FL STUDIO BASICS

Making Music - FL Studio Workflow

This section covers the FL Studio desktop and basic workflow.

Main Screen

The FL Studio desktop is based on the 'windows within windows' concept. Most windows are movable (with overlap), resizable, zoomable and switchable so if a window isn't visible retrieve it using the Shortcut toolbar (or the function keys as noted in brackets below). The three main windows involved in music creation are - Channels ( F6), Mixer ( F9) and Play List ( F5).

Workflow

After you master the FL Studio interface, the next step is to understand the logical sequence of activities to create a music track (FL Studio 'workflow'). There are five main steps, outlined below:

• Instrumentation – Instruments/generators make the sounds used in the song and are arranged vertically in the Channel window. In the example above, the instrument interfaces are 'collapsed' into buttons down the left side of the window. To open an instrument interface left-click on the Channel button. Instruments can be native FL plugins, samples or 3rd party virtual synthesizers (VSTi, DXi etc). Think of the Channel window as a rack of synthesizer/sampler modules.
• Composition/Sequencing – The musical elements are played live via MIDI keyboard or entered manually in the Step Sequencer or Piano Roll (not shown). To the right of each instrument button in the Channel window is either a step-sequencer display (the rows of squares) or a mini-preview of a Piano Roll (green lines). Step Sequencers and Piano Rolls are interchangeable for each Channel, starting as Step Sequencers by default. Step Sequencers and Piano Rolls hold the note data for the instrument they are associated with. Step-sequencer 'steps' are accessed by left-clicking the squares to turn them on or right-clicking to turn them off (great for percussion programming). To open an existing Piano Roll Left-click directly on the mini-preview window. To create a new Piano roll Right-click on the Channel button and select 'Piano roll' from the pop-up menu. The notes from either of these sequencer types drive each instrument with up to 999 unique sequence ‘stacks’, known as ‘patterns’. In the example above, Pattern '1' (the entire Channel window data) consists of two Piano rolls and one Step Sequencer pattern. As you step through the patterns (using the Pattern Selector) the appearance of the channel window will change to reflect the note data associated with each pattern. The length of each pattern is determined by the number of bars covered by the longest note sequence or automation data.
• Arrangement - The next step is to arrange and repeat pattern blocks in the upper Play List window (see above) along with any controller data and audio clips, such as track length vocals (lower Play List window). This pattern arrangement process allows you, for example, to re-use a 2 bar drum loop throughout the song without the need to enter the basic note data into the sequencer over and over. However, FL Studio is not limited to pattern based sequencing: There is nothing to stop you entering an unused pattern block into the Play List and then entering/playing in song-length data (patterns). In this way FL Studio can be used as a 'track based' sequencer, a pattern based sequencer or a combination of the two.
• Mixing - The sound from the Channel instruments is routed through the Mixer where levels are set and Effects (FX) are added, such as reverberation (reverb), chorus and delays. Almost all aspects of the mix are automatable so fader movements and knob changes can become part of the overall performance. The Mixer is also the place where external audio from a microphone, guitar or synthesizer can be recorded along with the internal instruments. The recorded sound is displayed in the lower part of the Play List as an Audio Clip
• Exporting/Rendering - The final mix is exported from FL Studio to .WAV or MP3 file format by selecting the export option from the file menu in a non-real time process called rendering. Please note that if you want to make an Audio CD you need to render 44.1 kHz WAV files. FL Studio does not burn Audio CD's, you will need to use a 3rd party application for that.

That's it, go make some organized noise! :)