FL Studio - the path of the Jedi (Part 1).
Once you returned home, having heard a lot of all kinds of electronic music that was on the player, you decided that it was time to give this world a couple of hits too. Naturally, before buying expensive equipment and plunging into the sphere of professional music production, you just want, for fun, to try and "touch", but what is the creation of electronic music on a computer ...
In this series of articles, I want to highlight the process of creating music in FL Studio.
Anyone who is interested in how to please friends and acquaintances with a new work of your art, please under the cat.
')
First you need a demo version of FL Studio, which you can download from here (97.6 MB), a computer of average performance, some free time and headphones, in order not to kill your neighbors, with your own experiments with sound.
The music track in FL Studio is made up of fragments called pattern ( patterns and). Each such pattern consists of a sequence of notes assigned to one or several channels ( channels ). The size of the pattern is a multiple of the quarter, the minimum size of the pattern is one quarter. Tacts in FL Studio are 4/4 in size by default (in the project settings you can change the size) and in the pattern editor the bars are separated by lighter grid lines and are signed on top by numbers in order. The pattern consists of notes, the tone of which lies within 10 octaves, the minimum duration of a note is one hundred twenty-eighth.
The general rule to change the position of a regulator is to click on it with the left mouse button and without releasing the button move the mouse down to decrease or up to add. You can also change the position of the mouse roller when the cursor is over the slider.
The interface looks like this (only the most important is commented on the first stage of development).
Step Sequencer contains a list of channels and is used to edit patterns. The number of the pattern being edited is displayed on top (see the first screenshot), and it is also highlighted in orange in the playlist.
Each line is one channel, this channel can be either a synthesizer (a channel that generates sound based on specified notes), or a sampler (a channel that uses ready-made sounds (samples)).
The screenshot shows that in order to make a particular note sound, you need to click on the corresponding rectangle, in order to determine the tone of the note, open a window with keys and select the desired one, you can also change the note parameters.
In order to add a new channel, select the Channels - Add one ... menu item, then select the desired channel in the drop-down list.
You can also clone or delete selected channels. The choice is made by right clicking on the gray box to the right of the channel name. Left click selects / deselects all channels at once.
To move the channel up / down, hold the ALT key with the UP / DOWN arrow. You can also move several dedicated channels simultaneously.
Selected channels can be combined into a group, for this there is a menu item Channels - Group selected.
Playlist is used to edit the track as a whole. It consists of two parts, the first one contains the list of patterns of this project, the second one contains automation clips (Automation Clips) and audio clips (Audio Clips), and you can also insert patterns here.
To draw a pattern, click the left mouse button on the right place (in pencil or brush mode, of course); to delete a pattern, click the right button on it.
To select it, it is not necessary to switch the tool, just hold down the CTRL key, and you can also hold down the SHIFT key to cut something.
To select the entire line of this pattern, just click on the small rectangle to the right of its name.
Patterns as well as a channel can be moved, cloned and deleted. One by one or several at once (the commands for this are in the context menu of the pattern or the playlist menu in the item, Patterns).
To merge several patterns into one, select them and in the context menu select Merge selected .
To combine several “rectangles” of one pattern into one, select the Flatten selected in the context menu.
To select the entire line of this pattern, just click on the small rectangle to the right of its name.
About the snap mode to the grid, if enabled, then moving the elements will snap to the grid. It may be:
Directly ringtone editor. The window consists of a toolbar similar to the one in the playlist, the left staff of notes, the input window for notes in the center and the parameters window from below.
The logic is simple, one rectangle - one note, the length of the rectangle - the duration of the note.
Most operations are performed in the same way as in the playlist, only to copy and move the selection you must hold SHIFT.
To increase the duration, just pull the right edge of the note, but if CAPSLOCK is turned on on the keyboard, you can also change the size of the right edge.
In addition, in the CAPSLOCK mode, when the size of the selected area changes, it will change as a whole, if it is off, only the size of the notes will change.
Snap to the grid also acts as in the playlist.
The main instrument of information in the "fruit".
Consists mainly of channels. Each mixer channel has a stack capable of including up to 8 effects. The effects only transform the sound without affecting the sound path.
You can conveniently use the keyboard to control the mixer. Show / hide mixer:. In mixer mode: S - solo the channel. Snap a tool to a free mixer channel: CTRL + L.
There are 3 types of channels:
In order to more clearly understand the principle of sound routing, it is worth looking at the figure below.
Each normal channel receives either sound from a synthesizer / sampler or from another channel (the volume level at the input is selected by the knob on this channel), the output goes on a common line to the master channel. The send channel differs from the usual one only in that only the outputs from other channels come to it.
