Hi Rikki,

FL has the reputation of being an app for hip hop and synth oriented music, and in reality it's top shelf for that kind of music. It's also really good for everything else. It's a full fledged DAW now, and it can pretty much do anything Cubase or Sonar does.

It allows you to pattern sequence any part, up to 768 ppq, or sequence as many bars as you wish, just like a normal sequencer.

One example of where it shines.. Take a premade drum ( or other ) pattern, such as one from an arranger, import it, save a second instance of it, make subtle changes, such as move notes around a little, change panning, velocity, pitch, etc in the pattern editor ( piano roll ). Do this as much as you like. Now your pattern isn't as repetitive as it was. BTW, it isn't limited to drums.

The edit tools are really cool, including arps, strum emulations, fills, to name a few. Also, midi editing is excellent in the piano roll. I like that I can right click to delete a note and left click to create, edit or move a note. No changing back and forth from pencil to eraser to arrow, like in most sequencers.

The only reason I even open Sonar any more is if I need to use an MFX effect, such as Musiclabs Slicy Drummer or Rythym and Chords, but I rarely use these any nore either. Sometimes finding what works best gets a tad expensive..lol, but it has been worth it, at least for me.

If you already have a good DAW, and don't need detailed midi editing or pattern sequencing, then FL might not be any better than what you already have, but it certainly is a nice app that will work well for any kind of music. I just like it because of what it does, and the way it is laid out. The interface and layout tends to make more sense to me than most others.

AJ