MusicRadar

There's more to FL Studio than meets the eye, as you're about to find out.

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Although FL Studio has a deserved reputation for being an application that beginners can pick and start making music with quickly, experienced users will tell you that it can also be a deep and involving beast.

So, MusicRadar has put together this collection of tips that takes you below the surface and deals with some FL Studio features that you might not be familiar with, but once mastered will speed up and improve your workflow.

The secret volume control

A channel's volume can be automated in the piano roll by right-clicking the grey box under the keyboard and selecting Channel volume. This is useful for adding tremolo and subtle variations in levels, which isn't easily doable using note velocities. It's also great for adding an organic feel to a phrase. A consequence of automating the volume in this way, though, is that it adjusts the channel's Volume knob in the step sequencer, which can be an issue when mixing. A good fix is to use the Volume Multiplier knob in the Misc tab of the Channel Settings window to set the level before it gets to the Mixer.

Split and merge patterns

Patterns that contain notes on multiple channels can be split by channel, making it easy to build variations on a single pattern without having to clone it and edit the piano roll for each one. In the step sequencer, click the pattern selector and select Split by channel on the right. All of the notes and automation for each channel will appear in new patterns, named after each channel, stacked on top of each other in the Playlist. Patterns can be merged by selecting them in the Playlist and clicking Edit»Merge pattern clips in the Playlist options. Only the selected patterns will be merged - other instances of the selected patterns will stay as they are.

Dumping the score log

How often do you find yourself playing something really awesome on your MIDI controller and wishing you'd had Record engaged (or a better memory)? Even when not recording, FL Studio remembers all of the incoming MIDI notes from the last five minutes or so. To get that great riff back, go into an empty pattern and select Dump score log to selected channel from the Tools menu. Those MIDI notes will magically appear!

Set snapshots in the Browser

The Browser can be organised by snapshots - specific locations accessible via number keys 1 to 5. To set up a snapshot, navigate to the location in the Browser that you want easy access to and click the Current Snapshot dropdown menu, next to the Browser label. Choose the number key you want to associate with this location and click that snapshot. You can also rename and freeze the snapshot. When you want to navigate to that location in the Browser, press the associated number key while the Browser is in focus.

Scale automation clips

Automation clips can have their minimum and maximum values scaled, enabling you to edit the depth of the automation without going through and tweaking each point in the clip. In the Channel Settings window of the automation clip, the MIN and MAX knobs at the top will adjust the range of the automation clip. To the right of these knobs, the Timestretch knob can be used to adjust the clip's timing and length.

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