FL Studio

is a powerful program that lets you

create electronic music

, import your own beats, instrument recordings and even MIDI tracks. Andrew Carr starts off this 10-part

FL Studio video tutorial

series with an introduction to the FL Studio interface.

Introductions out of the way, we'll take a look at how to

create a solid beat in FL Studio

. Layering snare drum, bass, high hat, claps and (if you so desire) more cowbell in the step sequencer. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to lay down your first beat in

FL studio

.

Now that we've figured out how to lay down a beat, it's time to experiment with some of the various

sounds and modules

that are available in

FL Studio

to create our own style. There's a world of possibilities just with the pre-loaded sounds and modules in FL Studio and experimentation is the key to finding just the right sound.

Delving deeper into the

FL Studio piano roll

, Andrew Carr continues our

FL Studio

series by demonstrating how to make a melody using the piano roll. Here, you can alter the tone, pitch and duration of notes as well as affect how notes are played and even add in chords to create a melody to go along with the beat we've already laid down.

We've got a beat. We've got a melody. Now it's time to change the arrangement in the

FL Studio song playlist

. Andrew Carr runs through

how to arrange patterns

into songs and shows us how to split our patterns and use them to create a bonafide electronic song.

FL Studio

has a wide array of

effects and a powerful mixer board

that let you take control of your sound. Andrew Carr continues our 10-part video how-to on

FL Studio

with a close look at these program features.

You don't need to buy tens of thousands of dollars of studio gear to have access to some sweet effects.

FL Studio

has lots of

preset effects

built right in and new ones can be downloaded. You can also change the settings on effects to radically change the way your song, or a section of your song, sounds.

While there are a bunch of samples pre-recorded and available in

FL Studio

, bringing in your own samples, your own voice, a guitar chord, a piano roll or even crashing pots and pans allows you to expand your piece.

FL Studio

supports

recording MIDI instruments

as well as just about any sound generating device that can plug into your soundcard, including your microphone.

You've created your aural masterwork in

FL Studio

... but how do you get it onto iTunes? Onto your MP3 player? Onto MySpace, Facebook or the 'net at large? Andrew Carr continues our Feel the Beat with FL Studio series and shows us

how to export MP3, WAV and other audio or project files from FL Studio

.

Andrew Carr delves into some of the more advanced

FL Studio tips and tricks

to round out our 10 part

FL Studio video how to series

. These tips make it easy to create patterns from loops and even

beat-match different samples and loops in FL Studio

. These tips are guaranteed to launch your music career. Guarantee not guaranteed. If you do go multi-platinum though, remember where you got your start though, OK?