FRUITYLOOPS TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE & TIPS

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KruciaL
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FRUITYLOOPS TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE & TIPS

Post by KruciaL »

ok i get asked about 6 million times a day on how to fix this n that in fruity so im gonna start this off and every time something new crops up i'll add it.. so it'll always come in handy....

1. ''ive got 2000 plugins open and the sound is all crackly and jumping whats wrong ?''

alright basically... using VST instruments in Fruityloops takes up alot of CPU power... best thing to do is export the pattern you wanna use into a wave file, then load it back into fruity as a sample then delete the vst channel.. if you do it that way you'll find you'll be saving alot of CPU power. If you've got alot of fruityloops own plugins open.. then bring up the mixer box, click the button in the top left and select 'switch smart disable for all' at the bottom of the list... this means that if you've got extra plugins that are the same open it will automatically only use 1 of the plugins power and still use the settings you've used on each individual channel.. good eh ? then the last thing to do is to go into the 'audio settings' and move the buffer level about a bit till the music stops underrunning which you can see on that screen.

2. '' how do i use VST plugins in fruity which ive already installed ?''

its the same as you loading a new sample into the sequencer.. instead of 'insert channel' then 'sampler' you 'insert channel' then click 'more' then you should see a list of the VST's you've installed on your computer, if you've just freshly installed a plugin then at the bottom of the box click 'refresh' and do a fast scan and it should come up.
also a quick tip for drawing in VST notes into the sequencer... dont use the normal sequence screen to draw it in with the buttons because it can become a mess trying to get the notes to start and end right.. instead just right click the vst channel and choose 'piano roll' at the top of the list. believe me you'll be saving alot of messing around doing it that way. ( also make sure when you right click the sample channel its set to 'cut itself' )


3. ''ive finished my tune... how do i know how loud to export it ?''

this is another common question..the easiest way to do this is put a loop on a section of the tune where its got the most 'meat' in it and play it. keep a close eye on the monitor level at the top... and keep pushing the volume up or down till it keeps hitting towards the end but is not lighting up the bright red / pink colour make sure the volume is low enough so it doesnt make it do it even ONCE through the whole track.. as long as it doesnt.. you'll know that your tune is not clipping at all whatsoever.

4. ''whats the easiest way to make my tune louder once ive got it out of fruityloops ?''

this is a very very common question as once you've exported your tune out of fruity without it clipping it usually sounds clean and all good.. but just a bit quiet, theres a couple of ways to resolve this problem, and hard limiting is my favourite as it can make your tunes louder without making them clip. just play with some basic settings on hard limiters on the wave file of your tune.. you'll get the hang of how much to push or pull on it very quickly.. you just basically need to push it hard as you can until it starts to deteriorate your tune. you'll notice your tune getting louder.... then once it starts getting all compressed and fucked sounding take it back down again to just before it started sounding like that.. then export the file... your tune should now sound louder and a bit brighter. ( and obviously only set the hard limiter to 0db so it aint gonna clip on purpose !! )

5. ''how do i know if my mixdown sounds alright ?''

again.... this takes alot of time to master the art of a mixdown and your ears usually have to train themselves to be able to do this at a decent standard. but the main object is :- to keep all of the sounds sounding 'together' in the tune and not jumping out everywhere.. you'll find that some things you add into the tune will have to be either louder or quieter than other sounds but you just have to make sure you listen to each element in the tune carefully so that you can hear it distinctly... but make sure its not overtaking any other sounds in loudness... one rule i do always go by is :- make sure your drums and bass are the same volume, thats the main thing.

ok and to end it for now heres a special tip :-

''my mixdown is sounding good but my kick drum is getting hidden by the bass what can i do ?''

i hear this VERY often from producers who can do a pretty much decent mixdown but arent 'quite' there yet....

remember what my whole 'idea' was of a mixdown... you have to concentrate on the kick carefully because you dont want it jumping out of the mix... stick a parametric eq on the kick ( for example a 10 band one ) and pull it up at 80hz.. you'll notice the kick has a more distinctive noise and is heard more clearly in the mix.. and if needs be... then raise the volume of it just a tad so you can hear it more clearly but make sure its not jumping out of the mix. ( also make sure your snare is loud enough to cut through the bass aswell and make sure that sits at a good level too !! )
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quick and simple bits and bobs

1. my sound is just like a flat tone... how do i change it into a punching sound ?

simple.... click on the sample you wanna play with on the sequencer page.. and in the little box with the wave that comes up, play with the 'POGO' function ( usually turning it to the left makes the punch )


2. i want that dillinja punching type bass how do i do it ?

find an 808 kick and distort the living shit out of it... SORTED !! :-D


3. when i draw a sound in how do i get it to stop when i want it to ?

theres 2 ways of doing this... it depends what you use to draw in your notes.. if you use the piano roll then it should stop at whatever length you've drawn it in at... or if you use the sequencer page then you use the 'stopper' technique.... basically you draw in where you want it to start.... then you draw another one after it where you want it to stop... then at the top right of the box click on the left icon which will bring up velocity, pitch, filter etc.. make sure its on velocity.. then where you see the second note you've drawn in to stop it.. bring the velocity all the way down on that note.. so effectively its playing a silent note and stopping the other sound where you want it to. also make sure you right click your sample in the sequencer page and make sure 'cut itself' is selected otherwise it wont work.


thats it from me for now !! more coming when i get a chance to write it !!
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