Hello future music producers, welcome to this video! I am showing you the
newest Fruity Loops Studio 11 by ImageLine.
In case you find any mistake in pronunciation, please leave feedback in
comments!
First of all, before starting, keep in mind that the usual buttons to close,
minimize or maximize the software are not in the top right corner as usual.
Here they are set on the top left corner, right next to the FLSTUDIO title
you see.
Let's see how the workspace is organized. On top you have the Tool Bar,
that contains all the info related to your project, and the main buttons of
the player. You have the time, the play and stop buttons, the output
waveform shown, volume and pitch more on the left, and the CPU Load next to
the waveform graph. You can switch between the Bar and the Minute display
by clicking next to time. On the right there are other quick options to open
and close windows. The Tool Bar is made in pieces, that you can move as you
want by dragging them. On the left, there is the Browser, that has the list
of all effects and options available, plus some projects saved and samples
ready. The rest of your big and empty workspace will be used to welcome
windows that you are going to open and to close while making your tracks,
and so it is made wide enough to work inside.
How is a project composed in FL? A basic music project is composed by
different parts called Patterns. Each pattern is a complex sum of music
and sound effects, repeated and set according to how you created such
pattern. Each single pattern is composed by channels, that is a single kind
of sound, that composes the single row of the pattern. This window, that
describes each pattern, with all the list of channels that are inside,
is called Step Sequencer.
There are other windows to keep in mind. You can open and close them fast
by going on the right of your Tool Bar on top. Each button is related to a
main window of FL11, such as the Mixer, the Playlist or the Piano Roll. In
case you don't know what a button or an option does, always read below the
Options bar. In this slot it is explained the function of the button or
action where your pointer is. This is very useful to learn fast the
software meanwhile.
Beside the Step Sequencer and the Browser, you have the Playlist, that
describes your project in full. Here you can see how the patterns are put
inside the tracks and their order. Then you have the Piano Roll, that is
used to edit your channel deeper than with the Step Sequencer. The Piano
Roll can change the notes and the melody associated to a channel, whereas
the Step Sequencer can just make a sequence, where a channel is turned on
and off, with a few editings.
To create a new project, go to File and then to New. In the future, while
working, remember to save often. The first time you save, you will save
through Save As... to insert name and location for the project. FL Studio
projects are saved as .flp. This doesn't mean to render the soundtrack: it
is the project that it is saved, with all its inner structure inside, with
patterns and channels.
By default, your new project has always four channels, on one pattern
called Pattern 1. When you work on your track, you usually create each part
through patterns, defining their single channels and then you put them
together using the Playlist. Notice that each pattern can be either a beat
part or a melody part. It is simply a group of channels played together.
The kind of these channels, then, can be anything.
It is important to distinguish each pattern. To rename them, just click on
the down arrow next to the name of the pattern. The new option will let you
rename the pattern, delete or clone it. On the left, you can choose which
pattern to open if you have more than one. Set the new name of the pattern
that will remind you the channels contained.
Let's now create a new random pattern. You can do this fast by clicking on
the plus next to the pattern name. Or you can go to an upper pattern number
by dragging the number next to PAT on top. This is used to open the
patterns created as well.
By default a new pattern is composed by four beat channels ready, whose
name is shown in the rectangles on the left. You can right start to create
your basic beat by clicking on the small rectangles shown. To make the
channel on, on a point, just click on a rectangle to make it active.
Right-click on such to make it off instead. Use the Play button on top to
hear the pattern. Or you can do this fast by pressing Space from your
keyboard. The channels that are played in an instant will show a small
light on the rectangles put active in the pattern. Closer to the name, it is
shown the intensity of the channel, through the filling made on the right.
Notice the basic configuration used on channels. Each music beat is
composed by four steps, where each step is a rectangle turned on or off.
The color changes between two different beats. The total length of the
pattern is its bar length. You can change the beats per bar in each pattern
by changing the number in the top left corner of the window, just click and
drag up and down. Notice that the beats per minute is a property of a
single pattern. So a different pattern won't have the same beats per
minute set.
You can further edit the pattern being played, and this is pretty useful to
create the right pattern you are looking for. The small green circles on
the left state that the related channels are on and active. If you click on
a circle, this will be muted, and so you won't hear the related channel in
output. Click once again to make the channel active again. On the right of
these circles you have two knobs. The first one is used to adjust the
panning, which sets the balance between the left and the right stereo
channels. The second one is the volume, so the intensity of such channel
considered.
You can edit a listed channel by clicking on its name. This will open a new
window called Channel Settings. This opens when a channel is made by a
single sample. In case your channel is made through a device generator,
this will be opened instead of the Channel Settings window. Keep this in
mind.
In Channel Settings you personalize your channel fully and see its sound
waveform at the bottom. You can eventually delete, rename or change color
by right-clicking on the channel name interested.
