Mark...thanks for ur great suggestions. They would certainly help me compose. I actually went ahead and ordered a used copy of Fruity Loops off ebay.
What is the producer version? Can you even record audio with it?
I thought Fruity Loops had a lot of built-in loops you could use. I am a bit afraid to program drums the way i would want. You are so freggin good, it was even hard to say it was programmed. The drum kit you used was sooo realistic. were you a drummer by any chance
Keep up the good job.
Thanks. Fruity Producer is the new name for Fruity Loops, I think. FL comes in various flavours all with different features. I have the cheapest version.
Have you been here yet?:
Fruity page
If you PM me with an email address, I'll send you a FL project or two so you can see what I've done.
I'm not a drummer but I've been around drummers for long enough to get hold of the basics. We have just recently got a kit in the house - my son is learning.
Mark
If you get fruity, the first thing to do is download:
GettingStarted_FLSTudio_Producer_Edition_cXP3.doc
Open Fruity and work through that tutorial, and in an hour or two you’ll be an expert! 
(or close at least).
And the producer edition can be used as either a VSTi in n-track, or through rewire.
Ali
Hey thanks Ali!
I tried FL a while back and couldn’t work out how to use it properly but this tutorial looks pretty good.
I might give it another go and see if I can make it work this time 
Rich
Hey Ali…thanks a bunch man. I dont have FL yet, but it should arrive very soon…meanwhile, I will download the stuff you mentioned just to get warmed up… 
It really is a great tutorial Rich, I hope it helps.
After my wife bought Floops for me, I played with it a few times, picked up the manual, stared at it and threw it at the cat a few times.
Picked up the cat and threw it at the manual at least once, but got nowhere.
But with that tutorial and the proggy on screen it all became clear.
Enjoy the tutorial Sonnet, but it’s best if you download the demo and have both on screen at the same time.
Ali.
Ali…all i can find is the word file for FL studio…where can i find the one for the Producer version? Can you please provide the link?
all I get is this page: http://www.e-officedirect.com/FLStudio/English/Downloads.htm
yep, that’s the one I think Sonnet, I’ve just re downlaoded it, it’s a zip file, but it unzips into the one I was talking about.
Your link didn’t work for me, but I found it at:
here
Nope, that doesn’t work either, Anyway, they call it Getting started guide Doc, but it does unzip into the one I was talking about.
And you’ll need the flp files too, (they are the ones referenced to in the tutorial)
Oh, by the way. Some of fruit’s samples need the OGGvorbis codec, which is not installed by default.
So, you need to go into: FLStudio/System/Installers/VorbisACM and install the inf file yourself. (just right click on it and select install).
Ali
Hey Ali…that was a fast reply…haha…yeah…i am downloading it right now. I mean…the basics should be the same right…
I got a slow modem connection…so it will take a while…but thanks for ur help.
Cheers
PS: Do you happen to know any websites where I can find info on VST and Sound fonts plug-ins…i have no clue what they are…but I would love to learn about 'em
thanks…
I had hoped one of the experts on here would answer your soundfont/VST’s query, but as they haven’t, I’ll try my best.
VST and DX plugins, are just that, plugins. (well, wee dll’s actually)
They modify the sound of your wav/sample.
Some people categorize them as either processors (EQ, compressors, etc.) or effects (reverb, delay, etc.) but most people just call them all effects.
DX plugins have to be registered, but VST plugins just have to be put in a directory where n-track or whatever, expects to find them.
There is another type of plugin called a VSTi (or DXi), and these aren’t effects, but what Fruity Loops would call Generators, in other words, they don’t modify a sound, but they create one. So, synthesisers, electric piano’s etc., all come as either VSTi’s or DXi’s.
Soundfonts:
I’ve already mentioned samples, and if you’ve played with Fruity for a while, you’ll know that they are just short wavs, i.e. audio files.
So if you have a sample of a grand piano, it’s just a wave file of someone hitting a piano key.
If you want a higher note, the sample just plays faster, a lower note, slower.
And volume too is altered by… altering the volume.
However, real instruments don’t sound like that. A note high up on a piano keyboard is not just a higher frequency version of a note lower down, it has a whole different tonal characteristic.
Likewise, a key hit gently is not just a quieter version of a key hit hard, again it has a different tonal character.
So, soundfonts seek to address this problem.
A good piano soundfont will contain many samples, played at different parts of the keyboard and at different velocities. And depending which note you choose on your midi track, and what velocity you chose, the particular sample that is nearest will be used and altered to suit.
Not only that, but a soundfont contains looping information, fx, envelope shaping, etc.
So that’s a soundfont instrument.
A soundfont bank contains many instruments, a GM set will contain at least 128 instruments, and a couple of percussion sets.
So, size matters.
If you have an 8mB GM soundfont bank, chances are each instrument will contain only one sample, so you’re really not gaining anything over using just a sample.
Anyway Sonnet, that’s enough for now.
If you’ve any more questions, just ask, and I’m sure someone will answer.
Ali.
Hey Ali…thanks a lot man…i really appreciate it…yeah…i keep hearing these terms all the time and different jargons by different people…it was a bit confusing at first…I think soundfonts was created by Emu systems…i am not sure though…but yeah plain and simple it’s similar to a .wav file of a sampled instrumnent…and vst is completly different…pretty much a digital processor…
I am getting there man…lol…
thanks once again…