Book Image

A Power User's Guide to FL Studio 21

By : Chris Noxx
Book Image

A Power User's Guide to FL Studio 21

By: Chris Noxx

Overview of this book

A digital audio workstation empowering both aspiring and seasoned producers to create original music compositions, FL Studio has not only advanced the culture of collaboration across several genres but has provided a creative outlet for up-and-coming artists worldwide. Achieving professional production prowess takes practice, market insight, and mentorship. This book explains how the author used FL Studio as a creative palette to build a successful career as a record producer, using specific techniques and workflow processes that only FL Studio can accommodate. You’ll develop a Power User's mindset, create signature sounds using stock FL Studio One Shots, create top-level drum loops, learn about FL Studio's VST’s, and approach arrangements from a practical and pop music perspective. This comprehensive guide covers everything from crafting and adding hypnotic melodies and chords, to mixing and mastering productions, and promoting those records to artists and companies, to take your career to the next level. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to create original productions from scratch using FL Studio’s virtual instruments and sound kits, mix and master the finished production, and arrange it using the Billboard-charting formula.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)
1
Part 1:Understanding the Basics
3
Part 2:Creating Music with FL Studio
9
Part 3: Best Techniques and How to Appear on the Billboard Charts

Drum programming in FL Studio

The high-level drum theory relates to each specific subgenre as a working framework of theory. But I will say that when you are creating a production in FL Studio, you should always be open to moving kicks around to best fit the rhythmic top-line melody if you are starting a track with a top line first as opposed to starting a track with a drum arrangement. A good rule of thumb is that a kick should always synchronize with a note change point, or at the start of the next bar.

Let’s show you exactly what I mean by using the drum pattern synchronized with a note progression in the Piano Roll:

Figure 4.24: Channel Rack | Drum sequence with hi-hat triplets via the Piano Roll

Figure 4.24: Channel Rack | Drum sequence with hi-hat triplets via the Piano Roll

Notice that the FL Keys inputs are on the same pattern block as the kicks; this implies that the keynote has the same block pattern as the kick and follows it succinctly. In most cases, you won’t use a VST in this form; it will be composed...