Interface

Let's first take a look at the FL Studio interface. Users familiar with FL Studio will instantly recognize the dark green tone and rounded windows of past versions. However, the structure of the program can be difficult for a first-time user to grasp.

The browser window on the left is your resource for any file you will need, from presets to projects and scores. Clicking on an item will open up a drop down selection of specific elements.

This library can be filled with more of your own loops and samples and carries an impressive amount of plug-ins like DirectWave, EQUO or Fruity Squeeze. FLStudio has a smart search function to quickly find any track, tool or effect.

Usability

To edit your tracks with FL Studio you can use the original pattern window, which contains all the instruments you have selected. You will have to create the pattern desired for each instrument.

You can also use the playlist window, divided into patterns at the top and audio tracks at the bottom. The playlist view features a handy paintbrush tool to color in your pattern. You can also decide to edit your tracks with the piano roll view, quite handy if you have a midi keyboard plugged in.

Anyone interested in connecting real instruments will appreciate that FL Studio also handles multiple midi-ins and features foot pedal sustain support. The FL Studio mixer features a good number of presets and you can fine tune your track with a high degree of precision.

Quality

FL Studio can be tricky at first; however those familiar with sequencers should have no trouble with it. All instruments and samplers are stereo, so to have multiple outputs you will have to create the desired number of instances.

Conclusion

FL Studio is a very good sequencer for anyone looking to create beats. The handy browser view and multiple editing windows like playlist, piano roll or pattern let you work how you feel best. A finely-tuned mixer and a large library of plug-ins also make this a very exciting audio editing application.

Download FL Studio 10.0.9c in Softonic

Reason's synthesizer comes with six oscillator types, four different filters, a step sequencer and a modular matrix. The monophonic arpeggiator can play in multiple modes and includes a pattern section. I was also very much impressed with Reason's sequencer, which features multiple lanes, vector automation and dedicated device types. The 32 channel mixer completes a set of powerful tools.

Reason is not for beginners, and this is obvious the moment you open up the application. However if you have some knowledge of music production, you'll welcome the wealth of tools available and the flexibility they give you when working with music and sounds.

Reason can easily be integrated with other software and hardware you already use, making it a versatile choice.

If you're seriously into music production, Reason is the tool you need.

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With Anvil Studio you can record and compose music as well as edit MIDI files in a standard, multi-track interface. The program also includes a wide library with samples, loops and audio effects, and even a piano roll to practice notes.

Anvil Studio may not seem easy to use at first sight, especially if you’re a newcomer to audio editors. Fortunately, the program is very well documented and the extensive, built-in help section will surely have the answer to all your questions.

On the downside, Anvil Studio’s interface looks quite outdated and would benefit a lot from a complete redesign.

With Anvil Studio you easily can compose, record and edit multi-track MIDI music.

Download Anvil Studio 2013.03.01 in Softonic

Samplisizer’s biggest asset is its samples library which features more than 3,500 loops and samples (drum, bass, chords, effects), divided in two drag-down menus. A third drag-down list acts as sub-category to refine your search. If you’ve chosen drum loops for example, you can select house, drum’n’bass or downbeat only.

Making a track is easy. Start off by selecting a drum beat and drag it onto the working field. Next select a bass line or chord loop. Add extra sounds at particular points of your track. Make sure you place each different sample on a different channel. This will make it easy to tell them all apart and will give you a good overview of the structure of the track. It helps to see where a sample is missing or if you’re offbeat. The key is to measure the beat and know when is the right time to introduce or end a sample.

When you’re happy with the construction of your track, you can play around with the sound volume and BPM settings of each sample to tweak your piece. Setting channel volume in Samplisizer is easy, just drag the small button on the left of each channel. To set BPM you need to click a button at the bottom right of the sample library. General volume is controlled by the big rotating disk at the bottom right of the interface. Maybe if all the sound settings were united in one part of the application it would make it easier for the user.

That’s when we come to the problems with Samplisizer. As you might have guessed from our previous observation, the application suffers from a cluttered and confusing interface. Buttons are scattered all around the program window and the interface is of the same gray metal-like appearance, making it hard to make out what buttons correspond to what function.

Editing tracks is fairly easy, thanks to the drag and drop, cut and paste feel, but there’s no way you can extend or reduce elements and you can’t even zoom in on them to get more precision. Samplisizer limits you to 12 channels, giving you much less scope than most music editors, which often offer up to 36 channels. Exporting is another issue. While the operation is very easy to do, click on the main menu button at the bottom left and choose export, you’ll soon realize you’re limited to the wav format. Mp3 would have been a much appreciated option.

Let’s not bash Samplisizer too hard though. Behind blatant shortcomings, which should put off seasoned beat makers, Samplisizer is an enjoyable and hands-on music editor that novice music makers should quickly take to their liking.

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Ableton Live features a powerful combination of sequencer and sampler with a library full of instruments, MIDI and audio effects to start working with. Ableton Live offers two sorts of views - arrangement and session. The first being like a traditional timeline, while session allows you to add and play around with effects. For convenience, you can associate any key on your keyboard with any effect, to make the track creation process easier.

Ableton Live includes real-time stretching and warping of audio and even video import to sync audio to video. Although you'll definitely need some technical knowledge to use Ableton Live, it is very well documented with tons of easy to follow tutorials and videos.

Ableton Live is a highly flexible and powerful audio solution for music production. With an excellent interface and a wide library of effects and tutorials, it's one of the most complete and professional music production suites you'll find.

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Everything is packaged in an intuitive manner, meaning that it's pretty easy to start creating banging house, trance and techno music (as long as you have an ear for dance music, of course).

If you've never produced dance tracks before then you may find Rubberduck a little daunting but for production dab-hands, the program is pretty good.

Download Rubberduck 2.12 in Softonic