Using Fruity Loops to Make Music

One of my favorite things to do is make my own music using Fruity Loops. Fruity Loops is a rather powerful music program that you can use to make a wide variety of electronic music. However, Fruity Loops is perhaps the least user friendly program I have ever used. It's user friendliness can be defined as "hostile to the point of physical pain." I've taken punches to the face that were easier to manage than learning this program.

However, after several years I became quite proficient in its operation. I have 10 or more hours worth of music. Some of it is great while some of it is...well... a bit silly.

This is a song I wrote one day to annoy a friend of mine. Think you can guess his name? The music took me about half of an hour to compose, arrange and create. "Larry" isn't exactly a masterpiece, but I think it's a lot of fun.

The images used in this video were arranged using Windows Movie Maker. Movie Maker is another program that is difficult to use, simply because it runs so poorly. However, I've created many videos using this method. Unfortunately, I've lost most of these videos except for a few.

The following song is something I take a bit more seriously than "Larry." It's a remix/rearrangement of the song "We're an American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad that I made using Fruity Loops. I only use music from the song in my rearrangement. I'd turn your speakers down just a bit. This song is, as my friend Abe put it "a bit apocalyptic."

I also take this video a lot more seriously than I take the "Larry" video. It's very quickly edited with lots of strange image juxtapositions. Its not exactly high art but I also think its a lot of fun and even a little funny. Humor drives a lot of my artistic creations.

I was inspired by John Oswald's similar sonic creations when I made this song. He has done some amazing work with what he calls "Plunderphonics." Essentially, he takes songs and rearranges them in ways similar to what I have done. His best is "Dab" a reinterpretation of Michael Jackson's "Bad."

That's my first serious art installment for this blog. I hope that you were entertained by what I've created as well as intrigued by Oswald's work. It is difficult to find, but can be purchased at the Negativland website.