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The Music Producer's Ultimate Guide to FL Studio 21
The Music Producer's Ultimate Guide to FL Studio 21

The Music Producer's Ultimate Guide to FL Studio 21: From beginner to pro: compose, mix, and master music , Second Edition

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The Music Producer's Ultimate Guide to FL Studio 21

Getting Started with FL Studio

Think about your favorite songs. What makes you like them? Is it the melody, the chords, the catchy rhythm? Maybe a combination of a whole bunch of things that fit together perfectly. Perhaps you’ve tried making songs at home and realized there’s a big difference between the sound you’re making and the level of professionalism you hear from your favorite musicians.

In the pages ahead, you’ll learn the ins and outs of music production and be well on your way to making music similar to your favorite songs. You’ll learn about tools used for composing, mixing, mastering, and publishing your music. By the time you’ve finished reading this book, you’ll have all the tools you need to create music at a professional level.

In this chapter, you’ll be introduced to music production and FL Studio. Here, you’ll create your first song and export it out of FL Studio.

This chapter comprises the following topics:

  • Exploring the music production landscape
  • A musician’s career path
  • Steps of composing a song
  • What is FL Studio?
  • Making your first song
  • Exporting music from FL Studio

We’ll start with a general overview of what FL Studio is and what it can do for you.

Technical requirements

In this chapter, we’ll be using FL Studio. You can download a free trial version or a paid version of FL Studio from https://www.image-line.com/. So if you’re hesitant about paying, you can download and try out all of FL Studio’s features before buying. The difference is you won’t be able to open saved projects until you obtain a paid version, but you can still try out all the plugins.

Exploring the music production landscape

Music production has changed significantly in the last two decades. Before, a musician required the assistance of a music producer. You’d go to a studio to meet with a series of technicians who’d play around with mixing equipment that cost as much as your car or house. Then, you’d sign a deal locking you into a music contract for the foreseeable future. The studio would control how your album got released and what royalties you got paid. You had very little negotiating power.

Digital Audio Workstations (known as DAWs) changed everything. Software came out that revolutionized the music playing field. It became possible to be a music producer in your bedroom using just your computer. Nowadays, most music producers create music on their own long before they venture into a recording studio (if they do at all).

Studios started to decrease their investment in developing artists from scratch. They preferred artists that already had success and popularity with fans before considering them. ITunes appeared, along with iPods and smartphones that could hold an entire music catalog in your pocket. Consumers wanted to get their music online instead of from physical stores so that they could download music directly onto their phones. Independent artists gained the ability to sell their music online on their own. Artists could now release their own music and collect their own royalties.

Music streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube became mainstream. Why buy individual songs when you can access all of them, all the time, anywhere you go? Consumers now have their own personalized playlist recommendations, filled with songs that suit their own personal taste. New artists can find their way onto a playlist by accident, subject to the whims of mystical algorithms behind the scenes.

All of this poses a powerful opportunity for the independent artist. You can promote yourself using tools equivalent to what record companies use. You can produce a song on your own, get your music into households around the world, and market your own brand. That’s what this book is about. It’s a handbook to show you the ins and outs of music production and jump-start your musical career. By the end of this book, you will know how to compose, record vocals, mix, master, market your music, and sell it online. This can all be done from home on a minimal budget.

The DAW we’ll use in this book is FL Studio. FL Studio is a music software suite that contains all the tools you’ll need to produce music. It’s one of the, if not the, leading music production workstation software currently on the market and is used by professional musicians all around the world.

The musician’s career path

Many of you reading this book will be looking for guidance on how to begin your music career. You’ve come to the right place. Whether you are a musician, DJ, composer, or music producer, this book will provide you with a how-to guide to making music.

Let’s briefly look at your career path ahead. First, you’ll spend some time getting familiar with your DAW. You’ll come up with song ideas, record, and learn mixing techniques. You might invest in music plugins, synthesizers, hardware, and samples to play with.

At a certain point, you’ll feel comfortable with your tools. It’s here you’ll realize that knowing how to use your tools is only one part of coming up with music. You need to develop a unique sound for yourself. To do this, you’ll go out and listen to lots of music you like. You’ll watch successful musicians and learn how to create similar sounds. You’ll experiment with genres to find one or a combination that resonates with you. You’ll begin to come up with ideas of your own that combine many influences.

You’ll share your music with friends and colleagues. Likely, you’ll want feedback from people who have some experience in the music business. You’ll reach out to local musician groups in your community and attend their meetings. If you stay on course, this cycle of inventing and feedback will shift your music from amateurish to something that other people will enjoy listening to.

