Creating A Backing Track With Fruity Loops

Well, the SynthFont tutorial has a big success and I received a lot of requests for a tutorial on FruityLoops, so here it is. Please understand that FruityLoops, unlike SynthFont, is not free. You can download a demo here (http://www.tucows.com/preview/209204.html" TARGET=_blank)

Getting Started

Soundfonts are nothing more than a group of samples of a real instrument packaged in one file to use with midi sequencers like Cakewalk to give a more realistic sound to midi files. FruityLoops allows us to use soundfonts whether we have a Creative card or not!

1. Install FruityLoops
2. Download some decent soundfonts. Here are a few good sites to find them...

Hammersound (http://hammersound.net/cgi-bin/soundlink.pl)
NSKIT (http://www.naturalstudio.co.uk/ns_kit7freedownload.html)
Soundfont.it (http://www.soundfonts.it/)
SF2Midi (http://www.sf2midi.com/)

Do a search on Google for more!

Read the reviews of the SoundFonts and download whatever soundfonts you may need (especially bass and drum soundfonts!). The soundfont you download will depend on what type of music you want to create backings for. Usually, the bigger the file, the better quality the SF2. Organize these SF2s into folders (bass, piano, drums..whatever) so you can find them when
needed.

*Some files may be compressed with SFARK (http://melodymachine.com/sfark.htm" TARGET=_blank)
to reduce their][size for downloading. After installing it, rt-click
the file to uncompress it to get a SF2 file.

***WARNING***

Using SF2s(soundfonts) requires lots of RAM. If your computer is slow or freezes, make sure you are not running any unnecessary programs during this process. A good utility to make sure nothing is running that shouldn't be is End It All (http://www.pcmedixwebs.com/enditall.htm)


How To Create Backing Tracks!

1) Get a midi of the song you want to create a backing for.
A simple Google search should find it. A good resource is http://www.musicrobot.com (http://www.musicrobot.com/" TARGET=_blank)


If you use GuitarPro you have another option. Try looking for a GuitarPro file of the song at http://www.mysongbook.com (http://www.mysongbook.com/" TARGET=_blank) or elsewhere.
Check out my tutorial on how to prepare a midi from a GuitarPro file at guitarblast.com

2) Ok, once you have the software installed, the soundfonts downloaded and organized in folders and the midi of the song(s) you want to make a backing track from then you are ready to begin.


http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_m6a76b602.jpg
3) Start Fruity Loops. Your version may look a little different than mine depending on the skin, version and arrangement of the windows. Get comfortable with FL and learn where everything is. Use the View
menu to learn where everything is and what windows are open.


Preparing Fruity Loops to use for making backing tracks.


You only have to do it once, but it is very important.

Go to Options; File Settings. Add your soundfont folder to the directory listing as shown in the above picture. The folder you added will appear in the Browser window on the left (mine is labeled SF). I also have a Drumkit From Hell folder added; but that's a whole other tutorial, lol, so ignore that


http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_61381a55.jpg

4) Click on the folder you added. Note that any folders and files within this folder are accessible this way. This is the easiest way to set it up so you can find samples/soundfonts easily.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_c4f9504.jpg

5) Now we need to import the midi we plan to make a backing track with. Click File- Import- Midi File.
Navigate to where the midi is located. If you plan to make a bunch of backings, it's a good idea to save your midis in one folder and add that folder to your favorites, located at the bottom of this window. Select the midi and click Open.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_20ebfa64.jpg

6) You'll see a window like the one above. If you just wanted bass and drums, for example, you would just select the channels those were on, but, to keep it simple, we plan to import all tracks on the midi, so click the check mark circled above.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_d88e930.jpg

7) Many people have trouble getting midis to play in Fruity Loops. Press the Play button (circled in the picture above). Listen for the midi.

- If you can’t hear the midi, go to step 8.

- If you can hear it, you don’t need to do anything ‘til step 12. Just follow along with steps 8-11 to better understand how to use effects with Fruity Loops.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_m7a93ad6c.jpg

8) Click View and make sure the Mixer is checked (or press F9)

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_m3d687798.jpg
9) The mixer will look like this. Note the different Buses up top (Master, FX1, FX2, etc). This is where we assign different effects to the instruments. The master is for all channels and the others are for individual or multiple tracks (depending on which tracks you assign to them). To get the midi to play, we are going to add the Fruity LSD plugin to every track (Master).

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_277381ae.jpg
10) Make sure the Master is selected, click the first list arrow (circled in red), go to Select - Fruity LSD

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_16828b1f.jpg
11) The Fruity LSD editor will open. Note Master in brackets to show this effect will apply to all tracks. Change the Port to 0 (circled above). Close the editor, and click the play button. The midi should now be playing.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_3559db8b.jpg
12) As the midi is playing, click the green lights to the right of the tracks (circled). This is how you mute/unmute tracks. Mute all the tracks you don't want in the backing (guitars, vocals, etc). When you're done, stop the playback.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_5457d795.jpg
13) Now that we have the tracks isolated, we can replace them with better sounds using soundfonts. Remember adding your files to the browser window in step 3??? Now you know why. Click and drag the soundfont you want to use to the appropriate tracks. Do this for each track that you didn't mute (in this example, drums and bass) If they are large, it may take a moment to load (depending on the specs of your PC). The names will change to the name of the soundfont.

