Do you want to improve your FL Studio workflow? Then this article is for you! Every DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) has lots of shortcuts, a couple you might already know as they’re the same in every program; like ctrl+c for copying and ctrl+s for saving. Others you might not know, but are very handy. Especially in a DAW like FL Studio. This article points out the shortcuts; the most important keyboard and mouse shortcuts!
Note: When you want to use FL Studio’s shortcuts, make sure you don’t use the ‘typing keyboard as your piano’ option. Hit ctrl + T to switch between typing and piano keyboard.
File operations and basics
Most of these shortcuts you probably already know, but do you use them?
Ctrl + O — Open a project.
Ctrl + S — Save File.
Ctrl + Shift + S — Save project as (at this window you can also save as wav or mp3).
Space — Start and stop song/pattern.
L — Switch between song and pattern mode.
Ctrl + M — Toggle Metronome.
Patterns
I find it quite annoying to scroll through patterns to end up at the pattern you want, chances are you go to fast. The following shortcuts will improve your workflow in the pattern view.
– and + — Go to previous and next pattern.
F4 — Go to next empty pattern.
Shift + Left Click — Hold shift and left click the green squares to select multiple channels in your pattern view. (Especially handy for copying and pasting!)
Alt + Del — Delete selected channels.
Alt + Arrow Up/Down — Move selected channel(s) up or down.
Piano roll and playlist
These are the shortcuts for the standard tools to edit your notes or patterns.
P — Pencil tool
B — Paint/Brush Tool
E — Select Tool
D — Delete tool
T — Mute tool
However, I usually only use the pencil tool and shortcuts to select, delete and copy notes or patterns. These might be the most important to improve your workflow. When the Pen or Brush Tool is selected use the following shortcuts:
Shift + Left Click — Clone selected notes or patterns. By holding shift and left clicking on one of the selected notes/patterns, you clone the whole selection. Release shift to get full movement, instead of locked horizontal movement.
Ctrl + Left Click –– Select multiple notes or patterns. Drag your mouse to select multiple notes and patterns in one single swipe.
Ctrl + Shift + Left Click — Select multiple notes or patterns in multiple swipes or clicks.
Del — Delete selection.
Ctrl + Scroll — Zoom in/out horizontally.
Alt + Scroll — Zoom in/out vertically.
Ctrl + Right click — Hold and drag to zoom in on selection.
When you want to edit or adjust your loop selection (the red area), you don’t have to change to your select tool. Just click on the timeline (where the green arrow is, see image below) with one of the following shortcuts:
Ctrl + Left Click (hold) — Make loop selection.
Ctrl + Left Click — Remove loop selection.
Right Click — Adjust loop selection size. Depending on which side of the loop selection is closest to where you click, the loop selection will adjust to where your cursor is.
Mixer
These 4 shortcuts are all you need to up your workflow in FL Studio’s mixer.
Alt + Arrow Left/Right — Move selected mixer track(s) left or right.
Ctrl + Shift + Left Click — Select multiple mixer tracks.
F2 — Rename selected mixer track.
S — Solo selected mixer track.
I’m confident that with these keyboard shortcuts you will definitely improve your workflow in FL Studio, which will result in more productive music production sessions. Keep in mind that this is the selection of shortcuts that I use the most, there may be more for you! Here is a complete list of all the keyboard shortcuts in FL Studio.