HomeProduction TipsFL STUDIO 12 Useful Tips and Shortcuts

Unable to drag audio files into FL Studio. Check your User data folder settings are correct. If you see a restricted (no-sign) icon when attempting to drag and drop an audio file into FL Studio from Windows generally indicates you're running FL Studio with Administrative privileges.The problem can only be avoided by running FL Studio with administrative privileges disabled. Use the Zoom Tool. At the top of the Playlist, there is a toolbar with a set of tools.One of these is the Zoom tool.You can use this to zoom out in FL Studio too. Just click the icon, and right-click anywhere in the Playlist. FL Studio 10 - Tempo Change Stretches Audio Clip In Playlist This seems like a basic feature but I haven't been able to figure out how to make it stop. I have an mp3 of a song loaded into the playlist as an audio clip.

Here are some things I’ve picked up in FL Studio over countless hours of music production. Everyone’s workflow is different but you’re likely to find something useful here.

In the example – “Synth Lead C” doesn’t belong among the drum layers! Sort instruments and samples in the step sequencer and mixer. Hold the alt key in combination with the up and down arrow keys when in the step sequencer to move inserts. Hold the Alt key in combination with the left and right keys when in the mixer to move mixer tracks.

When your song projects start getting bigger and better it helps to keep everything organised. In a song you might have lead sounds, bass sounds, drum samples, sound effect samples and automation clips all thrown in. It helps to keep every layer named so you can remember what is what or it’ll quickly become a project that you open and instantly want to discard and move onto the next song (only to repeat in a vicious circle). If you spend time organising a project file you’ll end up being more invested in following through with the track. That’s a good thing! I organise them into groups e.g. lead, bass, drums, sound effects, automation.

It’s one of those things which will slow you down at the start and speed you up in the long run. Get used to using your keyboards function keys in FL Studio to improve your workflow. Here are the shortcuts you should master early on to switch back and forth between windows fast:

F5Toggle Playlist
F6Toggle Step Sequencer
F7Toggle Piano roll
F8Show/hide Sample Browser
F9Show/hide Mixer

In addition to these here are two more shortcuts which are good to know. First; Use the “alt” key when manipulating notes in the Piano Roll. This bypasses the snapping grid you have set and you can also use it to stretch or shorten the end of a note. Second; When you are drawing notes in the Piano Roll the note size will be equal to the previous note drawn or selected. Sometimes this is not desirable. In that case hold shift and draw a note and it’ll automatically be snapped back to the grid ready to be resized as you need it.

This frustrating interface problem can be caused when you undock one of the detachable interface panels (click and drag). This can be quickly fixed by pushing CTRL+SHIFT+H – which reverts everything in FL Studio back to the default view.

In FL Studio, “Click and hold & Special Gesture functions” is enabled by default. It means for instance in Piano Roll if you click and hold a note for a short period of time, you’ll be drawing a slide note instead. If you click and hold the right mouse button in the Playlist, it’ll switch to the Slice tool. Whether you change this setting or not is down to personal preference. If you aren’t a fan of these gesture based functions it’s handy to know you can disable them as so from within FL Studio:

Options > General Settings > uncheck “Click & Hold & special gesture functions”

If you’re frequently using the same effects, synths and samples, set up templates for when you load FL Studio. That way, all of your favorite settings will be loaded from the beginning.

You can set these up by saving any project in: /make-unique-fl-studio-mac.html.

***FL Studio Folder***DataProjectsTemplates

In the image

1 – Step sequencer. I like to use Sylenth1, Massive & FM8 so every project I begin will have these ready. Set this up for yourself and your preferred synths.

2 – Sidechain Channel set up in the mixer – the Fruity Limiter effect added and a kick drum side-chained to this track. By default I have my kick drum linked to mixer track 1. Sylenth, Massive and FM8 are linked to track 2. You can add any number of effects here. You can have a signature synth lead sound with all your reverb/compression/delay/distortion effects added and pre-loaded. Really useful.

3 – VST Plugins – configured to whichever state you need. Their settings will be retained for when you load FL Studio. I have them set to their default initialisation state. New song, new sounds.

Useful FL Studio function to know. Select any pattern or sample in the playlist and then press “select all similar clips”. It’ll highlight every instance of that pattern, or sample, or automation clip etc across the entire playlist. Good for when you want to quickly edit a drum sequence without affecting other parts of the song. e.g. use “select all similar clips” and if necessary use the “make unique” function which creates a new pattern right there – so you can edit on without affecting the original.

Some plugins can cause FL Studio to Crash. One in particular is NI Massive – crashing FL studio whenever it loaded. It was possible to resolve this by deleting the database file located in:

X:Users***your name***AppDataLocalNative InstrumentsMassive

File – NIMassiveDataBase_ul

Moral of the Story – if FL Studio is crashing each time you load up a project or load a certain VST it’s possibly defective. A quick reinstall or removing a file will usually resolve such issues.

