FL STUDIO BASICS

This section covers the FL Studio desktop and basic workflow. FL Studio allows you to load instruments and samples, play these live or manually enter the note data, record external sounds (from a microphone for example) and play the whole mix back through the mixer (adding effects). The completed project can be saved to a .flp or .zip and/or exported (rendered) to .wav, .mp3 or .ogg audio.

This section covers:

WAVE EDITOR / RECORDER Noise Removal Tool The Noise Removal Tool can independently remove background noise (tonal or broadband) from a sample, repair clipped samples and remove clicks from samples. Any or all these denoise functions can be performed in a single pass. The modules are activated by the button in front of each section label.

• The main windows.
• Adding instruments to a project.
• Composing & sequencing.
• Arranging & editing songs.
• Mixing & levels.
• Exporting audio & saving.

After the above, we also recommend you watch the FL Studio Getting Started YouTube playlist.

Main Windows

The FL Studio desktop is based on a number of windows, most of these are movable (with overlap), resizable, zoomable and switchable so if a window isn't visible open it using the Shortcut toolbar (or the function keys as noted in brackets). The main windows involved in FL Studio music creation are -Channel Rack (F6),Piano roll (F7).Mixer (F9) andPlaylist (F5).The Browser (Alt+F8) is used to access audio files, plugins & presets (see the File setting options for adding folders elsewhere on your computer to the Browser). NOTE: If you ever need to reset the position of all windows to their default use (Ctrl+Shift+H) or see the View menu options.

Workflow

Once you have mastered the FL Studio interface, the next step is to learn the procedure for creating music - the FL Studio 'workflow'. The typical steps making a track are outlined below:

1. Instruments

The Channel Rack holds instruments (plugins) that create sound and internal generators that control automation. Every pattern has access to all instruments in the rack. So, all patterns have access to all instruments in the Channel Rack. Patterns are not limited to a single instrument as they are in most other sequencers. Music data can come in the form of Step sequences and Piano roll scores. The height of the Channel Rack will change dynamically as you add and remove plugins. The Step Sequencer, ( Video Here) is a pattern-based grid sequencer ideal for creating drum loops when Channels are loaded with the native Sampler, that holds a single percussion sample per Channel.

• Instruments - Instrument plugins make the sounds used in a song and are loaded in the Channel Rack. In thescreen-shot above, the instrument interfaces are minimized and can be accessed by Left-clicking on the Channel buttons. Instruments generally fall into two types, software synthesizers that create audio using an internal 'synthesis engine' or sample players that play back 'audio recordings' such as drum loops, percussion samples or instrument samples.
  • There are several ways to load a new instrument, the first two below will auto-name and auto-route the instrument to the Mixer track:
    • Load plugins from the plugin picker - Open the Plugin Picker (F8) then drag-and-drop a plugin on the desired Playlist Track header (the area at the start of the Playlist lane). The Playlist Track and first empty Mixer track will be auto-named and plugin routed to that Mixer track. You can also double-click an instrument plugin in the Picker OR drag it to the Channel Rack and the instrument will be routed to the Master Mixer track.
    • Load plugins from the Browser - Drag a plugin preset or samples/loops from the Browser to a Mixer track. The Mixer track will be auto-named and plugin routed to that Mixer track. You can also drop it on the Channel Rack and the instrument will be routed to the Master Mixer track.
    • + - Use the Add channel button at the bottom of the Channel Rack. The instrument will be routed to the Master Mixer track.
    • Add menu - Use the Add menu.
    • Replace an existing instrument channel - Right-Click on a Channel button and select 'Replace >' from the pop-up context menu.
  • In the case of samples & loops you can also drag these from the Browser to the Playlist (see below). When you drag a sample to the Playlist anAudio Clip instrument is automatically added to the Channel window. Alternatively you can Right-Click the sample in the Browser and 'send' it to one of the instruments in the pop-up list.
  • Add your own folders to the Browser with the F10 >File settings dialog.
  • To open an instrument interface Left-click on the Channel button.
  • Think of the Channel window as a rack of synthesizer/sampler modules that can be routed to any one of the 99 Mixer Tracks using the Channel settings FX (Mixer Track Selector).

