9 December 2021
Mr. John Milton, Executive Director
Sound Trax Company
100 Jungle Beat Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6T 3R8
Dear Mr. Milton:
As our company is currently at the crossroad of choosing the software platform, based on which the activities will be performed. With the wide availability of the software in the market, my proposal is concerned specifically with FL Studio, software, Digital Audio Workstation (DAWE) developed by Image-Line.
The proposal briefly outlines the main aspects of using a DAW in our business and provides a framework for a further investigation of the capabilities of the software and the feasibility of its implementation in our company.
In order for the aforementioned to be fully examined, your authorization is required. If there are questions regarding the proposal or any of its aspects, I’ll be glad to read them at [email protected].
Sincerely
Summary
The present report presents a proposal to analyze the possibilities of implementing FL Studio in the company Sound Trax as a software platform. The proposal examines the advantages of using a Digital Audio Workstation in the recording business, its main parts, and outlines the significance of software as a component. The proposal compares FL Studio with two other products in the same category, showing the reasonability of choosing FL Studio particularly. The main stages of conducting such a report are examined and outlined. The proposal concludes that FL Studio is an optimal candidate for consideration, requesting authorization for further analysis.
Introduction
FL Studio is a popular digital audio workstation (DAW) and sequencer, which is used to play, edit and compose music, released by Image-Line Software. Being a newly established recording company, Sound Trax faces the decision of making capital investments for equipping the studio, in terms of software. In that regard, taking into consideration the significance of choosing the software and its long-term impact, we are considering the option of buying the aforementioned software from Image-Line Software, and the set of characteristics and features that will make this program beneficial for our company.
This report is preliminary research analyzing the general aspects of using FL Studio in our company, making a proposition to develop a full-scale analytical report, which will help Sound Trax making the decision of adopting FL Studio software as the main recording base in our studios.
Background
In the world of music today, the usage of DAWs can be seen as a common practice, where the comparison between analog machines or modular digital multitrack and modern computer-based DAWs are totally inclined toward the latter (DAW Defined, 2009). In that regard, it can be stated that the usage of a combination of a personal computer and a DAW is no longer an option, which only suits amateur garage-based recording studios. The capabilities of personal computers were raised so much during the last decade that the term specialized equipment in a certain sphere is an implication of the type of software installed on computer workstations.
Decomposing the DAW into main components, the main parts are as follows (DAW Defined, 2009):
- A computer – the variation of the types of computers components, with essential parts having a hard drive, a solid CPU, and an extensive amount of main memory (RAM). An essential component of the computer is the availability of a digital audio interface, i.e. the support and the availability of analog and digital inputs and outputs in different formats, e.g. S/PDIF, AES/EBU, ADAT, TOSlink, TDIF, etc (DAW Defined, 2009). The preference of using Macintosh compatible or PC compatible computers are optional.
- Digital Audio Software – an essential part, which defines the capabilities of the recording studio. The selection of the software can be among the most important parts, which identify the quality level, on the basis of which the Sound Trax will operate. The software being the heart of the software, other additions can be seen as essential based on the intended task, and/or the necessity of expanding the software capabilities. Other additions might be plug-ins, i.e. small software programs extending the capabilities of the main program, and DSP (Digital Signal Processors) accelerators, software or hardware components, the usage of which is dependent on the capabilities of the computer workstation.
In that regard, it can be seen that the selection of the software can be seen as the main problem that a recording company might face, either during the process of upgrading their existing technology or selecting the technological platform on which the company’s main activities will be performed.
Options
The selection of the options for the DAW software is based on several criteria, and in that regard, the following options for other DAW software will outline the criterion used in preferring FL Studio.
