PIANO ROLL
FL Studio's Piano roll is one of the most powerful available in any software studio. Its main purpose is to send note and automation data to plugin instruments
associated with the Piano roll's Channel. There are a number of useful tools that aid complex score editing and other manipulations as described below. Note pitch is displayed on the vertical axis and time on the
horizontal axis (it's the same principle as ye-olde paper ' Piano rolls
'
used to automate mechanical pianos in the distant past). The resolution of the grid is user-selectable (zoomable,8) and allows the composition of songs with unlimited
complexity. Note data can be entered manually with the editing tools or recorded from 'live' MIDI playing, then edited to fix mistakes or make changes.
NOTE: Beware the 'Click-and-hold functions in piano roll' option on the General settings tab. It's functions include: Copy note: Hold on an existing note to copy it. Cycle slide/porta: Click and hold when adding a note to cycle through slide & porta event modes. Glue notes: Place the cursor between 2 neighbor notes, so the resize cursor appears, then click and hold to glue them. Mouse wheel velocity: Use mouse wheel while holding notes to change velocity. Mouse wheel tools: Change tools by holding right click and rolling the wheel.
Piano roll Menu: provides a number of important functions for working with the Piano roll, such as opening tools, converting color groups, etc.
Quick Tool Menu:
Riff machine (
Alt+E);
Quick legato (Ctrl+L);
Articulate (Alt+L);
Quick quantize (Ctrl+Q);
Quick quantize start times (Shift+Q);
Quantize (Alt+Q);
Quick chop (Ctrl+U);
Chop (Alt+U);
Glue (Ctrl+G);
Arpeggiate (Alt+A);
Strum (Alt+S);
Flam (Alt+F);
Claw machine(Alt+W);
Limit (Alt+K);
Flip (Alt+Y);
Randomize (Alt+R);
Scale levels (Alt+X),
LFO (Alt+O)
Snap Menu: controls how notes move relative to the Piano roll grid.
Draw (P);
Paint (B);
Erase (D);
Mute (T);
Cut (C);
Select (E);
Zoom to selection (Z),
Playback (scrub) (Y).
M): Click to swap between 
Keyboard
and 
Text (Drum Names, Slice names, etc).Middle mouse button) and
drag vertically to change the vertical zoom.S) - When selected, notes added to the
Piano roll become 'slide notes' that cause standard notes, above or below the slide-note, to slide to the pitch of the slide-note. The slide-time = the duration of the slide-event. Right icon: Portamento Toggle
(O) - When selected, notes added to the Piano roll will display a 'portamento flag' (/ icon).
The portamento flag causes a short slide in pitch from the end of one note to the note with the portamento flag. This is a note transition effect. NOTES: 1. these features only work with native FL Studio instruments and not VST/DX instruments. 2. Click-and-hold functions in piano roll -
Click and hold when adding a note to cycle through slide, portamento note mode. See General Options settings.
Alt+V) option. To edit Ghost notes
(Double Right-click or X1 button) on the notes to switch to the Ghost channel.
). Selecting "Main" will use the global snap value as defined in the Recording panel instead.
FL Studio has, arguably, the most powerful Piano roll note editor available. Combined with the Piano roll menu you will find the possibilities are endless and (after practice) effortless.
NOTE: Many of the movement and draw commands are constrained by the snap setting
that determines how notes move relative to the Piano roll grid. Hold the (Alt) key
to temporarily bypass snap. Note also that the Global snap setting can be used for MIDI input quantizing.
) is a shortcut to the Piano roll
tools submenu (see the Piano roll menu page, ),
containing various commands for operating on patterns in the Playlist.
) allows you to draw, edit and delete notes. To add notes and draw the length, hold the (Left-Shift)
Left-click and drag to the desired length. The paint mode () is similar, but allows you to draw
multiple notes at once while dragging horizontally in the Piano roll. Notes are added monophonically (replacing any notes they overlap). Hold (Shift) to bypass monophonic paint mode. In draw or paint mode, Left-click in the Piano roll's grid to draw a note. The default length for notes will be equal to the last touched note.
)). Ctrl
key) and either click a note to select it, or drag a rectangle to select all notes in enclosed area.
Ctrl+Shift) together while selecting to add notes to the existing selection.
Ctrl+Left-click) or double-click the time ruler
(along the top of the Piano roll) and drag along it to select all notes in a specified time range. Pitch, ( Ctrl+Left-click) the Preview Keyboard (7) to select a range
of notes with the same pitch (dragging vertically on the Keyboard will select notes in the vertical pitch range). Ctrl key), click empty space in Piano roll's grid.
Ctrl+Shift) deselects individual notes from the existing selection of notes.
