Image-Line’s FL Studio is a huge underground “cult” hit for digital music making. It’s Windows-only, and it seems to get more love from the European press than the US writers for some reason (maybe because Image-Line is stingy with free press copies). But it’s got some great pattern-based features for those of you who like making quick-and-dirty dance music, as well as an elegant set of synths that could appeal to just about anyone.

Here’s what new in the long-awaited FL Studio 6:

As I continue this Reasonable Friday, here’s a reader report on how to use Propellerhead Reason live in performance. He’s making use of the terrific Windows-only MIDI tool Peter Tools LiveSet — more on that in an upcoming story. And he’s taking his one-man band to an environmental-activist music festival outside Sydney in gorgeous environs (pictured).

Stevo writes us:

I have been working on organising Reason for use in a live situation . . . I am a solo artist producing entirely on a laptop. I have a controller keyboard, a [Behringer] BCF2000 controller that is locked to the main mixer, a Korg Kaoss 2 pad, and a copy of Peter Tools LiveSet. I am a loop-based type of artist, meaning I like to mess with ideas as loops and rarely program a song from begin to end, as this ends up doing my head in . . .

Finally, the power to choose: some of the best bundled synths are getting unbundled so you can use them with whatever host you want (cough, Ableton Live). Days after Cakewalk launched their own Dimension Pro synth (a Pro version of a synth that’s included in Project5), the folks at Image Line (better known as the creators of FL Studio, aka Fruity Loops) are launching an unbundled instrument. The one difference: Cakewalk released Dimension Pro after Project5, whereas Image Line is releasing Sytrus 2 as a Windows DXi/VST before it’s released as part of FL Studio 6.

Onto the synth: US$179 buys you a unique additive synth, with 6-operator FM, RM, plucked, and subtractive synthesis. It’s completely sample-free: synthesis freaks alone need apply. Before you skip this one over, there are plenty of reasons this instrument should be on your radar screen . . .

Remote is the two-way communication technology behind Reason 3’s control surface support. The idea is, rather than tediously setting up each control surface or keyboard manually to control your software, the software talks to your device and sets it up for you. You can even see visual feedback for which knob and button is which; one of the best examples is Korg’s Kontrol49 keyboard (shown).

Here’s the news: Propellerhead Software is now shipping a developer SDK so manufacturers can create support for their own hardware. Sure, 40 devices are supported out of the box, but there are a lot more than 40 pieces of hardware out there. There’s an application process, so you may not be able to use Remote for your new eyebrow-controlled camera system, but since I know hardware developers read this blog, I can only say — we’d love to have your device supported.

And for users, of course, this means you can now bug your favorite device’s manufacturer and not just the Props.

Jim Aikin, synth madman, sound guru, and my book’s tech editor (meaning he’s the only one keeping me accurate and sane), takes the Combinator under the microscope in a tutorial for O’Reilly. If you thought the Combinator was just a way of combining modules into combis (single instrumental patches), you’re missing a lot — this beast is an incredibly powerful all-around routing and performance tool. Interestingly, Jim spends most of the article focusing on routing modulation into the Combinator from its modules, which just goes to show just how deep this rabbit hole is — even that’s just the beginning. But he includes some helpful RNS files and is meticulous as always. If you’re a Reason power user, don’t miss this.

In fact, if you’re a Reason power user, drop me a line. I’m working on still more configurations for how to use the Combinator as a performance tool, and I’m up for all the ideas I can get. More soon . . .

While I continue getting deeper into Reason, here’s where to go for more info, tips and tricks:

Tutorial videos / what’s new videos [Propellerheads.se]

Reason 3.0 Video Master Class [Sonic State]

ReWire Help Articles [Propellerheads.se] (yeah, even I still occasionally have trouble with that! -PK)

What’s new in Reason 3 / What’s new in 3.03 Update [CDM]

My own Reason 3 Review for Macworld