FL Studio often gets forgotten behind production and recording staples like Ableton and Logic, but Akai have come to their side with their new Fire controller.

Akai’s new Professional Fire controller has been created in collaboration with Image-Line to offer the world’s very first dedicated controller for FL Studio. The high performance tool makes creating and producing on Fruity Loops’ versatile software the smoothest experience ever with an enhanced workflow and music-making experience.

The first thing you notice about the Fire is it’s rows of pads, making for the perfect sequencing accompaniment – especially considering that is the bread and butter of FL Studio. The controller is plug and play, so you can connect it up to your PC and immediately start using it with your music software to create and customise. Fire’s 4 x 16 velocity-sensitive RGB pad matrix has been designed to work straight away and seamlessly with the renowned sequencer built into Fruity Loops.

If you want to bust out the synths and get musical then the Fire’s Note mode becomes your best friend. By switching the controller to Note mode the controller’s RGB pads transform into a MIDI keyboard with three octaves of playability. With velocity sensitive pads you can play melody and harmony exactly how you want it to come out. There is also a Drum mode which uses an MPC-style 16-pad layout for seamless integration into FPC and SliceX for beat-making.

The pads give you loads of control over the software with the ability to mute and solo channels at the tap of a button, expand the grid matrix, switch between channels, navigate through all of your patterns and much more – right from the controller. You can use it to record, play, stop, and so much more making it an overall ultimate music-making controller for FL Studio – something that has been long overdue.

Here’s a summary of it’s main features:

  • Plug-and-play integration with FL Studio
  • Quickly input patterns along the timeline in the step sequencer
  • 4 x 16 Matrix of Velocity-Sensitive RGB Pads
  • Record notes in Performance mode
  • Graphical OLED display
  • 4 banks of assignable Touch-Capacitive Knobs
  • Instantly navigate the Channel Rack, Browser, Tool Bar and Playlist windows
  • Use dedicated controls to quickly browse audio and project files
  • Dedicated Transport controls
  • USB bus-powered

There is loads more to Akai’s Professional Fire controller than what we’ve mentioned above. Find out all about what the best controller now on the market for FL Studio really offers from their website.