Ok, so far we've set up folders for our soundfonts, opened a midi file and selected the soundfonts we want to use. But that's just the beginning. Soundfonts are dry samples of instruments. We need to beef them up a bit using effects...

So, what effects should we use??? Good question. For this example, to keep it simple, I'll just be using one effect on each track. Many times I use 3 and 4 effects on just one track. There's a million combinations to use, and a lot of it is trial and error, but here are some basic general rules to get you started...

- Drums... use reverb and compression. For the advanced users who split the drum track, try not to use too much reverb on the snare as it will muddy the sound.
- Bass... very slight reverb

Any other effects will depend on the track. Sometimes a little distortion is needed, or maybe an adjusted EQ. The possibilities are endless, and you'll get better at it as you do more of these, trust me:)

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_5c675a45.jpg
14) So, lets get started... look at the Mixer section. You'll notice there are different Bus Channels. As mentioned before, the Master Bus Channel affects all tracks. We want to assign effects to individual tracks, so we'll use FX1, FX2, etc.

Rt-click the mixer buses and change the names to names based on the tracks in your backing.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_102f21a6.jpg
15) Now, assign effects to those tracks (buses). Click the list arrow
(circled in red), Select, Choose the Effect!



http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_663512b.jpg
16) The effects editor will open, select the settings or preset you wish to use. Don't be fussy with it yet, since we haven't even assigned the track and can't hear the results. So, let's do that...

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_mc4089f7.jpg
17) Back in track view, click the track you want to do first (click the button that is named & circled in the picture). The editor will open. Change the FX number to the appropriate FX bus, as shown in the picture.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_m1ed312ba.jpg
18) Do the same for each track in your backing (not the muted ones!)

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_m58f0b985.jpg
19) So, now the effects are assigned to the tracks. Play the file, listening for clipping (distortion) and adjust the appropriate levels to compensate for this. Also click on the effects editors and adjust the settings and presets to your liking. Watch for clipping! (when the volume is too high and it distorts the sound) Do this for all effects used on all tracks.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_3bd79fe4.jpg
20) When you'e happy with the mix, it is time to convert to mp3. Click File - Export - MP3.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_28747b.jpg
21) Choose a name for your file and browse to where you want to save it
(remember the favorites button!). Click Save.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_m79e7585a.jpg
22) Choose the quality you want and a name for the file and save it. If you're going to use the file further (in a recording or maybe in another program for further processing/editing), I'd recommend converting to wave and also choosing the option to split mixer tracks (files) so you have more control over mixing volumes later on. Click Go and the file will convert.

http://www.guitarblast.com/podgod/tutorials/BTwithFruityLoops/BTwithFruityLoops_html_m7aa956f8.jpg
23) Before ending your session, you should save the settings. This way, if you need to make some changes later, you won't have to repeat all the steps. You may get a warning about demo versions of plugins not being saved, don't worry about that...no big deal!


That's it!!!! Now you have your own backing. Be sure to post your results at
www.guitarblast.com (http://www.guitarblast.com/) Also, if you have any questions, post a message at here and
I'll help you out as best I can :)

I saved this as an offline webpage. Thanks PG! Lots to learn for me, but something I need to be able to do better. I appreciate it!! :thumb:

These Tutorials are great. I highly suggest everyone to play around with this,
it can be very rewarding. Thanks again PodGod!

Very nice mate , I picked up some real good tips :thumb:

This tutorial looks excellent. Even for a newbie like myself, thanks Pod God. :)

Awesome just what I was looking for
Thanks a million!

My old drum machine just died so I need to desperately modernize, however, I still don't understand what fruity loops really does. I'm interested in using it like a drum machine where I can assign different time signatures like 5/8, 7/8 etc, and create a drum track working withing these signatures one bar at a time. Can FL partition each bar into 8th, 16th, etc, so all I have to do assign a different part of the drum kit to each beat? I avoid midi like the plague so do I have to rely on midi tracks to begin each project. Most of the songs I do don't exist in midi. What about creating originals? I'm pretty thick headed when learning these new programs, yet I've spent two days reading up on these programs and it is still not very clear to me what they do besides looping existing drum beats, tweeking sound fonts or completely relying on midi. Do I have to get over my 20 year midi phobia to finally get down to business? I have never had problems programming entire complicated drum machine tracks, so why can't I get any kind of footing with the software.

I get it now, guess I'll just have to buy another drum machine.

Sorry Strat, missed your earlier post. With Fruity Loops, it's easy to change time signatures. You simply add more beats to the bar. You can program by midi using the piano roll view, but it sounds like you would prefer the step sequencer, which is very easy to use. Check out the File Share section, you may find something you like:thumb:

this explaination kicks ass :thumb:

Awesome explanation! Id been looking for something like this for ages. :) I have still one more question, how do I insert metronomes on Mp3s I make like for example, inserting it only on the starting part which will serve as guide for my backing tracks? Thanks a million! I mean, saving an MP3 with the metronome included?:dunno:

Awesome explanation! Id been looking for something like this for ages. :) I have still one more question, how do I insert metronomes on Mp3s I make like for example, inserting it only on the starting part which will serve as guide for my backing tracks? Thanks a million! I mean, saving an MP3 with the metronome included?:dunno:

There are many ways to do this. Personally, I find it easy to use Guitar Pro to do it (http://www.guitarblast.com/showthread.php?t=904) by simply adding a few bars to the beginning of the midi and programming the beats.

Thanks for the tip. ;) I'll try that.