Layer channels are channels that control other channels. The layer channel itself is silent. It tells the children of that channel what to play (typical parent). Layer channels can also control the panning, volume & filter levels of children channels.

One thing layers are useful for, is to send sequences to multiple instruments.

Layering Channels

Insert a layer channel.

Right click the channel to bring up the layer channels' settings box.

Now, in the step sequencer choose the channels that you want to use the layering with. Left click the little green light next to the channel of the first one, then right click the rest of the channels you want to layer. This ensures the first channel that you clicked stays selected.

Go to the layer channels' settings box once more and select "Set children" which will assign the channels you've highlighted as children of the layer channel. This basically means that whichever notes are played on a layer channel (which itself is silent) results in the same notes being played on all children of that channel.

Put some notes in the layer channel and you will hear them being played by all the instruments you have set as children. Channels that are set as children of layer channels can still be used on their own.

Layer channels can also control the panning, volume & filter levels of children channels via the "Levels adjustment" box.

Layering

Randomizing Layers

By toggling on the "Random" option in the layer channels settings box, the children channels will now trigger at random.

Crossfading Layers

To crossfade between layers you must toggle on the "Crossfade" option in the layer channels settings box. Simply left click it.

The "Fade" knob is located to the right of this and is what you use to crossfade between instruments. You can tweak this knob while recording in real-time if your soundcard allows it (if you can get the latency low enough).

I usually prefer to draw the crossfades in. This is done by right clicking the "Fade" knob, then selecting "Edit events".

Just draw the crossfades into the event editor.

Inserting a New Wave File Channel

There are a few ways to insert wave file channels into your projects. I'll run through them and you can make up your own mind which one better suits you.

Adding a Wave File From the Browser

The quickest and easiest way to add a wave file is to select it directly from within the browser. You want to ensure the directory where you keep your samples shows up in the browser. This should ideally be done when setting up FL Studio. If you haven't done it already, go to "Options", then "File settings". 

Left click on the folder icon and choose the directory where you want to get your wave files from on your hard drive. This directory will now appear in your browser for future use. Do this with as many folders as you need.

The directory you're looking for should now be found in your browser. Right click on the folder name in the browser and a dropdown list of the wav files and sub-folders in that directory will appear. To hear a wave file left click on it. Right click on the wave file and select "Open in new channel" if you want it to be in a new channel. "Send to selected channel" inserts it straight into the channel of your choice. In earlier versions of Fruity Loops simply right clicking the sample will insert it into the chosen channel.

"Open in new slicer channel" sends the file to a new fruity slicer channel. "Open in new granulizer channel" sends the wave to a new fruity granulizer channel.

Another way of adding samples from the browser is by holding down left click and dragging the sample to the channel you want it in. You can also drag it under or between channels in the step sequencer where it will then become a new channel in that position.

I'll now explain yet another way of doing it...

Adding a Wave File From Your Directory

To insert a new channel, simply right click on the button of another channel and go to "Insert channel". You will see a new list open to the right, to insert a wav file you would choose "Sampler" from the list. A new empty channel is inserted. 

Right click on the newly created empty channel and go to "Load sample...". Now just choose the desired sample from your directory.

This way of doing might seem simpler but it can be a lot more time consuming in the long run. Especially if you are having to search through your hard drive for folders and wave samples every time you want to add a new wave file.

Inserting a VST Instrument Channel

Right click the channel one below where you want the new channel placed. Go to insert channel and a list will appear to the right. Now select your desired VST instrument from the list. If you cannot see it in the ones listed, go up to the very top and click "More...".

A list of your vst fx and instruments should appear. If you see the one you are looking for in the list, or others you wish to use in the future, be sure they are ticked by clicking in the box. Now double click on the title of the one you wanted and it will appear in your channel.

If the one you want isn't there, go to the bottom of the window, click the "Refresh" button and select "Fast Scan." 

FL Studio will now scan your computer to find any VST fx and instruments recently installed or not currently listed. (always make sure you install fx and VSTi's correctly so they can be easily found.) 

If FL Studio finds new ones, a message let's you know how many it has found. The newly found VST instruments appear red in the list. Simply click the box of the desired instrument (if you want it for quick launching in future) or double click on it's title, which will open it right away for you.

