1. The Scratcher plug-in is something that prompts a lot of forum questions. The most important thing to remember is that although FruityScratcher is technically a generator plug-in (it is used to produce sound), it must be opened into an effects channel. Click on a sampler channel and then click on the top-right number one.

2. Click on the arrow and select FruityScratcher as your desired plug-in. Next, select a .wav file to scratch by clicking on the folder icon (circled). For the purposes of this walkthrough, we have provided a simple loop (loop_140.wav) for you to use.

3. If your pattern isn't already set to a length of 32, do it now. The Turntable is where the scratching takes place, but the graphical display of the .wav file, along with Hold and Mute, can be used to hold the scratching if it has been automated. Directly below the Turntable are the Play, Pause and Reverse Play buttons

4. To begin scratching, just click your mouse on the vinyl and drag it up and down. The turntable acceleration and sensitivity of the scratching in relation to your mouse movements can be adjusted with the controls to the right of the Play button.

5. For a slowing turntable effect we first need to ensure that our loop will play throughout the pattern. Right-click on the Play button and select Edit Events. Fill the whole editor with data as this is the play position. To stop the Scratcher, fill it half way (50 per cent), and to reverse it, place no data in the editor.

6. For the next part of the slow-down we need to right-click the Speed button to bring up the Event editor. The default speed is just about the second horizontal line. Once this is done, right-click on the data midway through the pattern and drag it down to the bottom. The loop should now slow down. Experimentation is the key.

7. Here's a great tip if you usually find yourself dragging the same samples and instruments into your tunes. Open FruityLoops and set up your channels as required. Here, we've opted for a primitive dance riff. Once you're happy with your setup, go to File>Save As and navigate to FruityLoops\Samples\Drumkits.

8. In the Drumkits directory, create a new folder and call it something like Template. Open this new folder and save our .flp with the same name inside the folder. Next, we need to close FruityLoops down so our new folder will be available for selection. Re-open FruityLoops.

9. Go to File>Drumkits and then select Template. If all has gone well, our new default .flp should appear. Now every time you open FruityLoops you will be greeted with this Template. If you work with many musical genres, create a Template for each style and it will leave you more time to make tunes.

10. To create a note slide, place a long note in the Piano Roll (or open note_slide.flp). Next, place a Slide Note (by selecting the triangle) above the note, ensuring the notes overlap. The long note will play until it reaches the Slide Note. Then the pitch will rise towards the Slide Note and stay there until it reaches the end of the original note.

11. Drawing snare rolls in the Piano Roll can be a pain, especially if you are an ardent drill 'n' bass head. To save time, just enter a single note for the duration of your intended roll. Next, select the note with the Select tool and adjust the snap value on the Recording panel to the desired resolution. Here, we've chosen a quarter step

12. The next step is to click on the small keyboard icon and go to Edit>Slice Up (or press Ctrl+U). Hey presto, your note is now sliced. If you don't like the result, use Ctrl+Z to Undo. Then you can export your Piano Roll state as a score for instant recall by clicking on the piano keyboard and selecting Save Score As.

13. There was a post on our forum recently discussing features for future versions of FruityLoops. One of the feature requests was a cut and paste function in the Playlist. However, this feature is already present. Hold Ctrl and click and drag over the area you want to copy. This will then create a red area over the selected patterns. Press Ctrl+C.

14. Notice that there is now a selected square to the top-right of your selected area. This is the location your copied data will be placed into. This square can be moved anywhere on the Playlist by right-clicking and dragging. You'll probably know this already, but to paste your data, use Ctrl+V.

15. This technique can be used to loop sections of your song indefinitely: handy for checking levels or working on problem areas. Make sure you are in Song mode then hold Ctrl and click above Pattern 1. This should create a vertical selection down the whole playlist. While holding Ctrl, drag across the area you wish to be looped. Your selection should now loop.

16. Start by opening our trusty loop_140.wav into a sampler channel. At present, FruityLoops is set to a tempo of 140bpm and the loop fits perfectly in the pattern. If you change the tempo to 149bpm you'll notice that the pattern will end before the loop has finished but will continue to play, resulting in jumping.

17. The first thing we need to do is set the sample to Cut Itself. Click on the sample channel and select MISC then Cut Itself. This means that when the loop is re-triggered it will stop the previous loop from playing. This is useful for the repeated lead-in of a drum loop Ð a technique common to hip-hop. The loop still doesn't sound right so click on SMP.

18. The Stretch window (circled) is used to set the stretch of the channel. As our pattern is 32 beats, we will need to set this to 32. The loop should now loop perfectly. Set it to 64 for interesting effects. The downside to stretching is that the pitch cannot be changed except by increasing/decreasing the tempo.