Important. It’s possible backups won’t be active by default in FL Studio.

In FL Studio – Options > file settings > Backup autosave > select

This will generate a new (hidden) folder in your FL Studio directory. Backup files are stored inside the “Data” folder.

X:***Program Files***Image-Line***FL Studio Folder***DataBackup

Your backups will be saved here per the preferences you set within FL Studio. If you don’t take the time to sort this out now, you’ll end up setting it up after you lose a project.

When working with automation clips in FL Studio, you can right click any knob or parameter and select “copy value” – and then paste the value into your automation clip for precise automation.

Add a background to FL Studio. I use a black background with a subtle texture. The background I use is below – feel free to download. The more straight forward the background is, the more you can focus your mind and get creative.

Also, in FL Studio general options under animations try “entertain me!” and check the “ultrasmooth” setting for scrolling. It is also worth trying different skins, different view options in the piano roll/step sequencer and different font sizes in the browser. Play with these settings. I don’t use many of the default values.

  1. Use the reverse clip option on any sample to get interesting effects. Especially good for big cymbal crashes and impact sounds – reverse those for awesome power-up / build up effects.
  2. Record portions of your song and then reverse them, stretch them and change the pitch to create unique sound effects.
  3. Make a repeating arpeggiating sequence in the Piano Roll, like ascending triplets and then select the notes. Hold the “alt” key and drag back to make the entire sequence 2x/4x/8x faster. Copy/paste to fill the rest of the measure with those super-fast notes. Surprisingly good way to make amazing sounds.

    Some quick tips to make sequences sound less artificial.

    1. Panning and volume for drums. However you make your drums mix up the panning and volume to make it sound a bit more natural. It’s easy to do in the step sequencer, piano roll, or a drum VST like FPC. “alt+r” will open the randomiser in FL Studio which you can use to quickly add a subtle bit of variation to each note.
    2. Remove some drum hits from your sequence and add some “mistakes” to your melodies. For instance if you have a long sequence of ascending patterns delete a few notes, or move them completely off pitch. If you have a rolling sequence of hi-hat notes, delete some completely.
    3. Use the “Alt” key when manipulating notes in the Piano Roll. This will allow you to stretch or shorten the length of any note which is useful to simulate how a human will play an instrument. For instance when you play guitar, you do not completely let go of the previous note when playing the next.

The original version of FruityLoops (FL, for short) was developed for Image Line by Didier Dambrin in 1997. It was officially released a year later while it was still, reportedly, essentially only a MIDI drum machine.

Now, for those of who-who are awake and preferably sitting the right way, a MIDI drum machine is an electronic tool that creates percussion and rhythms. Drum machines create artificial percussion lines digitally in the absence of an actual drummer, and modern versions can create interesting-sounding and unique mixes on the fly.

Most drum machines even allow users to program their own types of types of rhythms - slow, fast, medium, staccato, etc. - as well as other sounds or prerecorded samples can. These machines significantly influenced the music of the 1980’s and popular artist such as Peter Gabriel, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, and Stevie Wonder have reportedly used them.

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Drum Machines, DAWs, and, Finally, FL Studio for Mac

The drum machine soon evolved to become a software version that could be downloaded for home and personal computer, but, before it could get there, the technology had to undergo one more transformation. The digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device used for recording sound, editing it, and producing complex audio files. Essentially it is a computer and soundboard the is pre-programmed with sound manipulating software.

More advanced than a drum machine, DAWs could be rolled out in a number of configurations, but most had a central sound interface and mixing station attached to the core percussion unit. The idea, of course, was that all of the sound recording and post-production work could take place all in one machine.

Today, DAW hardware is still used in professional studios for the production and recording of music, speech, pre-recorded radio, books-on-tape, and television. But, for the home user, DJ, and casual musician a DAW usually refers to computer software for laptops, PCs, Macs, and even mobile devices, with FL Studio being one of the most well-known.

FL Studio, though, has undergone a number of updates since its introduction 20 years ago, and, on]Ma 22nd of this year it even introduced a native MacOS-compatible version. FL Studio 20 includes many items that the Mac Beta version did not, including support for time signatures, freezing for clips (to allow for processing in the background), new recording options, a smoother workflow, and the ability to have more than one project going at a time.

This long-awaited release came after the application made is original Mac-friendly debut in 2013. But, at that time, the reception was cool at best, reportedly due to errors in the programing language, Delphi, which needed to be completely overhauld to support the 64-bit MacOS running environment.


Download FL Studio for Mac From the Image Line Website

The upshot, though, was that, after the long wait, your FL Studio license would cover the software versions for both your Mac and Windows machines. Moreover, if you owned a license for the PC variety, you could download the Mac version for no additional charge, and projects were now completely compatible with both operating systems, despite third-party add-ons.