2. Composing & sequencing

• Composing - Musical notes and chords can be played live via a controller keyboard or entered manually in thePiano roll (Right-Click the Channel buttons to open the Piano roll) OR use the default Step Sequencer totrigger percussion samples. There is a Step Recording option on the Shortcut icons too.
  • When editing patterns, make sure you are in Pattern Mode so that when you press play the currently selected pattern is played.
  • To the right of each instrument button in the Channel window is either a step-sequencer display (rows of squares) or a mini-preview of a Piano roll (green lines).
  • Step Sequencers and Piano rolls are interchangeable for each Channel.
  • New instruments start with an empty Step Sequencer pattern by default. Step Sequencers and Piano rolls hold the note data onlyfor the instrument channel they are associated with.
  • Step-sequencer 'steps' are activated by by Left-clicking the squares to turn them on, or Right-Clicking to turn them off (great for percussion programming).
  • To open an existingPiano roll, Left-click directly on the mini-preview window.

  • Changing patterns - Left-click hold and slide up/down on the Pattern Selector (shown above) to change the pattern number and work on a new pattern.

  • Up to 999 unique patterns can be created. The complete stack of channel instruments and their Step sequence/Piano roll data is a single pattern. In the example above,Pattern '1' consists of a Harmor Channel being played by a Piano roll and a Step Sequence Hat Channel.In the example below Pattern 2 consists only of step-sequence data playing the Kick & Hat channels.
  • As you step through the patterns with the Pattern Selector, the appearance of the channel window will change to reflect the note dataassociated with each pattern.
  • The length of each pattern can vary and is determined by the number of bars spanned by the longest data in any one of the channels.
  • Piano rolls may be of any length. The 'LCD' window showing '--' in the top left corner of the Channel window changes the number of Steps in the pattern (4 to 64 are possible).

3. Arranging & editing

The Playlist sequences all the elements of the project that play to make the final song. The Playlist window is a stack of multi-purpose 'Clip Tracks' that can host Patterns Clips, Audio Clips and Automation Clips. Unlike most other sequencers, the Playlist tracks are not bound to any one instrument, audio recording or even Clip type. You can put any Clip type anywhere and even overlay Clips. Think of Clips as a little like notes in the Piano roll. When the play-head reaches a Clip, FL Studio plays whatever the Clip instructs it to do.

• Arranging - A handy tool to use when arranging is the Picker Panel (shown above). Use this to select, or drag and drop, Patterns, Audio and Automation Clips into the Playlist. It's also great for managing content, allowing you to group rename and color Clips.
  • Arranging with 'Producer edition' - Use the Playlist to hold three types of data, use the Clip source selector (shown below) to select:
    • Pattern Clips (notes) - Patterns generally hold note data for sequencing Plugin instruments, although they can also containAutomation Event data.
    • Audio Clips (audio/loops/samples) - If an Audio Clip already exists, it can be selected from the 'Clip source selector', otherwise you can drag sample/loop/audio filesfrom the Browser directly into the Playlist. Add your own folders to the Browser with the F10 >File settings dialog.
    • Automation Clips (control movements) - Automation Clips move knobs and controls on the FL Studio interface and plugins.To create an Automation Clip Right-Click on an interface control and select 'Create automation clip'.
  • Arranging with 'Fruity Edition' - that only has access to the Pattern Clip type that holds note data from Stepsequences or Piano rolls &Event Automation. The length of a Pattern Clip will be determined by the length of the data in it, you are not restricted.
    • Audio - Since Audio Clips are not available in Fruity Edition, to insert track-length audio you can trigger aSampler Channel from a Pattern using the Piano roll to control the duration of the sample. The note C5 will play the audio at the original pitch.
  • An alternative Clip selection method is to Right-Click a tab of the Playlist Clip Focus selector to show Clips of the desired category.
  • Once a Clip is selected, select Draw (Pencil) or Paint (Brush) mode Left-click on a blank area of the Playlist. Dragging in Paint mode will repeat the Clip as you drag horizontally.
  • Once placed, Pattern Clips can be clicked + dragged around (horizontally or vertically) by the name-bar that runs along the top of the clip. The way the clip moves will depend on the Playlistsnap settingsand zoom level.
  • The Playlist Clip Tracks can be named, colored, moved up/down or muted. These functions are accessed by Right-Clicking on the Name area at the start of each track.
  • You can place any Pattern Clip in any Clip Track, or any number of different clips in the same track. Clip tracks are just universal holding lanes for any and all data types.
  • Playback - Make sure you are in Song Mode so that the patterns are played from the Playlist. Otherwise, you will play only the selected pattern. There are Play buttons on thetop of the Channel window and Playlist, so you can also initiate a Pattern or Playlist play-back that way.
  • FL Studio is not limited to pattern-based sequencing, you can also enter an unused Pattern Clip into the Playlist and play song-length data (patterns). Thus, FL Studio has the flexibility of beingeither a 'track-based' sequencer, a 'pattern-based' sequencer, or a combination of the two.

