PLAYLIST

The Playlist

The Playlist is the place where all the individual elements of a musical piece are arranged into a complete song. The Playlist window (15) is comprised of multi-purpose 'Clip Tracks', these can host Patterns Clips, Audio Clips and Automation Clips.

NOTE: Pattern Clips can hold two types of data, MIDI notes and/or controller movements (stored as 'event automation'). Video tutorials are available on the Image-Line YouTube Channel.

1. Playlist Menu Button & Playlist Snap Selector.
2. Tools - Draw / Pencil ( Shift+P); Paint / Brush ( Shift+B); Erase ( Shift+D); Mute (T); Slip ( Shift+S); Cut ( Alt + Right-Shift); Select ( Shift+E); Zoom to selection ( Shift+Z). Play selection ( Y).
3. Clip Select Menu & Project Picker - Left-click - The menu at the top of the Playlist to open the menu of Clips ready to be placed in the Clip Tracks area (15). Right-click - to open the Project Picker. Once a Clip is selected it can be added to the Playlist by Left-clicking on an empty Clip Track space. Alternatively Right-click the Clip-type Focus tabs (10) to see menu-selections of Clips unique to each type.
4. Play Position Marker - Displays the current playback position, can be ( Left-clicked & dragged).
5. Song Loop - Right-click a Time Marker and select the option 'Song loop' See (11) for more information on adding Time Markers. The 'Song loop' marker (note the down facing arrow) defines the repeat point for a playing project, repeats are not played when a song is rendered although the marker can be used to define render length. TIP: The Repeat Marker is ignored during rendering except for the special case where the marker is set beyond the end of the last Playlist data. This will force the project to be rendered to the point set by the marker, useful for ensuring decaying effect sounds are captured. LIVE: The song markers can also be used to control live playback & performance.
6. Timeline Selection - ( Ctrl+Left-click) & drag in the bar-count area to make a vertical selection across all tracks. (Shift+Left-click) & drag to copy-move selection. Timeline Selections will play in loop mode or render as a single section. Actually we cheated a bit with the screen shot, while only the selected portion of the Playlist will play, any portions of a Clip outside the selected area will also turn red (i.e. be selected), however these out-of-bounds clip-parts won't play. NOTE: See here to learn more about using the time-line selection to add or delete time from the Playlist.
7. Horizontal Zoom (Timeline Zoom) - Click and drag on the left or right edge of the horizontal scroll handle. Alternatively place the mouse cursor over the location to zoom and ( Ctrl + mouse wheel). Maximum Zoom/Snap resolution may be increased by changing the Project Timebase (PPQ) setting (F11), in the General Project settings. The default PPQ should provide adequate zoom/resolution for most situations.
8. Maximize Playlist - Maximizes/minimizes the Playlist.
9. Vertical Zoom - Left-click & drag up/down to vertical-zoom the Clip-area. You can resize individual tracks by dragging on the dividers between tracks in the name area. Right-click on an empty Playlist track area to zoom to full view.
10. Clip-type Focus & Options Selector - Left-click: each tab to determine the Clip type that will be selected (Audio, Automation or Pattern Clip) when Clips of these types are stacked in a Playlist Clip Track and selected with the mouse. Each tab also contains some options unique to each Clip type. Right-click: each tab to select Clips of that category to be added to the Playlist (this is an alternative to the Clip Select Menu (3)
11. Time Markers - Add by selecting ( Alt+T) or ' Time markers > Add time marker' . Left-click, hold & drag a marker to reposition it. Once the first Time marker is added to a project, it can be Right-clicked to Add a new marker, Delete it or Rename. Time markers can also be used for selections & live jumping (see below).
12. Track Options & Labels - Right-click to open Playlist track options including:
    • Rename - Renames or re-colors the channel. Click on the Channel name and type to rename, Left-click on the color square (shown below) to open the re-color dialog, or Right-click to randomly assign a color from a palette pre-approved by the Image-Line Aesthetics Committee. Once the name dialog is open, press ( F2) to randomly select colors OR ( F3) to select the last used color.

      

    • Set icon - Choose from an icon list.