You’ll get a few songs under your belt, and perhaps have an album ready to go. You’ll post your music online and come to the realization that even though your music is amazing, you don’t have many fans yet. How come? People don’t know about you yet. You’ll need to cultivate a brand identity that fans can relate to and get excited about. You’ll need to spend time thinking about the type of brand persona that you want to be recognized for. You’ll look into artwork and visuals. You might make them yourself or outsource the art creation to a third party. You’ll spend time on social media and websites, researching what other musicians are doing, and trying out their marketing techniques yourself.

You’ll have to figure out what kind of equipment you need to perform live. You’ll also need to come up with something visually impressive to entertain audiences. This could include costumes or some sort of game or gimmick that can be repeated with different crowds.

You’ll spend time thinking about banter and jokes that you can use to tie the gap between your songs while performing. Once again, you’ll research what other musicians have done on stage and try out their techniques yourself. You’ll discover that in order to have success getting booked at venues, it helps to have associated acts with you. You’ll team up with other bands to create a whole packaged performance that you can present to a venue. Congratulations, you now have a show that you can take on the road! You’re now a working musician. We’ve seen the big picture. It might seem like a lot now, but the good news is that most of the steps along the way are small and easy to do.

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Key benefits

  • Comprehensive coverage of FL Studio 21's tools and features
  • Step-by-step explanations of music production techniques
  • Insights into best practices for promoting and selling music

Description

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.

Who is this book for?

This book is for musicians, music producers, composers, songwriters, DJs, and audio engineers interested in creating their own music, improving music production skills, mixing and mastering music, and selling songs online. To get started with this book, all you need is a computer and FL Studio.

What you will learn

  • Get up and running with FL Studio 21
  • Compose melodies and chord progressions on the piano roll
  • Mix your music effectively with mixing techniques and plugins, such as compressors and equalizers
  • Record into FL Studio, pitch-correct and retime samples, and follow advice for applying effects to vocals
  • Create vocal harmonies and learn how to use vocoders to modulate your vocals with an instrument
  • Create glitch effects, transform audio samples into playable instruments, and sound design with cutting-edge effects
  • Develop your brand to promote your music effectively
  • Publish your music online and collect royalty revenues
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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jun 28, 2023
Length: 462 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781837631650
Languages :

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Product Details

Publication date : Jun 28, 2023
Length: 462 pages
Edition : 2nd
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781837631650
Languages :

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The Music Producer's Ultimate Guide to FL Studio 21
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Table of Contents

19 Chapters
Section I: Getting Up and Running with FL Studio Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting Started with FL Studio Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Exploring the Browser, Playlist, and Channel Rack Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Composing with the Piano Roll Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Routing to the Mixer and Applying Automation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section II: Music Production Fundamentals Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Sound Design and Audio Envelopes Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Compression, Sidechaining, Limiting, and Equalization Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Stereo Width (Panning, Reverb, Delay, Chorus, and Flangers) and Distortion Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Recording Live Audio and Vocal Processing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Vocoders and Vocal Chops Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating Your Own Instruments and Effects Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Intermediate Mixing Topics and Sound Design Plugin Effects Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Section III: Postproduction and Publishing Your Music Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Mastering Fundamentals Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Marketing, Content Creation, Getting Fans, and Going Viral Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Publishing and Selling Music Online Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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julio Cepeda Sep 30, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I have many years of experience, but this book cover every single button in fl studio. It also covers really important theory. Its only for native plugins, but this will help begginers to understand how plugins work. This will translate to third party plugins. Pair this book with some videos and its amazing. Sandly there are videos on youtube that people are doing things incorrectly or dont know how to use a compressor for example. So make sure you ynderstand the concepts so you can translate the knowndle to tour production. ALSO TRAIN TOUR EARS. Other then that I will higlhy recommend this book to begginers and veterans.
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Abhijeet Singh Apr 29, 2024
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Good
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Blizbling Jul 09, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The media could not be loaded. This book is well documented and you can't see that the author took the time to write this for us readers.My only downside not against the author it's the package wich this book came in it had little scuffing on the book. Beside that I'm satisfied and to let everyone no, if you buy the paper version You will have acess to the e-book version has well with proof of purchase
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Sandeep Yadav Sep 21, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is a book that every music producer should have. Because every topic has been explained very well with visuals. From using software to knowledge of sound and every little information about all the necessary plugins. Basically this is a complete package in which you will learn composition, arrangement, mixing and mastering.@FLStudioTipsTricks 👍
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Matt Dolan Jul 21, 2023
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book is well thought out! It teaches you music production, mixing, mastering, and much much more!! It also helps you with deciding on a stage name, getting gigs, and learning how to publish your own tracks. Great for a beginner or intermediate that wants to understand the process from start to finish or someone who wants to get up and running with FLStudio 21 fast!! My only request to the author for future versions would be to add macOS key commands because FLStudio is no longer a PC-only software, so it would be good to account for those using that OS.
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