From the course: Learning FL Studio 12

Creating and editing patterns for MIDI - FL Studio Tutorial

From the course: Learning FL Studio 12

Start my 1-month free trial

Creating and editing patterns for MIDI

“

- Patterns are the tool that you will use in FL Studio in order to arrange MIDI and your track. They are by default formed one measure of four beats, or automatically extend depending on how long your MIDI pattern is. You can draw these into the playlist, delete, slice, and cut them up in order to further arrange your track. Let's take a look at how to do this now. As I've mentioned earlier, the pattern selector and new pattern tool is located in the toolbar here. Either right clicking on the pattern one, or pattern selector button, or clicking on this button here, will show all the patterns that you've got available in your project. You could also click here to add a new pattern, which we'll do now, and type in demo, and you can then scroll through by left clicking and dragging up or down. What we'll now do is draw in a demonstration MIDI pattern, so that you can then see how this process works. By going to the piano roll and also in the channel rack, adding a default plugin such as the 3xOsc. We can then select the 3xOsc in the piano roll, and then draw in MIDI patterns using the pencil tool. So for instance I'm just going to draw a demonstration of a MIDI pattern here. And I'm going to re-arrange the length of the notes. (MIDI piano notes) As you could see we've now got a very basic pattern there. The difference between the pencil and the paint tool, is the pencil tool only lets you draw in one note at a time. The paint tool lets you draw in multiple notes by clicking and then holding. And you can also move up or down depending on which one of the paint tools you've got selected. If you select the mono paint tool, you could then left click and drag up and down, and it'll allow you to draw all over the piano roll. You could then also use the delete tool in the toolbar in order to delete some of the MIDI you've already got selected. To do this go up and select the delete tool, and you could then click on any of the MIDI that you've already drawn in in order to delete it. The slice tool allows you to cut through notes. In order to do that simply click on the slice tool, hold down the alt button on your keyboard, left click and drag through the note in order to slice it in half. You can also use the select tool to click and drag, and select all of the MIDI in your MIDI pattern. One other important feature of MIDI patterns in the playlist is that you can make them unique. So that when drawing in multiple patterns, you can edit individual patterns without changing every single pattern of that same type within your project. In order to do this, go up to the playlist by selecting the playlist button at the top in the toolbar, and you'll first of all need to use the paint tool to drag in, click and drag in the demonstration MIDI pattern that we've already got selected. Hovering over and right clicking and then clicking on 'Make Unique' will then select that individual MIDI pattern and make it different from all of the other MIDI patterns that you've already got selected in the playlist. By then double clicking on that specific MIDI pattern, and changing one of the notes, for instance if we drag this note... (MIDI piano note) all the way up here, and then go back into the playlist, you can see how this MIDI pattern is different from these other three here. Using MIDI patterns will become an essential part of your work flow. Using patterns, audio clips and automation successfully, and combining them is what will make your productions really stand out. Make sure that you use all of these tools as much as possible in your own work.

Contents