Assigning FX to a Channel

To add FX to a channel, left click on the channel to bring up the channel settings box. 

The "FX" box, located in the top right hand corner is where you can choose the target mixer track. By holding down left click and moving your mouse up or down inside this box, you can change the mixer track number. 

It might help beginners to better understand this process, by having the mixer also visible. You can then see the FX mixer track number highlighted, and you can watch the highlight move to the chosen FX track as you move the mouse.

Once you've assigned the channel to an FX track inside the mixer, simply choose the FX plugin you'd like to use from the dropdown list. 

If the effect you want was recently installed and you haven't refreshed your plugins list, or it isn't in the list, go up to the very top and click "More...". At the bottom of this new window press the "Refresh" button and select "Fast Scan".

FL Studio will scan your hard drive for new and recently installed FX (plugins) and show them in the list in red when they are found. The number of effects plugins found will also be displayed at the bottom of this window. Make sure you click on the little boxes next to all the effects that you want for future quick launch. The letter F should be displayed in the boxes you've chosen. Double clicking the title of the effect will insert it straight into your project.

The Piano Roll

The Piano Roll allows you to compose complex tracks for your songs, that would be hard or impossible to do with the Step Sequencer. From within the Piano roll you can create melodies and chords. You can also edit the volume, pitch, filters and panning of both notes and channels, as well as display and edit note properties. Notes can also be slid and quantised. All parameters can be controlled on a note by note basis, and by using slides you can make your notes slide from the one to the other.

The keyboard can also be set to bigger, smaller and literal. Literal will show names of different notes in drum kits or when you have named cues in sliced loop.

MIDI users can input notes directly from their keyboard or other MIDI controller. You can also import MIDI files or use the PC keyboard to compose the notes.

Sending a Channel to the Piano Roll

To send a channel to the piano roll simply right click on the channel you wish to send and select 'Piano roll' from the top of the list.

Cutting Samples in the Piano Roll

To cut a sample off at the end of the note you've drawn in the piano roll, use the amp envelopes which are found in the sampler channel. Set attack to zero, sustain at the maximum amount, zero hold and zero release.

Sliding Notes in the Piano Roll

To slide notes you must first click the slide toggle button located in the top left of the piano roll. Slides look the same as notes except they have a small white rectangle drawn in their left side. FL Studio will start sliding existing notes towards the pitch where the slide is positioned. The slide in pitch begins at the start of the slide note that's drawn in and ends at the finishing position of the slide note. So if you want a quick short slide you'll need to make the slide short. On the other hand if you want a gradual slide (see below), you'll need to have a long slide drawn in.

Sliding Colour Groups in the Piano Roll

If you want different slides to be applied to different notes you must choose a corresponding colour group for that slide(s). Either green, cyan, pink or yellow. Slides will only apply to notes that have their colour. For example if you want to slide a pink note you must choose pink as the colour group for that slide by toggling it on and then drawing in the pink slide. In the picture below the pink notes are slid up to the higher pitch while the green notes maintain their original pitch throughout the bar.

Seeing as there are 4 colour groups, up to 4 sets of notes can be slid at the same time.

Using the Strum Feature

The Strum feature is available in FL Studio 4 and above. The Piano Strum Tool is designed to allow you to easily and quickly add variation to the strumming of chords. It imitates the affect of strumming a guitar.

As you can see below, when the settings allow you to change both the timing and the velocity of the notes in the chord. The start and ending time for the notes can also be either kept as they were originally or adjusted to your liking. Toggling on "Alternate direction" allows the chord to be strummed in the opposite direction, which is from the highest pitched note down to lowest.

Other Piano Roll Features

The Piano Roll includes an integrated event editor which lets you quickly edit a channel's volume, panning and pitch from inside the Piano Roll. You can draw in the automation for these functions in the bottom section of the piano roll. 

The integrated event editor works the same way and has the same functions as the normal event editor. If you want to automate in some detail I'd suggest turning the snap setting to "(none)". This allows you to draw more fluently. Don't forget to change it back when you are finished.

Double clicking a note displays it's properties box. From here you can change panning, volume, cut-off, resonance and also pitch. The bottom of the box also contains a time section from where you can change the note's start position and length. You will notice there is 3 small boxes in each. The first box is measured in bars, the second in steps, and the third in tick format.