    • Auto name - Automatically names the track after the first Pattern Clip in the track.
    • Auto name children - All Clips are renamed based on the Track's name.
    • Performance settings - Performance mode must be selected for these to be available.
    • Size - Select a default height for the Clip Track in percent. This allows relative scaling to the other tracks. TIP: To reset a track height ( Alt + Click) on a track resize handle/divider.
    • Lock to this size - Prevents the Clip Track's vertical height rescaling.
    • Group with above track - All tracks in a grouped can be soloed/muted by ( Alt + Right-clicking) on the mute switch of any track in the group.
    • Auto color group - Sets all tracks in the group to the same color as the track that was used to open this menu.
    • Current clip source - Lists Clips used in the current track.
    • Lock to content - Locks the Clip Track to the Pattern first inserted on the track. Clicking on the track will then always add that Pattern (number) to the track. NOTE: Older projects made using the legacy Pattern Block tracks are loaded with each Clip track locked to a specific Pattern number, so that Clip tracks behave in the same manner as Pattern Block tracks did. See the From Blocks to Clips video tutorial.
    • Merge pattern clips - Merges the Pattern Clips on the Clip Track into a single Clip. NOTE: Save before using this function, there is no undo.
    • Send pattern instances here - Moves selected Pattern instances to the selected track. Used when manually converting Block Track based projects to Clip Tracks.
    • Insert one/Delete - Inserts a Clip Track or deletes the selected Clip Track.
    • Move up/down - Moves the selected track up/down the stack.

    NOTE: Drag an audio file (from the Browser, for example) and drop it on the Track label area to auto-create an Audio Clip and auto-name the Clip track to match the file.

13. Track Mute - Mutes/solos a Playlist track. Left-click to mute/un-mute a track. Right-click to solo a track. ( Alt + Right-click) mute/solo the group.
14. Clip Menus - The Clip menu can be found at the top-left corner of each Clip. Click to open. Options may vary depending on Clip type.
15. Clip Tracks - There are three different Clip types: Audio Clips (holding audio recordings), Automation Clips (automation data) and Pattern Clips (note & event-automation data). To reorder Clip Tracks, hold ( Shift & mouse-wheel) over the Clip Track label area. NOTE: The three Clip-types can be visually layered in the same Clip-track, simply drag one on top of another.
16. Track divider - Resize - Click and drag vertically to resize individual tracks. Group tracks - Drag upward (and keep going) until the track groups with the one above. Do the same thing to ungroup a track OR right-click the track header area and select 'Group with above track'.

Timeline & Time Markers

Time is displayed horizontally in the Playlist (in bars displayed along the top of the window). The grid resolution is determined by:

• The window's 'Snap' value (). Alternatively, select 'Main' to apply the global snap value (for all windows where snap applies) defined in the Recording panel.

• The Zoom setting (7). That is, the snap resolution increases as the Playlist is zoomed in, until it reaches the maximum set by the Snap value. Note how Playlist lines change in number as the Playlist is zoomed.
• The 'Project Timebase (PPQ) setting' (F11). Higher PPQ settings offer greater zoom levels and so higher resolution, although the default setting of 96 PPQ is adequate for most situations.

Playback can be controlled from the Main Transport controls or the Play button as indicated above.

• Relocate the playback position - Click on the upper timeline (Bar numbers) where you want the playback position indicator to start. You can use the ( Home) key to reset to the song beginning.
• Play notes straddling the playback position marker - When stopping and starting you can play notes that cross the playback position by opening the Audio Options and selecting 'Play truncated notes'.
• Timeline markers (11) can be used to label parts of your song (such as 'chorus' for example) and also as 'jump to' locators OR to quickly select a region (between markers). For information on working with Markers see the Time Marker Menu Section below.

Patterns, Audio Clips and Automation Clips

This section covers general editing and Playlist operations. For specific details on using Audio Clips, Automation Clips and Patterns Clips, please see the following pages:

• Pattern Clips

• Audio Clips

• Automation Clips

NOTE: Audio, Automation and Pattern Clips can share the same Playlist tracks, as shown above and will overlap, with transparency, to aid with the grouping of related Clips.