You can get the most basic “fruity” version of FL Studio for Mac or PC for $99 on the company’s website, while the pimped out, full version goes for $899 and includes all of the instruments, a boatload of plug-ins, and music samples galore.

Fl studio playlist change clip size mac air

Offering the ability to effortlessly migrate projects between PC and Mac with one license is no paltry thing, and it only improves what was an already intuitive and easy to use editing layout. Plus, the list of features tops what you would find in many DAWS that cost twice as much. So, let’s have a closer look at what FL Studio for Mac really offers.

  • Time signatures support.
  • Adjust the number of measures in a bar for proper viewing.
  • Clip consolidation for easy viewing
  • Playlist arrangements and menu for multiple projects.
  • Picker panel with queued up audio clips.
  • Plugin delay compensation to help support mixer sends.
  • New and Improved mixer menu with FX slots
  • Continuous adjustment while you roll the mouse wheel over the time icon or latency display.
  • Updated Toolbar
  • Graph Editor displays note velocity, pitch, pan, etc.
  • Sampler Channels offer precomputed effects on the fly.

Clearly, version 20 is a beast of an update regardless of the fact that the software now offers support for MacOS. And, with support is for both VST and AU plugins as well as third-party plugins, the Mac version is as robust as the legacy version, but you will also get Image-Lines's lifetime updates plan, which, in an of itself, might be a sound reason to jump aboard the fruity loops bandwagon.

Fl Studio Playlist Change Clip Size Machine

Now, as if all of those reasons were not enough to convince you to download FL Studio for Mac, the fact that you can download it for free might just seal the deal. That’s right! Get a free, non-time restricted version of FL Studio from the Image Line download page and try the software out for as long as you like.

Fl Studio Playlist Change Clip Size Mac Os

The trial version is a complete version of FL Studio 20, and, albeit with some crucial limitations, you’ll have access to all of the plug-ins and features we talked about here. Plus, when you do decide to buy, there is no need to reinstall. Simply download the registration code, and, boom, you are in.


FL Studio Plug-Ins and Third Party Software

Fl Studio Playlist Change Clip Size Mac Desktop

Much like Mac’s proprietary Final Cut, when you purchase FL Studio for Mac, you’ll have access to many plug-ins and the option to download and install a vast array of third-party software. Of course, you can buy many of these a la carte off from the Image Line website, but let's take a look at a few in order to see what you are actually getting when you buy the premium version of FL Studio for Mac.

  • FX Bundle
  • Gol’s Bundle
  • Maxx Bundle
  • Synth Bundle
  • Value Bundle

Keep in mind that Image line is offering FL Studio with all bundles for $899.00, while they estimate the value of their software bundles to be at $707.50. If you factor in a lifetime of updates, you are in for deep discounts indeed, although, curiously, we noted that if you buy the 99 dollar version and then add in the $708 dollars (rounding up) of plug-ins afterward, it will only cost $808.

We guess that may be where the audio recording feature comes in? Nevertheless, there still seems to be some added value there, and, plus the addition of third-party software makes the FL Studio product even more robust. Again, this alternative software are available at a la carte from the Image Line website and are not included in any of the FL Studio for Mac bundles.

Regarding third-party software, Image-Line has created an extensive links page with resources that include a Knowledge Base, a FL Studio Help Page, YouTube Videos, a Song Exchange, and content libraries. Find topics like Sample Fusion, where you can download a vast number of free samples, FPC kits, and FL Keys libraries, and you will also enjoy links to recognized partners which include the following:

  • KVR, a site for plugin reviews, news, and links to plugins
  • ASIO4ALL - a site offering 3rd-party device drivers for device troubleshooting.
  • The Freesound Project - one of the world’s largest databases containing Creative Commons licensed sounds.
  • LibriVox - a site full of public domain recordings and modulations.

Please note, though, that in order access many of these resources, you must first create an account here. Upon successful login, you can read posts, download files, access the knowledge base and even post in the forum.


FL Studio for Mac Wrap-up

After hearing about the history, the cross-compatibility, the added value, the resources, and the intuitive, user-friendly design, you might still be on the fence about FL Studio, and, to be fair, there are competitors out there.

However, consider that FL Studio also offers mobile versions of their software for editing on the go on your iPad or Android device. And the mobile version doesn’t skimp on features, either. You can use high-quality synthesizers and samples, the Step Sequencer, for fast percussion programming, and Touch Controllers with configurable virtual piano-keyboard and drum pads.

Plus, you will get all of the MIDI controls, the ability to live record sound, and a high-performance audio engine with a mixer and effects, like Auto Ducker, Piano Roll, Chorus, Limiter, Compressor, Distortion, Equalizer, Reverb, Flanger, and more.

Moreover, you’ll be able to export formats like WAV, MP3, and AAC, as well as sync to compatible devices and share with variously sized screens. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and download FL studio for Mac today.