Hey guys,
I've been making music for the past 6/7 years with FL Studio.
Lately I'm looking for an easier way to add fills and variations in my beats and melodies. How I achieve this now is cloning an individual pattern and adding the fills or variations in this cloned pattern.
This worked fine for a while but as I'm progressing more and more with my music my FL playlist becomes way too cluttered with small patterns and it's not uncommon for me to end up with 100+ patterns at the end of a track.
If there is an easier way to do this I'd really like to know because it's hard for me to continue working on a track after I let it sit for a few days if my playlist view is cluttered with all sorts of small patterns and I first have to figure out what they do again.
Are there any FL Studio producers here who understand what I'm talking about, or have dealt with the same problem?
Looking for an easier way to incorporate fills and variations into my music (FL STUDIO)
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- KVRAF
- 4329 posts since 26 Jun, 2004
One option is to put patterns in the playlist.
That way you can put your fill patterns in the same row as the others.
That said, I asked myself this exact question at one point, and ended up sticking with the cloned blocks. I have been arranging that way for so long that now I can see my arrangement easily based on the fill pattern placement.
Plus, I like things to me modular and organized.
So the good advice might be to stop doing it now while you can.
I know this is one reason a lot of people love the playlist.
That way you can put your fill patterns in the same row as the others.
That said, I asked myself this exact question at one point, and ended up sticking with the cloned blocks. I have been arranging that way for so long that now I can see my arrangement easily based on the fill pattern placement.
Plus, I like things to me modular and organized.
So the good advice might be to stop doing it now while you can.
I know this is one reason a lot of people love the playlist.
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 3 posts since 6 Nov, 2012
Thanks for the reply!
For me, the playlist method is also all I know and for the past 6/7 years its how I have made my music.
I guess without an easier way I'll keep on doing it like this.
Besides naming all the patterns accordingly, assigning specific colours to groups of patterns and leaving a blank pattern line inbetween different pattern groups, is there any other way to further organize playlist arrangements?
For me, the playlist method is also all I know and for the past 6/7 years its how I have made my music.
I guess without an easier way I'll keep on doing it like this.
Besides naming all the patterns accordingly, assigning specific colours to groups of patterns and leaving a blank pattern line inbetween different pattern groups, is there any other way to further organize playlist arrangements?
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- KVRAF
- 2644 posts since 17 Apr, 2004
Why would you do this?Prophex23 wrote: Besides [SNIP] leaving a blank pattern line in between different pattern groups, is there any other way to further organize playlist arrangements?
Are you putting all drums on all patterns? Are you using the legacy blocks options?
It sounds like you are, and that's your problem. Use the playlist and have each drum element (kick, snare, hats etc.) on it's own track with their own pattern. Put the patterns in linearly on the same track. You can see the drum hits in the playlist (so you know what each one does just by looking at the playlist) and you don't need to put spaces anywhere.
Other than that: merge patterns and the piano roll are your friends.
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- KVRAF
- 4329 posts since 26 Jun, 2004
I would also recommend trying to get a look at what complex projects look like in FL for other people.
+1, 'merge patterns' is a good thing to look at if you are not so obsessed with it being editable afterwards. That cleans things up real quick.
+1, 'merge patterns' is a good thing to look at if you are not so obsessed with it being editable afterwards. That cleans things up real quick.
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- KVRer
- 1 posts since 24 Oct, 2012 from Toronto, Canada
Yes, merge the patterns. I had the same issue with cloning and then trying to add variations and it was very tedious and counter-creative. Once you merge the small patterns into one long block, your mind just switches and it becomes much easier to "visualize" where you need the variations and then add them to the long block.
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- KVRAF
- 21348 posts since 26 Jul, 2005 from Gone
Sounds like you try to get ideas recorded and finalized as soon as they come to you. Maybe stepping away from the DAW concept for a while will help - use whatever instrument you can play to work out something complete before you start, variations and all.
While that might not help with drums, or the arrangement of other instruments, if you take the approach that you have a completed guide track then you can add the other instruments with improvisation in mind and maybe try to play each one through live rather than think too hard about getting it right block by block.
While that might not help with drums, or the arrangement of other instruments, if you take the approach that you have a completed guide track then you can add the other instruments with improvisation in mind and maybe try to play each one through live rather than think too hard about getting it right block by block.