Ctrl) and Left-clicking selects the one note and deselects all the others.
Ctrl key), you can also switch Piano roll to select mode by clicking
the select mode button ().Shift+G) - Group the selected notes. Grouping functions so that an action on any
note in the Group will affect all other notes in the same way. Any number of groupings may be created. To group notes: make a selection using the
Select tool, then use the Group function. Activate / deactivate grouping: Use the Note / Pattern Grouping switch on the Recording Panel. Deselecting the Note / Pattern Grouping switch will disable note grouping behavior until the switch is reactivated.
Shift) button THEN drag selection with the left-mouse button OR ( Ctrl+C), scroll to the new position/pattern and ( Ctrl+V).
Ctrl+B). The selection, or all notes if nothing is selected, will be duplicated to the
right of the original selection. To define a specific repeat interval, make a time-line equal to the complete interval to be duplicated and press
( Ctrl+B). NOTE: The time-line selection and note selection can be made independently. The repeat interval is set by the time-line selection, the notes duplicated by the note selection. In this way, notes outside the time-line selection
can be duplicated according to the time-line interval.
will affect the movement. Alternatively, horizontal note positions can be adjusted by (Shift + mouse-wheel) by holding the cursor over a target note in the Piano roll.
Shift key) and use the arrow keys on your keyboard. The snap setting will
affect the bump size. Pixel units: Hold the ( Alt) key and use the arrow keys on your keyboard. In
this case the zoom setting will affect the bump size.
will affect the way in which the note changes length. If ( Caps Lock) is on and the note is selected by the left side, resizing notes will
anchor the note end point, moving only the start position. If the note is selected by the right side the start point will be anchored.Double Right-click or X1 button) on the Ghost notes to switch to the Ghost channel.
Right-Shift) and drag the right edge of a note in the selection.
This changes both note length and sequence duration. ( Alt + Right-Shift) will stretch in 25% increments.) allows you to split one or more notes in the direction of the cut through the Piano roll. To use the cut
tool, make sure you're in cut mode (the Cut button is selected), Left-click in the grid area and drag to define the "cut line" direction and length. Release the mouse button to split all notes at their
intersection point with the cut line.
Left-Shift) click and drag on the slice point or right-side of the chord.
) enables you to preview the current sequence by dragging horizontally in the
Piano roll (thus enabling you to define the playback speed and order). Alternatively, hold ( Alt) + Right-Mouse button while in draw mode.
)
and from the menu select a chord type. When you draw in the Piano roll, FL Studio will automatically create a chord. To draw single notes again, Right-click the draw mode button and select None
(Shift+N). Alt+mouse-wheel) by holding the cursor over a
target note in the 'Note event window'.After making a selection the Stretch Handle appears. You can click and drag this to stretch the selected notes. Hold the (Alt) key to apply snap settings.
Alternatively, hold (Right-Shift) key then click on the right-side of a note in the group and drag.
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Hold your mouse over the note and hold (Alt+Mouse Wheel) to change the currently selected note property. To see the property being adjusted
maximize the vertical zoom.
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Sometimes it is useful to closely align notes with an audio waveform. For example when using Fruity Vocoder or Pitcher. To show the waveform drag from a waveform preview and drop on the Piano roll.
To switch the view on and off after this, use (Alt+N).
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The following applies only to native FL Studio instruments. To slide a VST instrument you will need to automate the channel pitch knob.
The Piano roll can slide notes gradually from one pitch to another. To achieve this, slide note events are added above or below the notes to be affected, this instructs FL Studio how to slide notes. Slides look like notes with a small white triangle drawn at the start of the note (11).
To draw slides, click the slide toggle button (5). De-select the slide mode by clicking the button again. At the start of the slide note event FL Studio will commence sliding notes that share the same time-range towards pitch of the slide note event. If several notes are slid simultaneously, the topmost is taken as a reference for the pitch offset (see picture below). At the end of the slide event, all notes are slid, so the topmost note has the pitch of the slide note. After the slide event ends, notes still remain offset from their original pitch.
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This image shows how pitch changes with the slide event.
NOTE: Slide events have all the usual note properties (velocity, panning, cutoff and resonance, etc). During slides all 'slid' note properties move toward those set in the slide note. Slides themselves do NOT produce sound, although they allow preview when created/moved.
On the other hand, the Portamento command (11) affects only the transition from one note to the next. That is, causes a quick slide at the transition between notes. The effect is most audible when large tone intervals are made between the notes. The Portamento indicator should be set on the note to receive the portamento effect.
You can draw notes and slides in 16 color shades based on green, cyan, pink and yellow. To select the note/slide color, click the appropriate button on the color group selector (10).