To bind a channel to a mixer track, in the FX window of the Channel Settings window, select the number of the desired track, or in the mixer, right-click on the desired track, execute Link Selected Channels - To this track (or CTRL + L on the keyboard). In the latter case, all selected channels will become associated with this track. If you perform Link Selected Channels - Starting from this track (SHIFT + CTRL + L), then the selected channels will be linked in order to each track starting from the selected one.
Local browser of all. Yes, I was not mistaken in this window contains everything that is in FL and in your project in particular. The most interesting branches:
Channel settings. For a start, it is enough to know that in the upper part there are volume, balance and pitch controls, next to which the pitch control length is adjusted in octaves. To the right of the window is the FX number in which corresponds to the track of the mixer to which this channel is attached.
Below are several tabs. I will try to explain their purpose in part two.
So. I read a lot and after watching the pictures I want to write something already.
Create a new project using a ready-made trance template. To do this, run File - New from template - Genere - Trance .
In the first pattern we will make a shock part:
Set the playback mode to pat (yellow square on top) and click on Play or on the spacebar. We listen. Stop playback by pressing the spacebar or Stop above it again.
In the second pattern we will make a bass part. Open the Piano Roll for the channel Trance Bass (right click on the name of the channel Trance Bass - Piano roll). We draw there something like this:
In the third pattern there will also be a bass part. Open the Piano Roll for the channel Trance Bass and draw:
In the third and fourth patterns we will create a small melody:
Now open the playlist and place the patterns somehow.
Set the play mode to song (the whole song). We listen. We are happy.
What happened with me is taken here:
Fl Studio project
Render MP3 (128kbps)
Render MP3 (320kbps)
Of course, the work on the track does not end, but the course of the young fighter of the musical front has been completed.
To be continued ...
UPD: I will accept comments and suggestions on what you would like to see in the following articles.
In this series of articles, I want to highlight the process of creating music in FL Studio.
Anyone who is interested in how to please friends and acquaintances with a new work of your art, please under the cat.
')
Introduction
First you need a demo version of FL Studio, which you can download from here (97.6 MB), a computer of average performance, some free time and headphones, in order not to kill your neighbors, with your own experiments with sound.
The music track in FL Studio is made up of fragments called pattern ( patterns and). Each such pattern consists of a sequence of notes assigned to one or several channels ( channels ). The size of the pattern is a multiple of the quarter, the minimum size of the pattern is one quarter. Tacts in FL Studio are 4/4 in size by default (in the project settings you can change the size) and in the pattern editor the bars are separated by lighter grid lines and are signed on top by numbers in order. The pattern consists of notes, the tone of which lies within 10 octaves, the minimum duration of a note is one hundred twenty-eighth.
FL Studio interface
The general rule to change the position of a regulator is to click on it with the left mouse button and without releasing the button move the mouse down to decrease or up to add. You can also change the position of the mouse roller when the cursor is over the slider.
The interface looks like this (only the most important is commented on the first stage of development).
Step sequencer
Step Sequencer contains a list of channels and is used to edit patterns. The number of the pattern being edited is displayed on top (see the first screenshot), and it is also highlighted in orange in the playlist.
Each line is one channel, this channel can be either a synthesizer (a channel that generates sound based on specified notes), or a sampler (a channel that uses ready-made sounds (samples)).
The screenshot shows that in order to make a particular note sound, you need to click on the corresponding rectangle, in order to determine the tone of the note, open a window with keys and select the desired one, you can also change the note parameters.
In order to add a new channel, select the Channels - Add one ... menu item, then select the desired channel in the drop-down list.
You can also clone or delete selected channels. The choice is made by right clicking on the gray box to the right of the channel name. Left click selects / deselects all channels at once.
To move the channel up / down, hold the ALT key with the UP / DOWN arrow. You can also move several dedicated channels simultaneously.
Selected channels can be combined into a group, for this there is a menu item Channels - Group selected.
Playlist
Playlist is used to edit the track as a whole. It consists of two parts, the first one contains the list of patterns of this project, the second one contains automation clips (Automation Clips) and audio clips (Audio Clips), and you can also insert patterns here.
To draw a pattern, click the left mouse button on the right place (in pencil or brush mode, of course); to delete a pattern, click the right button on it.
To select it, it is not necessary to switch the tool, just hold down the CTRL key, and you can also hold down the SHIFT key to cut something.
To select the entire line of this pattern, just click on the small rectangle to the right of its name.