Playlist Clip Focus

The Clip focus selector (10), is used to focus Clip types. This is particularly useful when Clips are stacked, the focused Clip is brought to the top for selection and editing. To select all clips in a layered stack, use ( Ctrl + Left-click), then they can be moved together.

Audio

• Right-click tab - Show Audio Clip menu.
• Zero-Cross - Slicing & resize edits will be made at the nearest zero-crossing to the slice point. Useful to avoid clicks at the slice location.
• Stretch - When the left or right edge of the Clip is selected and dragged the Clip will be stretched according to the Audio Clip Time stretching settings. To maintain pitch while the sample length is stretched, select an option other than 'Resample' in the Stretch Method field. See the section Working with the stretch/pitch functions for more details on synchronizing/beatmatching audio clips to the project tempo.

Automation

• Right-click tab - Show Automation Clip menu.
• Step - Sets the automation Clip curve editor in 'step editing' mode. Left-click & drag in the Clip to create a "free hand" curve where a new control point is defined for every step in the timeline (steps depend on the current snap settings). Hold SHIFT while dragging to draw "pulse" lines (straight vertical/horizontal lines only). Note that each new segment created this way uses the last tension set while adding a segment.
• Slide - Preserves the relative distance between a dragged control point and all control points following it.

Patterns (notes & events)

These control the color display for Pattern Clips.

• Right-click tab - Show Pattern Clip menu.
• Note - Uses the parent pattern's (notes & event) colors. Note color is set from within the Piano roll. Event data always displays in pink, so anyone uncomfortable about being seen using pink in the Playlist needs to 'suck it in' and stop being a 'big cry baby' about it. Alternatively, don't use this setting.
• Chan - Uses the parent channel's color settings (Right-click the channel button and use the color selector on the Channel re-name pop-up panel).
• Pat - Uses the parent pattern's color settings.

Project Picker

The Project Picker ( Ctrl+Alt+F8) can also be opened by Right-clicking the Clip Selector (3) or Mouse X1 button on the Playlist, Piano roll or FL Studio background wallpaper. Plugin Picker video tutorial here .

• Preview items - Place the Mouse Cursor over items without clicking. When an item is previewed related Patterns or Channels display a yellow tick. For example, the image above shows that two Patterns use the Sytrus Channel previewed.
• Select items - Click on items and the Project Picker will close automatically.
• Change Category ( Mouse Wheel) - Roll the Mouse Wheel when the picker is open to change category (All, Pattern or Channel view).
• Close ( Esc) - Press the Escape key, Right-click on the Project Picker background or select an item.

Working with Clips

Take the time to learn the Playlist keyboard shortcuts associated with your most common Clip operations. In particular, the shortcuts that swap between editing tool modes (2) are great time savers.

Selection Methods (while in Draw or Paint mode)

Most commonly you will be in Draw () or Paint () mode, if so holding (Shift) will swap between Paint & Draw modes, although the cursor does not change in appearance. Further, holding the ( Ctrl) key will temporarily enable Select mode:

• Select a rectangular area in the audio or pattern tracks - Hold ( Ctrl) & drag to define the selection area with the left mouse button.
• Add to existing selection - Hold ( Ctrl + Shift) while making a rectangular selection to add to the existing selection.
• Select a group of pattern tracks - Hold ( Ctrl) & drag up/down inside the pattern name area on the left side of the screen.
• Select a time region - Hold ( Ctrl) & drag left/right inside the timeline (6) area.
• Select a marked time region - Double-click a time marker in the timeline to select the time region from this marker to the next one (or to the end of the song if is the last one).
• Select the region between markers - Click (Ctrl + Left-click) on the left edge of the left-most marker bounding the region to be selected.

Universal Clip Editing Methods

• Snap settings () - Snap controls how Clips move against the background grid and many of the other editing functions below. Set this to 'line' if you want the Clips to snap to bar boundaries or to 'none' if you want to freely position & slice Clips.

• Inserting Clips - To insert a Clip, select the Clip you want to place from the Clip menu (3) OR Right-click the Clip-type selectors (10) to choose Clips of the type selected. Next, in draw () or paint () mode, Left-click on an empty area of a Clips track where you want to place the Clip. Paint mode allows you to draw multiple instances of the Clip at once (hold the mouse button & drag).

