The FL Studio Q&A Thread

[Alissio]

I was working on a mix in FL studio yesterday, opened it up today and an alert pops up saying some of the data files (Tracks/songs) could not be found? I did not move the files(Tracks/songs) to a different drive. What could be the problem? this has happened to me many times. Also when I drag an mp3 to the playlist it doesn't even load the track in.

[ljk32]

I was working on a mix in FL studio yesterday, opened it up today and an alert pops up saying some of the data files (Tracks/songs) could not be found? I did not move the files(Tracks/songs) to a different drive. What could be the problem? this has happened to me many times. Also when I drag an mp3 to the playlist it doesn't even load the track in.

I'm not sure about the first issue, but with the dragging mp3's, try drag it in a second time. Usually I can never drag a file into the playlist on the first go, so I try it again, and it works.

[Marzz]

Why does FL make audio in the playlist louder?

[ljk32]

Why does FL make audio in the playlist louder?

I used to have problems with this, I'm not too sure why it happened. The only thing I can think of is a timestretching setting in the sampler needs to be reset, but I'm not too sure if that's right.

[RandoRando]

Why does FL make audio in the playlist louder?

i think your preview track is lower than the DAW volume

[didi]

In the step sequencer the default volume is something like 78% of the imported file, changeable by the channel knob on the side.

I think that this might be the source of the issue.

[Marzz]

Thanks for the replies guys but
when i go to the step seq, it is still 78 and when i play it with my controller at normal key, its normal
but then I play it in the playlist and it is still louder than the step seq

[didi]

Try bumping the step sequencer to 100 then compare it with the playlist volume

EDIT: I checked in the manual and it said this:

Channel Volume - Use to adjust the Channel volume. Levels: Samples loaded into the Channel Sampler will be set to -5dB (79%) of their original level to allow headroom for the pattern sequencer to avoid clipping, set volume to 100% to restore the original level. Audio clips will play at 100% their original level.

[Ficticious]

Not sure if this is in here but I figured I'd contribute. In FL sometimes you'll notice that your tune may tend to cut out for a split second going very high or very low during the start of an automation volume clip and not directly on it during the start of that incoming piece. It is highly recommended that you put your volume clip a couple seconds before your new synth or bass comes in. This way you won't have any split-second uncontrolled volume slips. Also as a reminder you won't be able to turn your volume DB up or down with an automation clip set in place because it's automatically doing that for you already during the song. you'll notice your knobs will go to 100% or 0% until it hits that piece. So the best thing to do is make sure you have a good draft of where you want all your volume to be before you put in those automation clips else you'll be trying to figure it out with those in place and it'll become really annoying

[Marzz]

Try bumping the step sequencer to 100 then compare it with the playlist volume

EDIT: I checked in the manual and it said this:

Channel Volume - Use to adjust the Channel volume. Levels: Samples loaded into the Channel Sampler will be set to -5dB (79%) of their original level to allow headroom for the pattern sequencer to avoid clipping, set volume to 100% to restore the original level. Audio clips will play at 100% their original level.

Cheers

[Maxxan]

Not sure if this is in here but I figured I'd contribute. In FL sometimes you'll notice that your tune may tend to cut out for a split second going very high or very low during the start of an automation volume clip and not directly on it during the start of that incoming piece. It is highly recommended that you put your volume clip a couple seconds before your new synth or bass comes in. This way you won't have any split-second uncontrolled volume slips. Also as a reminder you won't be able to turn your volume DB up or down with an automation clip set in place because it's automatically doing that for you already during the song. you'll notice your knobs will go to 100% or 0% until it hits that piece. So the best thing to do is make sure you have a good draft of where you want all your volume to be before you put in those automation clips else you'll be trying to figure it out with those in place and it'll become really annoying

What I do is automate my channel send to master volume instead of automating the channel volume itself. It still keeps the automation relative to the levels you set the channel too but you can still edit the volume in the mix etc even after applying automation. You might find this comes in handy.


I've got a question btw, sometimes in the beginning of my track the first beat will duplicate or retrigger, so if my song starts with a kickdrum it'll play two kicks in very rapid succesion for the very first beat. The only way around this is nudging the whole track forwards a bit but sometimes this fucks with my FX (stuff related to track position, WOW filter, dblue etc) and is also a damn hassle. Anyone knows why the hell it does this? Only a few projects and I can't figure out what the hell it is. Really annoying.

[Ficticious]

Not sure if this is in here but I figured I'd contribute. In FL sometimes you'll notice that your tune may tend to cut out for a split second going very high or very low during the start of an automation volume clip and not directly on it during the start of that incoming piece. It is highly recommended that you put your volume clip a couple seconds before your new synth or bass comes in. This way you won't have any split-second uncontrolled volume slips. Also as a reminder you won't be able to turn your volume DB up or down with an automation clip set in place because it's automatically doing that for you already during the song. you'll notice your knobs will go to 100% or 0% until it hits that piece. So the best thing to do is make sure you have a good draft of where you want all your volume to be before you put in those automation clips else you'll be trying to figure it out with those in place and it'll become really annoying

What I do is automate my channel send to master volume instead of automating the channel volume itself. It still keeps the automation relative to the levels you set the channel too but you can still edit the volume in the mix etc even after applying automation. You might find this comes in handy.


