Tutorial 10. A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE MIXER

There are a lot of great effects to be loaded into the Mixer (F9) and it would be almost impossible to explain them all, but let us take a look at some of them that are really helpful. It is a remarkable thing to mention that FL Studio has plenty of effects to work until the ends of time (or serenity), so you will never get bored of experimenting and having fun with them.

For instance:

 The Fruity Parametric EQ

 This tool is nothing but an equalizer, like the one in the home stereo we have in our bed rooms or that of Winamp. It is necessary to work with the frequencies of a particular sample, when we want to increase or decrease the loudness of it. It has seven standard bands and to use it you need to be patient in order get the correct frequency for your sound. Like everything in this program it is all a matter of “good ear”, if you boost one of the bands too much you can spoil the sound of the sample so be patient, as a I said before. There is another version, the Parametric EQ 2, which lets you do more interesting equalizations. It looks like this:

Try it out too, the colors are inviting, aren’t they?

Another useful effect is the Fruity Reeverb which gives reverberation to your sound, I mean, it makes it sound like if you are in for example in your livingroom or  on stage, in front of a thousand listeners (dreaming is free). It is advised to use this effect alone in a certain sample because if you use it for everything it can make the entire song sound weird. Of course, it can be added to any sample but I like to use it more on percussion because it gives a beautiful sound to drums, highs, kicks and the sort.

I know, I know, like in many FL Studio tools it’s full of knobs, indicators, etc. You can click on them patiently or you can use the directional arrows at the right top corner to randomize the configuration until you get the one you prefer.

IMPORTANT NOTE: These magnificent arrows are almost in every effect to help you choose a random set up without touching anything downstairs or having a nervous collapse.

There is similar device called Fruity Reeverb 2, more sophisticated but maybe easier to manipulate. It also shows a kind of spinning graphic at the left to simulate the sound resonance!

Well, there are more effects to deal with but the best way to learn how they work and what they are good for is to try them out one by one; this is my recommendation.

However, if I have to choose some of my favorites I’d pick:

Fruity Compressor: Very good to enhance your sounds and give real power to certain samples.

EQUO: A type of advanced equalizer, similar to the Parametric EQ’s.

Fruity Flanger: It’s hard to describe it, but in one set up, for example, it makes your sample sound like if it were underwater!

Hardcore Guitar Effects: The name speaks for itself. Oh, yes, FL Studio is excellent to create Rock and Jazz too. We will talk about this in the future.

Fruity Filter (or its advanced twin, Fruity Love Phiter): Do you want to give your song or a fragment of it, a strange effect like that of a detuned radio or broken robot? Then use this.

Just remember: The range and possibilities of the Mixer effects are vast but only with an adequate combination you can really exploit them to create a marvelous track. Don’t hurry up, take your time until everything fits and sounds fine. These effects of the Mixer are a great chance to achieve what you are looking for.