• Insert time into the Playlist - Hold ( Ctrl), click and drag on the time-line at the top of the Playlist starting from the point you want to insert space into the timeline AND for the duration of the insertion you want. With ( Ctrl) still held press the ( Insert) key on your keyboard.
• Delete a time selection - Hold ( Ctrl), click and drag on the time-line at the top of the Playlist to select the region to be deleted. Press ( Ctrl+Del) to delete all patterns in the current selection and move clips to the right of the selection into the gap.
• Select Clips - To make a selection of more than one Clip. Use the Select tool and click and drag a rectangle around the clips to be selected. To add clips to this selection hold the ( Shift) key and make further selections.

  OR if you are in Draw or Paint mode, hold ( Ctrl) key and you will drop into Select mode while the Ctrl key is held. Holding the ( Ctrl + Shift) keys will allow you to add Clips to an existing selection.

  OR use the Magic lasso feature. Move your mouse pointer in a loop that encloses the Clips you want to select (no clicking required, it's 'magic' remember). Make sure you have no Clips selected before you perform the lasso action (Right-click the empty Playlist to deselect all Clips and make another selection).

• Zoom to area - ( Ctrl + Right-click) and drag over a selection of the Playlist. Un-Zoom area - ( Ctrl + Right-click) anywhere on the Playlist (don't drag).
• Zoom to a Clip - ( Ctrl + Shift + Right-click) on a Clip will maximize the zoom of the Playlist to the selected Clip. To Un-Zoom Clip - ( Ctrl + Right-click) anywhere on the Playlist (don't drag in this mode since that is how to zoom to selection).
• Delete/Erase a Clip - Right-click the target Clip or use the left mouse button if you are in erase () mode.

• Copy/Paste Clips - Make a selection, release the mouse and any keys held, then hold the ( Shift) key, then click on the selection and drag. A copy of the selection will follow the mouse cursor. Release the selection when the Clips are in the alternative location. NOTE: In 'Slice tool' mode this will initiate a slice, not copy. OR Make a selection, press ( Ctrl + C) to copy, then scroll the Playlist so that the starting bar for the paste location is at the left edge of the Playlist and press ( Ctrl + V).
• Duplicate selection - Make a selection and press ( Ctrl+B). The selection, or all Clips if no selection is made, will be duplicated to the right of the original selection. To define a specific repeat interval, make a time-line selection 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 Clips duplicated by the Clip selection. In this way, Clips outside the time-line selection can be duplicated according to the time-line interval.
• Slicing Clips - Use the Slice tool (), go to a Clip, click and hold the left mouse button, then drag vertically through the Clip/s to be sliced. OR...
  • No drag slicing - In Slice tool mode, hold ( Right-Shift), then click and hold on the Clip, position the knife horizontally and release the mouse where you want to slice. NOTE: In other tool modes this will initiate a copy-drag, not slice.
  • Slicing in Paint or Pencil mode - You can drop into slice mode by holding ( Alt + Right-Shift), then click and hold on the Clip, position the knife horizontally and release the mouse where you want to slice. If you want snapping release the ( Alt) key after you have clicked on the Clip, then horizontally position the knife (now with snapping) and release the mouse button where you want to slice. You can engage and disengage the ( Alt) key while dragging horizontally if you change your mind about snap mode.

  NOTES: For Audio Clips the Zero-cross setting on the Clip Focus selector and Snap () setting will influence precisely where the Clip will slice. Hold the ( Alt) key to temporarily disable snap for precision slicing. If you don't feel the maximum zoom provides enough resolution, increase the PPQ setting in the Project > General options.

• Slip-editing - Resized or sliced Clips are just a window over the original data (data still exists outside the visible Clip boundaries). You can either move the start/end positions of the Clip without moving the data in the Clip OR reposition the data while maintaining the start/end positions. In Pencil or Brush mode hold ( Shift) and drag on the start or end of the clip. To 'slip' the data within the window, select the slip tool ( Shift+S) then Left-click & drag inside the Clip and move the mouse left/right. NOTES: 1. The Playlist Menu option 'Allow resizing from the left' should be enabled to allow Slip-editing from the start. 2. The Snap settings will determine how the data slips. Hold the ( Alt) key will temporarily disable snap for fine-tuning. Perfect for aligning vocals to the beat.