I've got a question btw, sometimes in the beginning of my track the first beat will duplicate or retrigger, so if my song starts with a kickdrum it'll play two kicks in very rapid succesion for the very first beat. The only way around this is nudging the whole track forwards a bit but sometimes this fucks with my FX (stuff related to track position, WOW filter, dblue etc) and is also a damn hassle. Anyone knows why the hell it does this? Only a few projects and I can't figure out what the hell it is. Really annoying.

That's a good idea, but doesn't that stop you from being able to fade in and out your volume tracks easily? If you use the full volume mixer and put them all on the master volume? Maybe I'm not understanding correctly. I'm still learning

And for your question, are you using blocks or the top pattern clip tracks? I'm not quite sure on that one but I think it makes a difference. Does it do this on every track? I suggest trying to repeat your steps and retrace to when exactly it does that. That's how I personally try to figure out things anyway. If it does that on every track it'd be your settings in your DAW somewhere...

Possibly be a little more specific, make sure your buffer settings are also low enough so your CPU doesn't lag. Cause mine will lag sometimes too which will cause that rapid repeat.

[twilitez]

I stopped using the pattern sequencer completely a while ago, and its much better. Patterns function exactly the same in the top part of the playlist, but with some added bonuses; they will function the same in any 'lane', you can use the slice tool on them, and you can basicly sequence one section of your track in the same lane for the whole track.

Top lane is drums? no problem to put 10 patterns in there, just color them a bit or something :p

[Maxxan]

Figured we could get this thread going again after the success of the FL Studio dubstep thread so I'll share a couple things I've been doing lately.

First off, is color code everything. Don't know if you're all aware but pretty much anything can be colored in FL, mixer channels, patterns, audio clips, automation, everything. Having a system for color coding mixer channels is really sweet when you have say 60 tracks, to quickly find which one you want. I use the same system as in my DJ:ing software so any bass sound is red, mid is yellowish or whatever and high stuff is blue. You can of course use whatever system but this really helps me identify the right track right away since the text is pretty small (Using the narrow mixer since I think it's more efficient). Also coloring automation clips is great, maybe make low pass filters one color, high pass another etc, you get the idea.

Another great thing is, when you're designing sounds, loud up a patcher in the first FX slot in the mixer. Then you put all your distortion and whatnot in a signal chain inside the patcher. Then save that as a patcher preset and you can easily load your entire chain on another track, or in a new project. Also, the patcher is really great for splitting frequencies and staying on one channel, and mixing the different signal chains as you can easily change how much of one chain is going into the output etc. And it has infinite FX slots. Use it, it's great. Be careful using it for generators though as it often crashes if you have cpu heavy stuff in it like massive or god forbid reaktor, I only use it for fx plugins.

[ljk32]

Weird question, is there some way I can open up FL and not get so bored/demotivated straight away? Like, I think it's because of the dull colour of everything - it's basically all grey. So I might get a skin, but does anyone else experience this, and has a skin helped at all?

[Maxxan]

Weird question, is there some way I can open up FL and not get so bored/demotivated straight away? Like, I think it's because of the dull colour of everything - it's basically all grey. So I might get a skin, but does anyone else experience this, and has a skin helped at all?

I don't feel it at all man, but you do know you can use custom backgrounds? Like maybe try some cool shot from a huge gig with spotlights and cheering crowds and whatnot. Or, for some serious motivation and inspiration, try a picture of a hot bitch and some cocaine.

[Brothulhu]

A tip on setting a background for motivation/inspiration is to download a big batch of wallpapers (like the ones linked in the sticky on /wg/ on 4chan) then when you are stuck look through them all till you find something that inspires you (eg. an awesome cityscape) and set it a your FL background then you can keep it in your view and base your track around how you feel looking at the picture. Works for me at least. You can also use this to set the mood for a track, if you want o write a creepy tune get a creepy picture up

[tekdiggity]

Weird question, is there some way I can open up FL and not get so bored/demotivated straight away? Like, I think it's because of the dull colour of everything - it's basically all grey. So I might get a skin, but does anyone else experience this, and has a skin helped at all?

There is actually plenty of skins for it but some of them are kind of unreliable and glitchy and make using some things kind of bothersome. Just try putting in a quick google search and I'm sure you'll figure something out.

You basically get the skin file, put it into the skin folder somewhere in the FL directory and then go to General Settings and on the bottom it should be there and you can load it up. It should already come with a few if you feel like messing with those first.

[bogling]

Ssup people I have had this issue for a couple of months now. Some times when I open the audio editor and drake a mp3 or sample in it it sometimes just doesn't play even though I pressed play. And sometime it would play. I don't know what the reason is I have tried tweaking around. Anyone know what's up?

[Brothulhu]

Has the hold escape to abort feature ever worked on FL?