When several notes start at the same time use the Note Properties Box.

The Piano Roll 

Working in Greater Detail in the Piano Roll

To work at the greatest resolution in the piano roll go to the "options" menu and select "Project general settings". 

For greatest detail change the "Timebase PPQ" to the highest numerical value, which is currently 768. 

Be aware that changing this setting also makes greater magnification in the playlist also. From within the playlist simply change the zoom time to a level you're comfortable with. This is done by holding down left click on the zoom time button (circled below) and moving the mouse upward to zoom out or downward to zoom in.

I also have the "snap/quantization" set to "none" during fine work in the piano roll.

For very intricate sounds I set the zoom level at 1 which provides the greatest magnification. Simply hold down left click on the zoom time button (circled below) and move the mouse downward to zoom in.

There is much greater freedom and control over lengthening and shortening notes. It's great for groups of short rapid notes. By using extremely short note lengths you can have vast clusters of notes close together.

Here's an example ..

This technique allows you to place notes precisely between beats or anywhere for that matter. It can also be used to great advantage for snare rushes and making glitchy beats. Try experimenting a bit with things like super fast pitch bends.

The Piano Roll

The Piano Roll Menu

The Piano Roll Menu is found by left-clicking the piano roll options icon located at the top left hand corner of the piano roll window (circled below.)

Opening and Saving Scores

Scores are easy to work with in the piano roll. They are known as FL Studio score files (.fsc). They are basically a transcript or score of the notes in a piano roll, including note panning, velocity, filter cut and res, as well as pitch.

Scores are opened by left-clicking "File" and "Open score..." from the Piano Roll Menu. Just select the score (.fsc) file from your hard drive or external storage device and it will load directly into the piano roll.

Saving a score is done in exactly the same way except for the obvious choice of "Save score as..." from the piano roll menu.

Importing Midi Files into the Piano Roll

Midi files can be imported into the piano roll or pasted from a midi clipboard. Importing a midi file only imports the note events (note velocity, note panning, note filter cut and res and note pitch.) It does not include automation.

If you wish to open or save automation you need to do it separately in the Event Editor.

"Paste from midi clipboard" only differs in that it uses the MIDI clipboard data instead of a MIDI file. Data can be pasted from any sequencer that can copy to MIDI clipboard format.

Quick Quantize

Piano Roll Options>"Tools">"Quick Quantize" quantizes notes to whichever "snap/quantize" setting you have.

For example, if it is set at 1/2 step, the notes will be moved to the nearest half step of their current position in the piano roll grid. If you only need a few notes quantized, just select those notes before quantizing. If nothing is selected then the quantizing applies to all notes.

Quantize

Piano Roll Options>"Tools">"Quantize" lets you choose from a range of groove templates that come with FL Studio or indeed one of your own scores. If you're trying out groove templates I advise you to leave the pattern playing before you quantize so you can hear the changes take affect as you go.

The snap grid is indicated by vertical red lines generated by the groove preset.

If you click once on different presets, you'll notice that the red lines move to the new points where that groove template will place them and you'll hear the groove change. When you find a template that you dig press "Open".

  The Piano Roll

Changing Grid Color

Piano Roll Options>"View">"Grid Color" (or Alt+G) allows you to change the color of the piano roll grid. The change is applied to all the piano roll grids.

Colors can be chosen from a list of basic colours or you can pick your own by left clicking an area of color on the color matrix. Add your color to custom colors by hitting the "Add to custom colors box". If you know the numerical values for the color you're after you can type them in. When you find a color you're happy with press "OK".

I've found that many colours that might seem nice, don't make for user friendly grids. Try to stick with darker colors or your eyes will end up paying for it :)

Source : www.fltutorialz.com

Add Tutorial by pixel2life.com 

Now start with an empty template.


Now add a 3x Osc


Now you need to right-click on the c2 so it changes from c5 to c2, this will make it higher pitched, if you don't understand look at the picture.


Now put the volume knob all the way down on Osc 2 and Osc 3.


Now go to the misc tab and tick Porta and Mono in the Polyphony section.


If you did it right, play a note on the keyboard and it should make a different noise.