4. Mixing

The Channel Rack shows a Channel button for each instrument. The audio from each Channel is sent to one of the Mixer Tracks for effects processing and level mixing. Set the destination Mixer track from the selector to the left side of the Channel Button. The same selector is also available from the Instrument Channel Settings under the Channel Settings icon. Playlist Clip Tracks are not bound to Mixer tracks, rather Channel Rack to Mixer routing decides the Mixer track/s that are used. So Instrument Channels are bound to Mixer tracks, not Playlist tracks. For example, a single Pattern Clip on a single Playlist track, could trigger every Channel Rack instrument, and so all Mixer tracks if they were routed accordingly. If you want to simulate 'traditional' sequencer workflow: Route each Instrument to a separate Mixer track. Use one Instrument Channel per Pattern Clip and use one song-length Pattern Clip per Playlist track.

• Mixing - Sound from the instrument channels is routed to the Mixer using the Channel settings Mixer TRACK send (as shown above). Use the Mixer to set levels and add Effects (FX) such as reverberation (reverb), chorus and delay.
  • See the page Levels, Mixing & Clipping for more detailed Mixing advice, and in particular the section Making tracks louder! (and good) for some tips on getting a great 'commercial' sound.
  • Almost all aspects of mixing are automatable, so fader movements and knob changes become part of the overall performance.
  • The Mixer is also the place where external audio from a microphone, guitar or synthesizer can be recordedalong with the internal instruments.
  • The recorded sound is displayed in the Playlist as an Audio Clip.

• NOTE:Routing Instrument Channels to Mixer tracks - The most efficient way to route one or more Channels to Mixer tracks is to:
  • 1. Left or Right-Click the Channel Selector LED's to the right side of each Instrument Channel you want to route (Right-Clicking allows multiple selections).
  • 2. Right-Click the target Mixer track and select 'Link selected channels > to this track' from the pop-up menu. OR use 'Link selected channels > starting from this track' to assignmultiple Channels to multiple Mixer tracks.

5. Exporting audio

• Exporting/Rendering - The final mix is exported from FL Studio to a .wav, .mp3 or .ogg fileformat by selecting the export option from the file menu in a non-real time process called rendering.
  • CD? If you want to make an Audio CD you need to render to 16-Bit, 44.1 kHz .wav files. FL Studio does not burn audio CDs so you will needto use a 3rd party Audio CD burning application.

That's it, go make some organized noise!

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We’ve all experienced it—the errant hum, buzz or noise getting into our signal chain and making our lives difficult. There are no ‘magic wands’ to wave in every situation, so we’re going to look at several possible causes and solutions, as well as going over best practices to prevent noise in the studio. The practice of eliminating noise in the studio is an art in itself—we’ll cover the most common situations and, hopefully, give you the knowledge you need to understand how best to solve your particular issues.

Do You Have The Power?

One of the most common causes of hum or other noise is improper grounding, including using ungrounded outlets for gear that requires a ground by way of a 3 prong to 2 prong ‘cheater’ adapter. Please do not use these—they are a potential hazard and, as they say, it’s always fun until someone gets and eye poked out or, in this case, electrocuted. If the wiring in your studio was installed before 1969, it’s likely that you only have these 2 prong, ungrounded outlets. There is only ONE safe way to use these outlets with grounded equipment—you need to hire an electrician to rewire the outlets with a ground. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s worth every penny considering the alternative. Contrary to some claims, using a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) or RCBO (Residual-current Circuit Breaker with Overcurrent protection) is NOT an alternative. These devices, if fitted into an outlet without a ground, still do not provide the necessary ground wire and, while they give some measure of protection, won’t solve any hum or buzzing problems you may experience.