Sony Acid Pro 7
The functionality of Sony’s product includes aspects of sound processing such as multitrack recording and mixing, MIDI sequencing, and the company’s specific looping functionality. The price for Acid Pro 7 starts from $269.96 for a downloadable version, with an optional bundling package costing $13.50 (Sony, 2009). The optional package merely includes the software bundled and a manual. It should be mentioned that the realization of additional functions, not included in the software is performed through purchasing other specialized software from the same company, starting from approximately $100. Additionally, the upgrade from and to an existent version is a costly procedure with prices being close to the purchase of a stand-alone version.
Cakewalk SONAR 8.5
This version of the Sonar product is the leader in the DAW product line of CakeWalk, which specification consists of such functions as a sequencer, drum sessions, a synthesizer, and instruments for managing and organizing the music creation process. The price is approximately $119.00 for the Producer version (Cakewalk, 2009). Additionally, it should be stated that the expansion of the software’s functionality is not supported in this version, where the only options available are through special editions of the software, such as guitar edition, piano edition, etc., each of which costs around $200. Upgrading to new versions of the software, based on the current version upgrades, starts from $79 (Cakewalk, 2009).
Image Line FL Studio 9
Fl Studio, formerly known as Frooty Loops, is the flagship product in the product of Image-Line software. The capabilities of the software include such functions as synthesizing sounds through synthesis techniques as well as the possibility to edit the synthesizers, multi-channel audio input, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and mastering (Image Line, 2009b). The software implements the system of plug-ins, where the capabilities of the software can be expanded through a number of plug-ins available to download. Although the plug-ins should be purchased, the FL Studio Signature Edition bundle, which costs $299, already comes with the most popular plug-ins bundled (Image Line, 2009a).
The most interesting aspect of the Image line product is the fact that the product is updated for free. In a world, where the technological aspects are constantly developing, the ability to obtain the next versions of the product for free enforces that the investments made in this software are long term. Additionally, the software implements an open architecture, which basically means that many third-party developers are providing their plug-ins for the software. With such competition, the diversity and the prices for such extensions are predicted to be more competitive than the products available only for first-party developers.
The Research Problem
The aspects which require further investigation can be seen through the examination of the optimal configuration of computers for the software to operate and the licensing agreements, which will determine the number of copies installable under each license. Additional aspects that require investigation are the determination of the most essential parts that should be purchased initially and the economic feasibility of doing so.
Sound Trax is a commercial organization, which products will be sold on a for-profit basis, and in that regard, it should be stated that the full analytical report has to address the aspect of commercial distribution of the results of the usage of the program, and if there are any restrictions, their nature should be carefully examined and determined.
The Report’s Organizational Aspects
The organizational plan of the conducting the analytical report will be divided as follows:
- Testing a copy of the software (a free demo version available for download for the site of the developer)
- The determination of the number of computers which will work with the copy
- Contacting the developer and/or conducting research on the conditions of using the software
- Listing the most common tasks which will be performed constantly, and the determination of the plug-ins required for the short-haul
- Researching third-party offering products for FL Studio
- Reporting the results
It should be mentioned that several stages of the aforementioned organization are not sequential, and thus, can be performed simultaneously. In that regard, the time frame for the report will be established for a period of one week, with the most time-consuming stage being the testing for the optimal configuration.
As the demo is available for free, the budgeting parts of the report is mainly addressed to consultation services by IT specialist, which will test the software on several computers, measuring the performance and the optimal configuration for the usage of the software.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that FL Studio is an optimal option for the consideration to be used in Sound Trax. The preliminary research presented in this proposal outlines the necessity for further examination, in order for the company to make the decision for adopting such technology. In that regard, I request the authorization of the company to proceed further with the investigation in order to conduct a complete analytical report, regarding the usage of FL Studio software in our company.
References
Cakewalk. (2009). SONAR 8.5 – The Leading Choice in Digital Audio Workstations. Web.
DAW Defined. (2009). Web.
Image Line. (2009). Image Line Products. Web.
Image Line. (2009). Introducing FL Studio 9. Web.
McJunkin, J. (2004). DAWs Detangled. Web.
Sony. (2009). ACID Pro 7. Web.