Patterns as well as a channel can be moved, cloned and deleted. One by one or several at once (the commands for this are in the context menu of the pattern or the playlist menu in the item, Patterns).
To merge several patterns into one, select them and in the context menu select Merge selected .
To combine several “rectangles” of one pattern into one, select the Flatten selected in the context menu.
To select the entire line of this pattern, just click on the small rectangle to the right of its name.
About the snap mode to the grid, if enabled, then moving the elements will snap to the grid. It may be:
- Main - the binding is made in accordance with the global binding selected from above;
- Line - binding to the grid lines;
- Cell - binding to the grid cells;
- (none) - disable binding;
- 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 step — snapping to 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 of the grid step, respectively;
- Step - binding to the whole grid step
- 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 beat - snapping to 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2 of a bit (a bit is one quarter) respectively;
- Beat - bind to the whole bit.
- Bar - binding to the beat.
Piano roll
Directly ringtone editor. The window consists of a toolbar similar to the one in the playlist, the left staff of notes, the input window for notes in the center and the parameters window from below.
The logic is simple, one rectangle - one note, the length of the rectangle - the duration of the note.
Most operations are performed in the same way as in the playlist, only to copy and move the selection you must hold SHIFT.
To increase the duration, just pull the right edge of the note, but if CAPSLOCK is turned on on the keyboard, you can also change the size of the right edge.
In addition, in the CAPSLOCK mode, when the size of the selected area changes, it will change as a whole, if it is off, only the size of the notes will change.
Snap to the grid also acts as in the playlist.
Mixer
The main instrument of information in the "fruit".
Consists mainly of channels. Each mixer channel has a stack capable of including up to 8 effects. The effects only transform the sound without affecting the sound path.
You can conveniently use the keyboard to control the mixer. Show / hide mixer:. In mixer mode: S - solo the channel. Snap a tool to a free mixer channel: CTRL + L.
There are 3 types of channels:
- Master - Shared channel, all send and insert tracks pass through it and only then to the output.
- Insert - Conventional channels (there are 64 of such on the mixer), usually associated with some kind of generator or sampler.
- Send - reduced channels (4 pieces).
In order to more clearly understand the principle of sound routing, it is worth looking at the figure below.
Each normal channel receives either sound from a synthesizer / sampler or from another channel (the volume level at the input is selected by the knob on this channel), the output goes on a common line to the master channel. The send channel differs from the usual one only in that only the outputs from other channels come to it.
To bind a channel to a mixer track, in the FX window of the Channel Settings window, select the number of the desired track, or in the mixer, right-click on the desired track, execute Link Selected Channels - To this track (or CTRL + L on the keyboard). In the latter case, all selected channels will become associated with this track. If you perform Link Selected Channels - Starting from this track (SHIFT + CTRL + L), then the selected channels will be linked in order to each track starting from the selected one.
Browser
Local browser of all. Yes, I was not mistaken in this window contains everything that is in FL and in your project in particular. The most interesting branches:
- Channel presets - saved channel settings. Here you can find a bunch of customized generators.
- Current Project - section of the current project. Here is a history of actions and what consists of proket, clips, channels effects.
- Mixer Presets - settings for mixer tracks.
- Packs - sample banks.
- Projects - projects.
Channel settings
Channel settings. For a start, it is enough to know that in the upper part there are volume, balance and pitch controls, next to which the pitch control length is adjusted in octaves. To the right of the window is the FX number in which corresponds to the track of the mixer to which this channel is attached.
Below are several tabs. I will try to explain their purpose in part two.
Right off the bat
So. I read a lot and after watching the pictures I want to write something already.
Create a new project using a ready-made trance template. To do this, run File - New from template - Genere - Trance .
In the first pattern we will make a shock part:
Set the playback mode to pat (yellow square on top) and click on Play or on the spacebar. We listen. Stop playback by pressing the spacebar or Stop above it again.
In the second pattern we will make a bass part. Open the Piano Roll for the channel Trance Bass (right click on the name of the channel Trance Bass - Piano roll). We draw there something like this:
In the third pattern there will also be a bass part. Open the Piano Roll for the channel Trance Bass and draw:
In the third and fourth patterns we will create a small melody:
Now open the playlist and place the patterns somehow.
Set the play mode to song (the whole song). We listen. We are happy.
What happened with me is taken here:
Fl Studio project
Render MP3 (128kbps)
Render MP3 (320kbps)
Of course, the work on the track does not end, but the course of the young fighter of the musical front has been completed.
To be continued ...
UPD: I will accept comments and suggestions on what you would like to see in the following articles.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/53124/
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