Computer Music in 1985

Found this neat clip from mid-80's BBC tech show Micro Live. The presenter uses what looks like an 80's version of Fruity Loops to make a beat on a Sinclair Spectrum. He then has another guy demonstrate another music system for the C64. To top it off, they introduce the freshly developed concept of MIDI.

What's your favorite DAW?

Just watched a half-hour clip of Dubstep's A-lister Benga, going through his process of making a beat.

He uses FL Studio (formerly known as Fruity Loops) and Logic to produce his tracks, two of today's most commonly used DAW's. But while Logic is found in most professional production studios (frequently substituted according to preference by Pro Tools and Cubase), FL Studio is often bashed by producers as a "beginner's software" that produces a complementary sound. These people are usually surprised to hear successful artists of all genres (like Boy 8-Bit, Beastie Boys, Timbaland or Benga) working with it and creating crisp results. Yes, it is a simple program and anyone who uses its on-board samples will always recognize them in other songs. But combined with a controller, synthesizer, external plugins, own samples or other DAW's, FL Studio provides limitless capabilities. It remains the most user-friendly DAW on the market, which was always FL's key to success. Anyone who has an idea, can just sit down and realize it quickly. And you don't have to be Timbaland to do it.

Personally, I love Fruity Loops and the concept behind it. But since I came across Ableton Live a while back and Native Instruments' Maschine more recently (which has a very similar software setup to FL Studio), I've just been losing touch.

What's your favorite DAW? Any tweakers out there, let us know what you think!

Watch Benga working on a beat here.

Benga - Pleasure

Mux Mool

You might have heard Mux Mool before. He provided a beat to some adult swim commercials.

His tracks are hip hop influenced, but work well - or better - without vocals. A pretty original sound with good use of samples that should get your heads moving (kind of like Daft Punk meets RJD2..). I might be wrong, but to me it sounds like it might be FL Studio material.
Here's a few of his tracks I quite like.

Mux Mool - 10


Mux Mool - Night Court



Mux Mool - Lost and Found



Get Mux Mool's records on Beatport