You can import other channels very easily. Just drag any music format file
to add it in your pattern through a new channel, with the name of the file
added itself.
In many cases it can happen to have a sample that has a longer duration in
time than the pattern itself, if you don't increase its beats per minute,
or if you make it played in very close instants of time. In this case you
risk to play the same sample more than once and at the same time, which
may cause saturation. Make sure that the pattern and the instants of time
where the sample starts playing are long enough to avoid this.
So use the Pause button to stop playing the channels. But you will listen
to them until they just finish their natural duration.
Moreover, if you don't want the sample to be played in loop, remember to go
to the Channel Settings window and turn off the Use Loop Points button
under the section Loop. In this way the sample is played just once, like a
sample beat.
You can edit much deeper these channels. If you are interested, have a look
in the video dedicated to editing in this show.
You can change volume and pitch on the whole project by using the two bars
next to the main options. These will be applied on any pattern and any
channel. Let's have a general overlook about the Browser window.
Current Project section describes very well the status of your project. Use
History to undo actions already done in the past, by going backwards.
Patterns section lists the full patterns used in your project. Click on
them to open. Effect section lists all the effects added and used in your
project. Recent files lists the recent effects, samples or projects that
you used previously.
Use Channel Presets to find the channel to add in your opened pattern. Drag
it onto your pattern to add it inside and hear it.
Projects section offers a whole project done by someone else. In this case
right-click on one and then go to Open to open it. You won't use this while
you are creating your personal project.
There are many samples ready to use that you can add in your pattern in
IL Shared Data, Impulses and Misc sections. Click once on a sample to hear
it. In Packs section you can add instrumental music: a guitar track, a drum
beat, and so on.
If you want to learn how to make beats in FL11, watch the next video of
this show.
In Speech section you can add words spoken and conversations.
In case you installed plugins, you will use the Plugin Database and the
Plugin Presets as well. The first one shows you all the single windows that
add a particular effect to your song. The second one lists the effect
presets ready to be used, and such presets are made right through the
windows stored in the Database section.
If you don't know, a plugin, also called VST, is like a second software
integrated in FL Studio, right to add new effects and performances. Some of
them are free, some others on payment.
When patterns are done, or you want to try them all together, you have to
work in the Playlist window. Open it through the buttons in the Tool Bar
above. The Playlist is your project, described through different tracks on
the left and through the timeline on top, measured in bars. So that each
small column represents a beat. It is this the space that will have your
patterns placed in time and the track you prefer to make your song.
Click on the small arrow next to the Playlist to select the proper pattern.
All the buttons on the left top corner lets you manage all the song
creation. The brush button spreads the pattern selected through the
timeline.
The pencil button does just the same, although it adds just one pattern per
click. Patterns added in a playlist's track show their own structure inside.
Whenever in pencil or brush mode, you can move and set the length of each
pattern added by dragging. To delete the pattern added, just right-click.
If you want to remove lots of them, just hold the right-click and go on
deleting by approaching the pointer on them. The patterns selection is made
by holding CTRL down and dragging the area in orange color. All that falls
inside this area will be selected.
You can make copies of a pattern by holding Shift down and dragging.
Use the loudspeaker with a cross to mute the patterns, and the two arrows
to add a phase shift inside each pattern. You can mute a single track by
clicking on the green circle on the track interested. The loudspeaker
without any cross lets you hear the single pattern while holding your click.
Then use the Slice button to split a pattern in two or more parts. Use the
Lens button to zoom in and out the playlist. Zoom out by holding CTRL down
or right-clicking.
You can edit the track size as you want most.
You can create Loop Regions too. Right-click and drag on the timeline. This
will create a red area that will be repeated on and on if the song is
played. The time pointer will just move along this Loop Region.
So now you create your song fine! Play the playlist by clicking on the
green button next to Playlist or simply press Space.
Through the Tool Bar you can well distinguish the Playlist and the Patterns
management. Select between PAT and SONG to choose to play the Pattern or
the whole Playlist respectively. When playing the pattern, you can choose
which pattern to play by editing the number next to PAT. Just click and
drag the mouse on such number.
The TEMPO display is very important here. TEMPO is always measured in Beats
Per Minute, or BPM, and rules the basic speed rate used. So an higher
TEMPO, will make all played faster, and viceversa, you can make all shorter
by decreasing TEMPO.
Now, you just have to render your tracks! Go to File and to Export... and
select .mp3 or .wav formats. You will render the single pattern or the full
song depending on which playing mode is active. You will render the song if
SONG light is on. Otherwise, you will render the pattern opened. To render
just a part of your playlist, simply create a Loop Region first and then
export.
That's all for now! If you want to get into FL Studio 11 deeper, check our
videos in this show! Thanks for watching!