• Ripple-editing - Moves the start/end of the Clip while preserving the data at the start/end by 'slipping' the data at the opposite end to extend/shorten the length of the Clip. Select the slip tool ( Shift+S) then Left-click & drag on the start/end of the Clip. NOTE: The Snap settings will determine how the data slips. Hold the ( Alt) key will temporarily disable snap for fine-tuning. Perfect for aligning vocals to the beat.

• Swap Clips - Open the Clip menu (the small icon in the top left corner of each Clip) and from the Select source channel menu, pick an alternative Clip.

• Edit Clip channel settings - To open the Channel Settings associated with a Clip, open the Clip menu (the small icon in the top left corner of each Clip) and select Channel Settings or double-click the title-bar of the Clip.

• Group Clips - ( Shift+G) - Grouping functions so that selecting, moving or deleting any Clip from a group will cause all others notes in the group to be selected, moved or deleted, etc. Any number of groupings may be created. To group Clips - make a selection using the Select tool, then use the Group function. Activated / deactivate grouping: Use the Note / Pattern Grouping switch on the Recording Panel. Deselecting the Grouping switch will disable Clip grouping behavior until the switch is reactivated.
• Move clips vertically - Make a selection and hold ( Shift) and press the Up/Down arrow keys. If no selection is made then all the Clips will be moved.
• Audition a Clip - Select the Playback tool and click on the Clip of interest in the Playlist OR ( Alt + Right-click ) on the Clip in the Playlist OR Select Preview from the Clip menu (the small down arrow at the start of each Clip) and press the Stop button in the Transport panel to stop the preview).

• Clone Clips - Open the Clip menu (icon at the top left corner of each) and select 'Make Unique'. By default, all instances of a given Clip share the same channel or data. To make edits to the source data without affecting the other instances use the make unique feature. The Clip channel will be cloned and the clone will be assigned to the Clip that was edited, making it 'unique'. In the case of Audio Clips where you want to clone the audio file on disk, use 'Make unique as sample'. Use this when you want to physically edit/manipulate the sample data and change it in some way.

• Rescale Clip placement - Make a selection then ( Right-Shift) and click on the right-side of the right-most Clip, then drag. Holding the ( Alt) key will snap to 25% increments.
• Beat slicing - You can split your Clips into even pieces for each bar or beat in the timeline. Open the Clip menu and from the Chop into menu select Bar or Beat. Beat (Random) splits the Audio Clip in beats and reorders the resulting pieces in a random order.

Audio Clip Specific Features

Audio Clips have a few unique properties, as discussed on the Audio Clip page.

Automation Clip Specific Features

Automation Clips have a range of unique properties, as discussed on the Automation Clip page.

Pattern Clip Specific Features

Pattern Clips have a few unique properties, as discussed on the Pattern Clip page.

Clip Menus

Under the menu icons at the top left corner of each Clip you will find a menu with the following options, depending on the Clip type selected:

• Pattern / Audio / Automation Clip
  • Preview - Previews/plays the Clip.
  • Edit pattern (Patterns) - Opens the Piano roll.
  • Select source pattern/channel - Allows you to change the source data for the Clip.
  • Channel settings (Audio / Automation Clips) - Opens the channel settings for the Clip.
  • Rename - Renames the Clip.
  • Make unique - Clones the original Clip so that edits on the new Clip do not affect other instances. NOTE: With Audio Clips the original audio file is re-used in the new Audio Clip channel. Alternatively use 'Make unique as sample' (see below).
  • Select all similar Clips - Selects all instances of the same Clip in the Playlist.
• Region
  • Select region - Selects a region if existing.
  • Chop (Audio Clips) - Opens a sub-menu with chopping options. Slices the Clip into rhythmic pieces aligned with the grid.
• Sample (Audio Clips)
  • Make unique as sample - Clones the original Audio Clip AND clones the sample file on disk. Use this when you want to physically edit the sample data and change it in some way.
  • Edit sample - Opens the sample in Edison audio editor.
  • Pitch-correct sample - Opens the sample in Newtone pitch correction & time-stretching editor.
  • Detect tempo - Opens the tempo detection dialog and offers to set FL Studio to the same tempo.
  • Fit to tempo - Fits the sample to the project tempo. You can also use this to lock samples to the project tempo so they stretch as the to fit a new tempo when it is changed.
• Automate (Audio Clips) - Opens a sub-menu with the following options:
  • Volume / Pan - Create Automation Clips for the sample Volume or Pan.
  • Crossfade with - Creates a crossfade Volume Automation Clip envelope for overlapping Audio Clips. Apply this macro to both clips to create the complete crossfade.

