FL Studio

Considering that they enable you to compose, create, record, edit and produce audio with utmost precision, Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) play a crucial role in today’s music production. FL Studio is a well-known and versatile DAW with a vast experience that offers a powerful set of tools for creating professional or quality music.

Although it may seem cluttered at first, the GUI packs most of the tools necessary for music production. The interface is divided into multiple windows that can be arranged and resized so that they meet your needs and preferences.

You can further personalize the appearance of the GUI via the numerous themes available. The themes don’t just let you change the color palette, but also other elements of the interface, such as the fonts and layouts. You can modify the overall appearance of buttons and controls with some tools to make them more appealing and easy to use.

The Piano roll is an advanced MIDI editing tool that takes a good chunk of the interface and comes with a piano layout. If you are working with audio sequences, then it enables you to tweak various MIDI data, including velocity, pitch and effects. You can also add and edit notes that can act as markers similar to the ones you commonly find on a music sheet.

If you are into creating dynamic rhythms, then you can take advantage of the step sequencer to create drum and similar beat patterns. The app comes with numerous synthesizers that you can employ to further enhance your tunes. While the FM synthesis, analog and wavetable are embedded, the tool supports numerous other third-party AU and VST plugins.

It is worth mentioning that the program has a rather steep learning curve and, due to the numerous features and tools, it may seem overwhelming to anyone who is not familiar with music production software. Moreover, FL Studio can sometimes be resource-intensive, so you need to make sure that you have decent hardware if you are planning on using it for live performances or real-time production.