FL Studio update 20.5 includes FLEX expandable ROMpler style virtual synthesizer
Image-Line has announced a new small update to FL Studio which isn’t a huge deal by itself but they’ve decided to include a brand new virtual synthesizer called FLEX which is certainly worth talking about.
FLEX
The idea behind FLEX is to offer a wide range of “production-ready” sounds that you can drop into your projects with the minimum of effort. It is preset focused but with a layer of tweakable functions so that you can get creative with the sounds without falling down some sound design rabbit hole. So it’s a bit of a ROMpler.
In terms of editing, you have a row of 8 “Macro” sliders which change the character or modulation of the sound source. These change depending on the selected preset and are designed to give you the most relevant possibilities. You then have an unexpected pitch control, a resonant filter and a filter and amp envelope. At the bottom you have a row of effects including another filter, reverb, delay and limiting. It’s interesting to note how the instrument changes depending on the patch. For instance, the filter is actually chosen from a long list of filter types, but this is dictated by the patch. The Master filter at the bottom is the only place where you can define your choice of filter.
FL Studio Flex
At the top left is a nice looking “Analysis” window that can display an oscilloscope, spectrograph, vectorscope for stereo content and a frequency histogram.
It’s a good looking, streamlined and professional looking instrument which is a refreshing diversion from the often overly-flashy FL Studio synths.
It comes with a stack of sound packs ready to go and you can purchase new ones to expand on your sound library. There’s some good standard stuff in there like pianos, strings, percussion and a whole load of synths. And you get all this free with any version of FL Studio 20 – cool!
Other updates
Other new features include that FL Studio can now be used as a VST/AU plug-in on MacOS as well as Windows. You can Alt-Click to preview samples to the end and you can mark plug-ins as favourites with a star. The performance monitor now shows you the performance of each plugin. MacOS users have now also picked up the Edison Denoise Tool, Wave Traveller, Fruity Scratcher and Fruity Blood Overdrive. And a few other bits and pieces.
More information
- FL Studio update webpage.
Video
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- FL Studio Flex: Image Line
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