Playlist Menu

The Playlist menu button (1) displays many useful commands for managing the Playlist.

Edit

• Cut ( Ctrl+X) - Cuts all selected pattern bars and Audio Clips to the clipboard.
• Copy ( Ctrl+C) - Copies all selected pattern bars and Audio Clips to the clipboard.
• Paste ( Ctrl+V) - Pastes pattern bars and Audio Clips from the clipboard.
• Duplicate ( Ctrl+B) - Duplicate the selection to the right of the current location. If no selection is made all patterns are duplicated.
• Delete ( Del) - Deletes all selected pattern bars and Audio Clips. If no selection is made deletes all pattern bars and Audio Clips.
• Shift left / right ( Shift + Left arrow) / ( Shift + Right arrow) - Shifts the current selection left / right by 1 snap-unit.
• Shift up / down ( Shift + Up arrow) / ( Shift + Down arrow) - Shifts current selection up / down by 1 track. If no selection is made all patterns are moved.
• Allow resizing from the left ( Ctrl + Home) - Allows the start of Clips to be 'Slip-edited'. Hold the ( Shift) key while in Pencil or Bush tool mode to engage Slip-editing and then click on the start/end of the Clip and drag.
• Mute / Unmute - Mute (silence) or un-mute the selected Clips/s or Clip groups.
• Insert space ( Ctrl+Ins) - Creates an empty space that matches the current selection ( Ctrl + Click & Drag) on the bar numbers at the top of the Playlist) by shifting all the following Pattern Clips forward.
• Delete space ( Ctrl+Del) - Erases all patterns in the current selection and shifts Clips to the right of the deleted section, left to close the gap.
• Merge pattern clips - Merges the selected Pattern Clips into a single Clip. NOTE: Save before using this edit, there is no undo.
• Merge similar pattern clips - As above, but merges similar repetitions everywhere in the Playlist. NOTE: The process creates a new 'merged' Pattern, the original Patterns still exist. There is no undo to reverse the Playlist changes.

Tools

• Quick quantize ( Ctrl+Q) - Aligns all selected patterns to the snap setting set in the Snap Selector.

View

• Grid Color( Ctrl+Alt+G) - Opens a dialog box that lets you choose a color for the Playlist grid.
• Invert grid - Changes the Playlist bar-grid lines from light to dark.
• Track separators - Track separators are the horizontal lines separating Clip Tracks when this switch is selected.
• Time segments - Change the vertical Playlist light/dark background shading according to the option selected. The default is 'Bars'.
• Behind clips - Choose the background shading of Clips.
• Content in title bars - Displays Clip contents when in 'Tile' mode, activated by vertical zoom setting.
• Shadow - Ads a shadow beneath Clips.
• Precise time indicator - Uses a vertical line through the editor window to show playback and edit position.

Snap

Snap determines how events will move relative to the Playlist grid and how quantization aligns events (NOTE: holding the Alt key temporarily sets snap to 'none'). The options are:

• Main - Snap is set to the Global snap value.
• Line - Clips snap to the nearest grid-line, notice that the grid changes resolution as the Playlist is Zoomed horizontally (7).
• Cell - Clips snap to the start of the grid-cell they fall in.
• (none) - No snapping. Movement is limited only by the Project Timebase (PPQ) setting (F11). NOTE: Snapping can be temporarily disabled by holding the Alt key when dragging Clips.
• Steps 1/6 to 1 (step) - Absolute grid values equal to the nominated fraction of a step.
• Beats 1/6 to 1 (beat) - Absolute beats values equal to the nominated fraction of a beat.
• Bar - 1 bar.
• Events - Relative to existing events. This is useful to show the boundaries of sliced events when they are butted against each other, as events surrounding the selected event change color.