The color does not affect sound, it is used for independent processing of notes in the Piano roll, these include:Slide color groups are also used with the Mono mode in the polyphony settings (see Miscellaneous Channel Settings). Mono mode applies to each color group separately. So using all four colors actually can result in a polyphony of up to 4 voices at once.
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The Piano roll includes an integrated event editor (9), which lets you quickly edit channel's volume, panning and pitch and recorded automation data. To change the data displayed use the Target control (4). When editing notes properties these behave similar to the normal events, and are displayed in the event editor as lines with a small square at the top. Using this extension you can edit a note's velocity (local note volume), panning, cutoff and resonance - these are the same properties you can edit from the Graph Editor if you were entering notes in the Step Sequencer. Since note properties are part of the actual note, you can not move, delete or interpolate any of them. When you move a note horizontally (changing its start position), its properties also move with it. To choose what property or event type to edit, click the property/event selector (4) and choose property/event type from the menu that appears. The integrated editor also holds automation associated with the pattern.
NOTE: When several notes start at the same time you can not set the properties of each individual note (they are all set at once). To solve this issue, first select the notes you want to modify - editing this way alters only the properties of the selected notes. Another solution is to use the Note Properties Box (explained below).
Everything else in this integrated event editor works as in normal Event Editor window.
The Note Properties pop-up is an alternative way to set notes properties. It's particularly useful when you need to set different properties for notes that start simultaneously (so their properties appear as one in the integrated event editor). Double-click a note to display the properties pop-up box.
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These controls allow changes to note - panning (PAN), note on velocity (VEL), release velocity (REL), channel filter cutoff (MODX) and channel filter resonance (MODY). The reset button next to 'Levels' title bar resets note properties to levels they had before launching the properties box.
Slide - Slide ON / Slide OFF. Determines if the note will respond to slide events.
Invert Porta - Inverts the portamento state for this note. If the global portamento (see Misc Channel Settings) for this channel is off, for this note it is on and vice versa.
Green box - Click on this to select the color channel group the note is on. See (10).
NOTE: If the note you double-click is a part of a selection, then the properties you set apply to all notes in that selection. The Time section is not available in that case, because the selected notes might have different length or start point.
Change the Start Time (note position) and Duration (note length) for the selected note. For each setting the LCD adjusts bar:step:tick. From the screenshot above the note starts on bar 1, step 5 tick 000 (no ticks). The next line shows it's 2 steps in duration.
This menu provides many important functions for working with the Piano roll, such as copying and pasting notes, converting color groups, etc. You can access Piano roll's menu by clicking the Piano roll menu button (1). For more information, see the Piano Roll menu page.
Piano roll action NOTE: Some keyboard modifiers apply only to Draw mode ( Alt Bypass snap (very useful when combined with other modifiers). Alt+A Arpeggiator. Alt+B View note helpers. Alt+C Change color of selected note/s (to selected color group). Alt+E Riff machine. Alt+G Ungroup selected notes. Alt+N Switch waveform helper view (when available). Alt+Q Quantize. Alt+V Switch Ghost channels ON/OFF. Alt+Mouse wheel Change the selected note property of the note the mouse pointer is on or near. Alt+Arrow keys Nudge the position of the selected note/s OR all notes if no selection is made. Ctrl+A Select All. Ctrl+B Duplicate selection, or all notes in zoom range if nothing is selected, to the right. Works also with time-line selections. Ctrl+C Copy selection. Ctrl+V Paste selection. Ctrl+X Cut selection. Ctrl+M Import MIDI file. Ctrl+Q Quick quantize. Ctrl+Left-click Select. Ctrl+Shift+Left-click Add to selection. Ctrl+Right-click Zoom on selection/Drag to make zoom selection (zoom on release). Double Left-click on note. Open note properties. Double Right-click or X1 button on Ghost note Swap to Ghost channel to edit the note. Left-Shift+Left-click (on Piano roll) Add and resize notes (move mouse L/R after click and hold to resize). Left-Shift+Right-click Pan view. Middle mouse button Pan view (hold and drag left/right). Right-click Delete Selected Note/s. Left-Alt+Right-click Audio preview. Right-Alt+Right-click Quantize selected. Right-Shift+Left-click Slice notes (click above/below note and drag vertical). Right-Shift+Right-click Slice notes & delete smallest part (click above/below note and drag vertical). Shift+G Group selected notes. Shift(any)+Left-click (on note) Clone note/s (drag while holding note/s). Move split / resize chord (when holding split / end of chord). Shift+Mouse wheel Nudge note position of the note the mouse pointer is on or near.