Making Music in FL Studio 20: Introduction to the Basics

Explore the FL Studio 20 studio interface and its six core elements—toolbar, channel rack, browser, playlist, piano roll, mixer—and how to drag sounds, layer elements, and route tracks.

Learn that you don’t need the latest FL Studio version, as core topics apply to all versions; discover how to install older versions using an imaging account to download them.

Explore the six core elements of FL Studio 20—toolbar, channel rack, browser, playlist, piano roll, and mixer—and learn how they interact to create, arrange, and mix music.

Explore synthesizers, effects, and VST plugins in digital audio workstations via virtual studio interfaces. Learn how synthesizers, samplers, and effects such as reverb and phasers are controlled.

Explore the menu panel in FL Studio 20 to create and open projects, use templates, manage files, export media, and load plugins.

Explore the browser in FL Studio 20, learning to drag plugins or sounds and manage folders for projects, backups, and presets. Configure extra folders and search for files.

Explore the remaining panels in FL Studio, including the transport, master, tempo (bpm), markers, metronome, recording options, snap settings, playlist, piano roll, channel rack, mixer, browser, and related tools.

Explore the channel rack in FL Studio 20, view and manage channels, adjust swing, use the piano roll and step sequencer, mute or solo, and link to mixer channels.

Master the pattern selector in FL Studio 20 by switching between pattern one and two, using left click, scroll wheel, or right mouse actions to find next empty.

Explore the playlist in FL Studio 20, using grid snap, add or remove elements, paint or slice parts, and manage tracks, patterns, and clips for quick music arrangement.

Open the mixer in FL Studio 20, link channel rack elements to inserts, route to the master, and adjust volume, pan, and basic effects to shape the signal.

Set up a MIDI device by selecting the input, enabling Atlas V 25 or a generic controller, and turning on auto so it accepts the keyboard and handles velocity settings.

Learn to install plugins in FL Studio 20 with the plugin manager by creating a plugins folder, adding plugins, and scanning the path to recognize them.

Open the studio and store audio files in a dedicated folder, then import them into the studio browser. Drag samples into the arrangement and refresh the browser to manage packs.

Tune audio devices in FL Studio 20 by selecting the audio driver, default sample rate, and high CPU priority for the mixer, with appropriate buffer sizes for recording and playback.

Connect your microphone, open FL Studio, select the vocal bus and input one, record in mono, and capture the take in Edison or the playlist to record your vocal.

Explore the basics of music theory and its application to the studio workflow in this introductory chapter for making music in FL Studio 20, with practical techniques to apply.

Master the basics of notes, chords, and progressions in FL Studio 20 by building melodies in a C major scale, using piano roll, and applying keyboard shortcuts.

Copy a basic chord progression into the studio using the provided four screenshots to complete your first exercise and prepare for the next lesson.

Explore building rhythms in FL Studio 20 by editing note lengths, duplicating progressions with control C and V, and using the piano roll at 130 bpm to create four-note rhythms.

Perform the exercise using the attached pdf of nine progressions and copy the rhythms shown, with nine screenshots and a piano roll from a previous video.

Start a project in FL Studio 20 by selecting an empty template, adding title, genre, and comments in project info, and saving as a FL Studio song file.

Add samples to the channel rack by importing them into the browser, then drag edm or hip hop folders into the channel and preview them.

Download the attached drum samples, save them to documents or desktop, and drag them into FL Studio, preserving file locations after adding so FL Studio can find them.

Learn to use the channel rack in fl studio 20 to program drums for edm and hip hop. Set bpm, drag in samples, and build patterns in the piano roll.

learn to create your first drum loop in FL Studio 20 by following along with the previous video and recreating the demonstrated beat.

Explore the sampler in FL Studio 20; adjust sample start, length, offset, and input, apply effects, boost volume, and use a cutoff filter with resonance to shape the sound.

Master piano roll and score workflow in FL Studio 20 by importing MIDI scores from presets, saving progress, and exporting the score as PDF for use in Logic or Ableton.

Learn to add your first synth in FL Studio 20 by inserting the Citrus plugin, loading a preset, and using the piano roll to test notes.

Make your first melody loop using a synth in FL Studio 20, following the attached project and preset import steps from the previous lesson.

Learn to create your first playlist arrangement in FL Studio 20 by arranging four elements—piano, clap, kick, and open hat—across patterns, renaming and color-coding, then drawing them into the playlist.

Learn to create automation clips in the FL Studio 20 playlist by automating channel volume and piano, adding points at specific bars, copying values, and shaping fades.

Learn how to import melody loops in FL Studio 20, drag in EDM and hip hop samples, and time-stretch them to match project tempo using auto-detect BPM.

Turn a simple arrangement into a full track in FL Studio 20, building on the previous lesson. Experiment freely and enjoy creating your first complete track.

Open the mixer to explore FL Studio 20's channel-based workflow, link inserts to the master, adjust volume and pan, and add effects.

Link samples to the mixer in FL Studio by routing kicks, snares, and hi-hats to mixer tracks. Explore multiple routing methods, renaming, and resetting to correct mistakes.

Open the Eden Project and link all elements to the mixer in this exercise in FL Studio 20, with the final project attached for reference.

Add first effects to a hip hop club project by applying Fruity Parametric EQ 2 to reduce high frequencies, then add delay and reverb for texture.

Apply an equalizer to a melody in FL Studio 20 using a parametric eq. Reduce bass with band two and use high-pass to shape high frequencies, and explore presets.

Apply the fruity delay in the mixer and select pattern and melody. Set triplet delay, enable ping pong feedback, and adjust dry level and high-frequency cut.

Apply fruity reverb to a melody in FL Studio 20, start with big room preset, then adjust low cut around 118 hz, tweak decay, and set room size near 70.

Add reverb and delay to your melody across multiple sounds in the next exercise, and queue the effects.

Learn to add animation clips to effects in FL Studio 20, automate a fruity filter's cutoff, and build a simple beat by designing an animation clip.

Learn how to grade and save mixer presets in FL Studio 20. Save mixer states as named presets and apply them to specific channels.

Master volume balance in FL Studio 20 by using the mixer to adjust element levels, follow the golden rule that nothing beats the kick, and train your ears.

Learn to use an equalizer when mixing by shaping clap, snare, kick, and synth with low-cut filters, boosting highs and mids for balance.

apply panning in the mixer of FL Studio 20 to create stereo separation, placing kick in mono and sending drums and piano toward left or right for a cleaner mix.

Discover how to master with a fruity compressor on the master bus, using a preset, then adjust gain, threshold, and a high ratio for a cohesive master.

Master FL Studio 20's Fruity Soft Clipper by adjusting the threshold and curve to tame peaks, monitor the output, and keep the final curve aligned with the starting level.

Learn how to apply a limiter in mastering using two fruity limiters, set ceilings to minus five dp and minus seven dp, and adjust duration for separation.

Apply a limiter to the final signal with two fruity limiters in slot three, set a -5 dB ceiling, then adjust to -7 dB for better separation.

Export your FL Studio 20 project as a high-quality mp3 with reduced file size, setting 320 kbps bitrate and enabling essential effects.

Export your melody pattern in FL Studio 20 by selecting the pattern, choosing wav file format, enabling maximum quality and loop markers, then starting the export.

Name each mixer track, create an export folder, and save full-song stem export from FL Studio 20, then split exports and export all separate track-out files with or without effects.