I will be reviewing Fruity Loops (FL Studio), a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) created and programmed by Image-Line for making music. I have been using this software since I was in middle school back in 2010. Having a deep love for music, I wanted to do more than just listen; I wanted to be part of it by making beats and becoming the next big producer. FL Studio is a very popular DAW among many famous producers for its ease of use compared to other DAWs in the market. FL Studio has been around since the late 1990s and was exclusive to Windows devices until 2018, when it was finally released for Apple devices. FL Studio was, and still is, the main reason I will continue to purchase Windows computers. Apple had its own free, homemade DAW called GarageBand, which is easy to use, but it never got the same fame as FL.
FL Studio comes with a high price tag, starting at $100 for the base model and reaching $ 450 for the best version. If you want to try it out for yourself, there is a free demo you can install from the Image-Line website. When FL Studio is loaded, the UI is filled with thousands of tools at your disposal. As you see in the image, it's quite empty and the user dictates what is put in. Using a DAW is like coding, but for music. Like Scratch, you have to play with the website and do some trial-and-error to see how some of the plugin's work. The user inputs whatever sound the app offers, and the output is music. There is a feature called the channel rack and pattern, which shows a pattern. The Channel Rack in FL Studio is where individual sounds, such as drums, instruments, and samples, are organized. Each row represents a different sound, and users can create rhythms by clicking steps in a grid. Users can quickly build drum patterns and basic melodies before arranging them into a complete song. What's fun about FL is that you can manipulate any sound to your liking; you have to be creative. FL Studio also allows users to connect their favorite instrument, if it's a MIDI device, and get it to play back in the software. I can go on forever about FL Studio I have a deep passion for the software and will always use it till the end. Below left is a blank FL Studio project and the one the right shows what the user can make with a bunch of instruments and customizing it with color to your liking.
FL Studio 2025 It's hard to make recommendations for FL Studio because it's constantly updated, making it better than previous versions. As I said, I have been using it since 2010, and the UI and the logo have changed numerous times for the better. When FL Studio first came out in 1998, it had only three sound banks. The image below is very first version from 1998. However, a cool improvement would be to integrate the mobile and desktop versions of FL so that when I'm on the go and don't have my laptop, I can still use my phone. It will sync directly to my computer and finish there or viceversa. Another improvement is to create a kids' version to get them started at a younger age, like Scratch did with Scratch Jr. An interactive tutorial would be super helpful, just like Scratch has.
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