Wednesday, May 18, 2011

An Old Dog Learning New Tricks

Wow.

I (finally) got a new-ish PC: 2.4 Ghz dual-core processor running Windows 7. I only have 1 GB of RAM right now, which is kinda crappy, but I plan on getting another 2 GB stick within the next couple weeks. And I'm gutting my old (OLD) soundcard tomorrow to put it in my new comp, even though the onboard sound actually sounds much better. But....it's onboard. Ugh.

For me, this means getting all new updated programs that will work. I left it for a couple weeks because I was scared. Literally. When you are using the same old reliable equipment with the same old reliable programs on which you can do pretty much all you want to for 8 solid years, it's tough to change (no matter how annoying the process is to begin with...at least I had it down pat). But I finally did, after playing around on it for some time.

And...wow.

Going from Fruityloops 3.6 to FL Studio 9 was a HUGE change for me. Not having access to many of my old VSTs and VSTis was the other HUGE change. This was basically like having to learn an entirely new program for me. I know all the things I can do with the new FL, but I also have to figure out how to do them. And I'm still pushing on, pushing on.

What saddened me today was learning that I couldn't possibly expect to load up any of my old tunes into the new FL without encountering massive conflicts. That's ok, but it means I def gotta finish up the few songs I had going with my old comp (maybe I'll wait to install that soundcard?). But this looks to be extremely interesting...and fun, once I figure out how to do all the things I really wanna do. So far other than figuring out how to use the damn program properly, I've learned how to work with sidechain compression, loop time-stretching, LFO on bass to create the typical dubstep bass sound (just for fun), and automation recording, among many other little things.

Still extremely excited. I also have no idea what kind of sounds are going to start coming out of this, but I bet they'll be awesome. :)