Along with ungrounded outlets, improperly grounded or mis-wired outlets are another major cause of noise. English to gujarati words pdf online. You can use an outlet tester to verify proper wiring and that a possible ground exists in your studio power outlets, however this does not test for a relatively common situation known as bootleg ground and it’s far more dangerous variation, RPBG (Reverse Polarity Bootlet Ground). A bootleg ground is when an older, 2 prong outlet has been converted to a 3 prong outlet, but without an actual ground wire—the ground is tied to neutral instead. An RPGB is that same situation, but where hot and neutral wires have been reversed, creating a extremely hazardous situation.

In either bootleg ground situation, your typical outlet tester will show a properly wired outlet and so you need to test the outlets with both a ground impedance tester (aka Wiring Circuit Tester) and a non-contact voltage tester (NCVT). The ground impedance tester will indicate if you have a ground fault (newer models give you even more info about your wiring and its integrity) and the NCVT will indicate an RPBG situation. To test using the NCVT put the probe end of the unit into the ground circuit hold of the receptacle—it will indicate a ‘negative’ (typically a red light) in a situation where RPBG exists. Using the ground impedance/wiring circuit tester is usually as simple as plugging it into your outlet—its panel indicators will show any fault situations.

Lastly, the difference in ground potential can be a major cause of hum and noise. The audio signal grounds between two pieces of gear are dependent on the AC outlets ground (and sometimes the gear itself can be a factor) and differences in the ground potential can cause the audio signal ground to ‘loop’ through to the other piece of gear and back again, causing the classic ‘hum’ you’ve all heard.

When pieces of gear are connected to different circuits that have ground wires with differing impedances all signal grounds will go through the circuit with the lowest impedance. Common causes are ground wires that have different gauge wires in the circuit, bad ‘ties’ (where ground wires are tied together using wire caps and such) and so on. Again, a certified electrician should be called in to solve this type of situation.

In cases where you have the option, connecting all your gear to the same circuit can bypass any problems that would occur when connecting them to different circuits. This can be a quick and easy fix for ground loop noise and one that I recommend people start with when experiencing hum in the studio.

I realize this is a lot of info to digest, but proper studio electrical wiring is the best place to start to eliminate pesky noise and protect you from hazardous situations.

Go To Ground

Along with the ground potential in the electrical circuit situation above, you may come across situations where that audio gear or other factors are causing a difference in ground potential. If you know for certain that your power circuit ground is good, you’ll need to trace down which piece of gear is the likely suspect for the problem.

Unfortunately there is still plenty of gear out there that does not follow the proper practice of tying the ground wire in a balanced connection to chassis ground, rather than signal ground (aka ‘The Pin 1 Problem). You can typically consult the schematic of the piece of gear to determine if the ground/shield wire is connected to signal ground or chassis ground. If the gear ties it to signal ground, you may have to resort to using custom cables when connecting to that device that have the ground wire disconnected at one end of the cable. What this does is eliminates the connection loop between the pieces of gear. You also have the option, in some cases, of tying the ground wire of the interconnect cables to chassis ground via a screw on the case of the gear or to a specific chassis ground wire terminal on gear that supplies one. While more involved and time consuming, it can do wonders for eliminating hum and noise.

Custom cables should be consider the least desirable option when trying to eliminate noise, but one that can be useful when necessary.

Audio ground lift boxes are another possible solution—and I stress ‘audio’ because we want to make a clear differentiation between audio ground lift and power ground lift. The latter should never, ever be used for the reasons discussed earlier in this article. Audio ground lifts essentially do the same thing as the custom cables mentioned above—they disconnect the audio ground wire at one end.

It’s All About Balance

Once you’ve conquered any problems with your power (properly wired and grounded circuits) the absolute best way to avoid noise and hum is to use balanced connections whenever and wherever possible. Balanced cables and connections are designed to eliminate noise and are your best friend in the studio. If your audio gear has balanced connections, it’s worth the extra cable expense to use them.

When your gear has only unbalanced connections such as RCA or TS (Tip-Sleeve) 1/4” connectors, it’s best to use isolation transformers between it and a balanced input. Using isolation transformers is another option instead of the custom cable assemblies mentioned above. In all cases pin 1 on the balanced end should be tied to chassis ground.