Select

• Deselect (Ctrl+D) - Undo any selection.
• Select all ( Ctrl+A) - Selects all Clips.
• Select by selected source (Shift+C) - Selects all Pattern Clips associated with the currently selected source Clip.
• Select muted - Select all Clips that have been muted (by the mute selection tool).
• Invert selection - (Shift+I) Inverts the selection (what was selected is now deselected and what was deselected is now selected).
• Select time around selection (Ctrl+Enter) - Selects the time-line range occupied by the Clips currently selected in the Playlist. If no selection is made the Zoomed range will be selected.
• Select previous time (Ctrl+Left arrow) - Shifts a selection (made by Ctrl+Left-click and swiping the time-bar) by its own width to the right.
• Select next time (Ctrl+Right arrow) - Shifts a selection (made by Ctrl+Left-click and swiping the time-bar) by its own width to the left.

Group

• Group notes - (Shift+G) - Group selected notes. Grouping functions so that selecting, moving or deleting any Clip in a group will cause all others notes in the group to be selected, moved or deleted, etc. Any number of groupings may be created. To group Clips: make a selection using the Select tool, then use the Group function. Activated / 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.
• Ungroup notes - (Alt+G) - Ungroup selected notes. Select one Clip in the group then use this function to ungroup all Clips in the group.

Zoom

Contains a submenu with a set of quick zooming levels: Far ( 1); Medium ( 2); Close ( 3); Best fit ( 4); On Selection ( 5).

On Selection zooms the time line to fit the selection (the command will be disabled if no time region is selected in the timeline).

Time markers

Markers can be used to label parts of your song (such as 'chorus' for example), define regions or to change live Playlist playback behavior. Playlist menu options are:

• Add one ( Alt + T) - Add a time marker (11) above the time-line. Type a name for the marker and press Enter. The marker can be dragged into the correct location after naming. If the project already has markers, then Right-click a marker and select Add new marker from the pop-up menu. NOTE: Time markers are used to annotate the Playlist and can also serve as live performance points (see marker type below).
• Add two - Make a time-line selection (6) and use this option. Markers will be added at the start and end of the selection.
• Add one every - Select from Bar, 2 bars, 4 bars or 8 bars. You must make a time-line selection (6) first.
• Delete - Delete the marker/s in the time-line selection (6). If no selection is made then all markers are deleted.
• Make loop - Changes the marker/s in the time-line selection (6) to the Loop type. If no selection is made then all markers are changed to loop. Right-click markers to choose other marker types.

NOTE: Check the Playlist Menu option View > Time segments > Markers to see the Playlist grid shaded by marker region.

Working with Time Markers

• Reposition a marker - Left-click & drag the marker from its left-most edge and release when desired. Markers can be dragged past existing markers without disturbing them.
• Using the time line - Right-click on the time line to add a marker at the desired location and select 'Add marker'.
• Marker Right-click menu - Right-click markers to select from:
  • Add / Delete marker - Add a new or delete the current marker.
  • Rename - Edit the name at the pop-up name dialog and press enter.
  • Move content left / right - This option moves this content to the left or right of the next markers content region. A markers 'content' is defined as those Clips between the current marker and the next. NOTE: Selecting the menu option View > Time segments > Markers will display marker region/s by shading the Playlist.
  • Action - Choose between:
    • None - The marker has no effect. Default type used where markers are just labels.
    • Loop - When the playback reaches the next marker playback will jump back to the Loop marker creating a loop.
    • Skip - Playback will jump to the next marker skipping any Playlist data between them.
    • Pause - Playback will Pause unless the preceding marker is the Loop type.
    • Song loop - Playback will return to this marker when the end of all data in the Playlist is reached. NOTE: Placing this marker type beyond the end of the last data will also cause FL Studio to render to that point.

Live song jumps

You can using a MIDI keyboard, typing keyboard shortcuts (see below) or FF/RW transport keys on a multimedia keyboard to jump between time markers to create innovative live performances. Video tutorial here.

