Fruity Loops’ MIDI‑only step sequencer simplicity and modest cost gave it an obvious appeal to the electronic music maker on a budget a DIY EDM tool for the masses. By this date, the likes of Cubase and Logic offered a combination of both MIDI sequencing and hard‑disk‑based audio recording (albeit still in its infancy).

That’s undoubtedly true of FL Studio, which launched as Fruity Loops in 1998. However, not all DAW/sequencers are created equal and one of the key reasons the market is so diverse is that many of today’s (seemingly generic) DAW/sequencers started life as somewhat more specialist tools. And, while you could have a very entertaining Friday night pub‑style philosophical conversation about the relationship between the rise of the DAW/sequencer and the quality of the music we now experience, the impact is undeniable.

Second, by emulating the complete studio experience in modestly priced software, it has played a very significant part in democratising the music recording and production process. First, it has, to a very large extent, placed itself at the very heart of (almost) everyone’s recording process.

Famed for its speed of use, the latest version of FL Studio is a highly sophisticated music production environment.

Fl studio flex essential piano download