet to figure out how to make a 'good' and hard beat of my own. lol)