Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Guitar Amps
  • Plugin Week 25
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Artist news
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • Drums
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Plugin Week A-Z
  • You Oughta Know
  • Fake AI band
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Wrecking Crew
Recommended reading
Best beginner DAWs: Cockos Reaper 6
Music Production Tutorials New to making tracks? Start here
fl studio
Tech FL Studio 2025 introduces AI assistant that offers music production advice and helps you use the DAW
Reference tracks
Tech Reference tracks can be your secret weapon when mixing - but be mindful of replicating other artists' choices too much
renoise
Tech I tried a music tracker and it rewired my brain (in a good way)
mixing desk
Music Production Tutorials “Learning how to mix is almost as important as hitting on your original musical idea”: New to the mixing process? Start here
Plugins
Plugins How to get famous sounds and effects using only Logic’s stock plugins
50 producers
Music Production Tutorials 50 production secrets from the pros
  1. Tech
  2. Software & Apps
  3. Digital Audio Workstation

How to make a track in FL Studio 9

Tuition
By Computer Music ( Computer Music ) published 17 November 2009

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Getting started

Getting started

Step 1: If you don’t own FL Studio 9, download and install the save-disabled demo (click here to download). Create a new project at a Tempo of 125bpm. Delete the sampler instruments in the step sequencer, and create a DrumSynth by right-clicking the instrument slot and selecting Insert»Fruity DrumSynth Live. Right-click the DrumSynth instrument slot and select Piano Roll to bring up the MIDI editor. By default, the keyboard interface shows the drum sounds on each of the keys.

Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of 9
Making the beat

Making the beat

Step 2: While this view makes finding specific sounds easy when programming a beat, locating them in the DrumLive editor is a little trickier. Being able to see the actual MIDI note makes it easier, though, so change over to the larger view by clicking the bigger of the two keyboard icons near the top left-hand corner of the window. Copy the beat shown here.

Page 2 of 9
Page 2 of 9
Editing the drum sounds

Editing the drum sounds

Step 3: To edit the drum sounds, click the DrumSynth slot in the step sequencer, bringing up the instrument’s interface. Select 909 Snare (B3) and copy the oscillator frequency settings shown used here - this turns our traditional snare into an abstract woodblock-style sound.

Page 3 of 9
Page 3 of 9
More drum editing

More drum editing

Step 4: Turn the Volume level of the snare sound to 60%, then select 909 Kick L (G3). Turn the Osc1 envelope Decay time down to 200 for a shorter, punchier kick sound. Next, choose 808 Maracas (G#2) and set its Volume level to 60%. Change the instrument’s FX out in the Channel Settings window to 1.

Page 4 of 9
Page 4 of 9
Adding the bass

Adding the bass

Step 5: In the browser menu on the left, open Plugin Presets»Generators»SimSynth and drag BassDeepSq onto the empty instrument slot in the step sequencer. Copy the settings shown here to get a modulated filter cutoff effect, then sequence a note lasting for the whole bar on G4 to trigger the sound.

Page 5 of 9
Page 5 of 9
Ducking the bass

Ducking the bass

Step 6: Ensure that the DrumSynth and SimSynth are routed to Mixer channels 1 and 2 respectively. Route the DrumSynth track to the SimSynth’s sidechain input and add a Fruity Limiter as an Insert on the SimSynth channel. Copy the Fruity Limiter settings shown here to duck out the bass slightly whenever the kick drum plays.

Page 6 of 9
Page 6 of 9
Adding atmospherics

Adding atmospherics

Step 7: Let’s get some minimal atmospherics in the place. Add another instrument - this time the Wasp XP. Select the Tubular Bells patch and copy the Piano Roll pattern shown here. This sound could do with some reverb, so add a Fruity Delay 2 as an Insert on the Wasp XP channel and set the Time to 6.00.

Page 7 of 9
Page 7 of 9
Arranging

Arranging

Step 8: The step sequencer is great for creating a beat, but it’s easier to use the playlist view for arranging. Bring this up by activating it in the View menu or by pressing F5. FL Studio’s playlist works a bit differently to most sequencers. We want to be able to sequence each element of the song individually, so in the playlist menu, select Playlist Options»Pattern»Split By Channel.

Page 8 of 9
Page 8 of 9
Finishing off

Finishing off

Step 9: It doesn’t matter which playlist track you place the elements on, as they’ll always trigger the correct instrument. For example, select DrumSynth from the top of the playlist and draw it onto the first eight bars. Then select BassDeepSq and draw it in it from bar 9. Finally, draw in Tubular Bells from bar 5. Using this technique, you can quickly create an entire arrangement with a few clicks.

Page 9 of 9
Page 9 of 9
Computer Music
Computer Music
Social Links Navigation

Computer Music magazine is the world’s best selling publication dedicated solely to making great music with your Mac or PC computer. Each issue it brings its lucky readers the best in cutting-edge tutorials, need-to-know, expert software reviews and even all the tools you actually need to make great music today, courtesy of our legendary CM Plugin Suite.

Read more
Best beginner DAWs: Cockos Reaper 6
New to making tracks? Start here
fl studio
FL Studio 2025 introduces AI assistant that offers music production advice and helps you use the DAW
Reference tracks
Reference tracks can be your secret weapon when mixing - but be mindful of replicating other artists' choices too much
renoise
I tried a music tracker and it rewired my brain (in a good way)
mixing desk
“Learning how to mix is almost as important as hitting on your original musical idea”: New to the mixing process? Start here
Plugins
How to get famous sounds and effects using only Logic’s stock plugins
Latest in Digital Audio Workstation
fl studio
FL Studio 2025 introduces AI assistant that offers music production advice and helps you use the DAW
ableton
8 things you can do with Ableton Live's updated Auto Filter device
linux
14 of the best plugins and DAWs you can use on Linux
mixing desk
“Learning how to mix is almost as important as hitting on your original musical idea”: New to the mixing process? Start here
MIDI
How to humanise your virtual acoustic instruments in your DAW projects
avid
"Splice is now built directly into Pro Tools": Avid launches Pro Tools 2025.6 with Splice integration, AI speech-to-text engine and more
Latest in Tuition
Plugins
How to get famous sounds and effects using only Logic’s stock plugins
Plugin Chains
How to emulate a classic analogue recording system entirely with plugins
Odin 2
Fantastic (free) plugins and how to use them: The Wave Warden Odin 2
ableton
8 things you can do with Ableton Live's updated Auto Filter device
Native Instruments Raum
How to use reverb to build impressive-sounding filters, reverses, risers and pads
mixing desk
“Learning how to mix is almost as important as hitting on your original musical idea”: New to the mixing process? Start here

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...