Direct boxes are another tool in the arsenal to eliminate noise—better ones even come with an isolation transformer and nearly all include an audio ground lift switch. You can use them between a high impedance, line level, unbalanced output to connect to a low-impedance, balanced input (think guitar or keyboard output to a mic input on your console or audio interface).

You Gotta Keep’em Separated

RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) and EMI (electromagnetic interference) are two other forms of noise induced in audio systems. RFI comes from everywhere—cordless and cell phones, wireless mics, radio transmitters, garage door openers and the list goes on. EMI noise sources are typically power supplies, monitors, computers, appliances and the like. These can be some of the most difficult to track down and eliminate but, by using these tips and techniques, your chances of experiencing them will go down significantly.

Keep your audio cables and power cables away from each other. If they have to cross, make the cross at a 90 degree angle. The further away you can separate them, the better.

Keep your audio cables away from power distribution boxes and power adapters, as both can be sources of EMI.

Put appliances on a different circuit than your audio gear. Have you ever had your refrigerators compressor turn on and hear a hum in your monitors? That’s EMI—the refrigerator is putting spurious noise in the power lines, which then leaks into your audio chain.

Turn off cordless phones or, if that’s not possible, keep them as far away as possible from audio gear.

Light dimmers in the studio—again, putting them on a separate circuit from your audio gear can help immensely.

Other RFI problems, such as hearing your local radio station in your audio system, are much more difficult to combat, your chances of experiencing this when following all the info in this article is lowered significantly.

When faced with EMI/RFI problems, it typically boils down to making sure you do not have power line noise sources on the same circuit as your audio gear and either eliminating or relocating devices and noise sources as far as possible away from your audio lines and hardware. Try moving things around and see if the noise goes away.

Bring Up Your Shields

One situation I see very often is people using low quality cables in their studios. These are not only more prone to noise induction, but also can degrade your signal quality. Several studios I’ve worked on over the years have completely eliminated noise and significantly improved their audio quality simply by upgrading their cables.

Audio cables typically consists of an inner conductor(s), a dielectric material, a shield and an outer jacket. The difference between low- and high-quality cables comes down to the quality of each component.

Shield—There are 4 standard shield types (from lowest to highest quality): stranded, spiral, braided and foil. Stranded shielding is simply strands of wire run along the cable underneath the jacket. The problem with stranded shielding is that is does not give full coverage—any EMI/RFI noise sources can penetrate the shield and be induced directly into the inner conductor. Spiral shield is better, but flexing of the cable can cause gaps in the shield and, again, noise sources can penetrate through the gaps. Braided sheiding is typically the best in terms of coverage and flexibility, while foil provides the best in terms of coverage, but continual flexing of the cable can cause breaks or gaps in the foil, so it’s usually only used in situations where the cable is installed and never moved.

Dielectric—This is the material between the shield and the inner conductor(s) which acts as an electrical insulator between the shield and inner conductor(s), to prevent electrical conduction between the two. Typical dielectrics are made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PE (polyethylene) and PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene, aka Teflon). The ideal dielectric would completely isolate the shield from the conductor. The differences in the dielectric rarely come down to materials, but rather to their quality and consistency. Good quality dielectric materials will be the same thickness through the entire cable and be of high quality. Low quality dielectrics typically have defects, contaminants and other anomalies that cause variations in its electrical properties along the cable length.

Conductor—The debate rages on about silver vs. copper vs. oxygen-free vs. whatever material gimmick they come up with next to separate you from your hard earned cash. The reality is that, once you get to a certain point, the differences are minimal at best. Higher quality cables will use a thicker conductor (typically between 28 and 22 gauge) and some will use two twisted pair conductors for additional noise rejection.

The shielding is likely the most important factor in cable choices—braided shielding is what you should aim for if you are going to be moving cables around, while a braid/foil combination is best for installed cabling.

One last factor that can play a part in elimination of noise is cleaning your cable and hardware connectors. Over time these can become corroded and oxidized, creating additional resistance and capacitance, which influence some of the situations discussed earlier. Use of a contact cleaner, like CAIG DeoxIT, will improve electrical conduction. Check out your cables—are the connectors bright and shiny or dull? If they’re dull—bust out the contact cleaner!

Conclusion

Every section in this article merely scratches the surface of the technical and situational aspects of what they cover but, hopefully, I’ve given you enough information to put you on the right track to a hum, buzz and noise free studio.