To use a MIDI keyboard:

1. Set the MIDI options 'Song marker jump MIDI channel' to the same MIDI channel as your controller. NOTE: To play plugin instruments just use different MIDI channel to the 'Song marker jump MIDI channel'.
2. Turn OFF the Audio Option 'Reset Plugins on Transport'. This should give a faster and less glitchy response when jumping and moving the song position marker.
3. Turn ON the Audio Option 'Play truncated notes'. This ensures any notes started before a jump point, and crossing it, still play.
4. Select 'Live mode' from the Playlist menu. This changes the jump-to behavior so that jumps happen on bar divisions and also shows the jump-to points (as a gray position marker).

NOTE: Link the Channel mute switches to buttons on your MIDI controller to mute and unmute instruments during a performance for added variation.

Once markers have been added and their type defined they will respond as follows:

NOTE: 1. Keyboard shortcuts apply to the Number Pad only.

Current Clip source

Shows the list of Clips available in the project. The currently selected Clip will be highlighted.

Performance mode ( Ctrl+P)

Performance mode is designed to trigger and loop individual Playlist tracks and clips to create live performances. Performance mode is explained in detail here.

Center ( 0)

Center (grid) centers the Playlist's grid so the play position marker is in the middle. Useful when you want to see the playing position in a long sequence.

Detached

Detached - Detaches the Playlist from the FL Studio workspace, allowing it to be dragged to another monitor.

Playlist keyboard shortcuts

	Playlist action
Alt	Bypass snap (very useful when combined with other modifiers)
Alt+Up Arrow	Move selected pattern Up
Alt+Down Arrow	Move selected pattern Down
Ctrl+Alt+G	Grid Color
Alt+P	Open the 'Current project' folder in the Browser
Alt+Q	Quick quantize
Alt+T	Add Time marker
Alt+/* and Ctrl+Alt+/*	Jump to Next/Previous song marker (if present)
Alt+ Right-click	Audition the clip selected.
Alt+ Right-Shift	Engage snap free 'Slice Mode', release Alt after clicking on the Clip to use snapping.
Ctrl+A	Select All
Ctrl+B	Duplicate selection (or all Clips in zoom range if nothing is selected) to the right.
Ctrl+C	Copy selection
Ctrl+V	Paste selection
Ctrl+X	Cut selection
Ctrl+Left-click	Select
Ctrl+Shift+Left-click	Add to selection
Ctrl+Shift+Right-click	Zoom to selected Clip
Ctrl+Right-click	Zoom on selection / Drag to make zoom selection (zoom on release)
Insert Key	Slice Clip at mouse cursor position
Double Left-click on clip/pattern	Open clip/pattern properties (e.g. Channel settings, Piano roll)
Home	Move the playback marker to the start of the Playlist.
Left-Shift+Left-click (on Playlist)	Add and resize clip/pattern (move mouse L/R after click and hold to resize). Must be in pencil mode.
Left-Shift+Right-click	Pan view
Middle mouse button	Pan view (hold & drag left/right)
Right-click	Delete selected clip/pattern
Right-Shift+Left-click	Slice clip/pattern (click above/below clip/pattern & drag vertical)
Right-Alt+Right-Shift+Left-click	Vertical Slice clip. Release alt to engage snap.
Right-Shift+Right-click	Slice clip/pattern & delete smallest part (click above/below clip/pattern & drag vertical)
Right-Alt+Right-click	Quantize selected
Right-Alt+Left-click	Mute selected
Shift	Temporarily swaps between Paint & Draw modes
Del	Delete selected clip/pattern source data
Shift+Left-click (on clip/pattern)	Clone (drag while holding clip/pattern)
Shift+mouse-wheel (on Clips)	Nudge Clip position
Shift+mouse-wheel (on Track label area)	Re-order Clip Tracks
Shift + 0 (zero)	Center playback to playing position (numbers above typing keys)
Shift + 6	Fit Performance Zone to Playlist (numbers above typing keys)
PgUp / PgDown	Zoom in / Zoom out
Pencil tool + Shift	Swap to Brush