Fl studio patterns

Z

ZEKE!!!

New member
Hey,everyone
So,I overheard it is less-tedious and neater to place particular sounds in one pattern;eg(hi-hats shouldn't be where snares are),I don't really understand this,so I'd be so glad if anyone could explain to me this concept and why it is so important,and most of all how to utilize this rule most effectively! Thanks a ton!
 
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but when I organize my patterns I usually put all of my drums into a single channel, the pattern in question containing a drum loop that I pieced together using separate drum hits. I then make various patterns containing different loops for the types of drum beats I want and put them in one channel labeled "percussion".

Sometimes people will use one whole track for a specific percussion instrument. For example, track one will be for the kick, track two will be for the snare, and so forth. I personally find this method to be a waste of space, finding it more convenient and easier for me to put all of my percussion into a single pattern. I would suggest doing what works best for you; everyone has a different type of workflow and they should do what's best and most comfortable for them so they can be more efficient and not hate making music lol.
 
Let me elaborate further on what I mean:It was explained to me that,the most prominent rule when it comes to patterns is WHAT you group in each one. For example,snares do not belong in the same pattern as hi-hats and should be grouped with crashes or something,the reason for this I was told was to help arrange efficiently in the playlist;something I have found rather hard(if you could help me on that too,thanks)
So,basically,I just need some explanation on how to not crowd my pattern if i choose your everything-in-one style,or how to group different instruments if i were to go with that also
 
what they mean is that in fl you arrange the song with patterns

like if you put everything in its own pattern you then have more control over the various instruments when you arrange the song

for example you might want to have the hats cut in some parts of the song but if they are within the same pattern as the snare you can only cut them together and not solely the hats

however when it comes to layers i wouldn't put them all in separate patterns. For example if your kick drum consists of three layered kicks i would keep them in the same pattern most of the time. Unless you want to play with the layers during the song progression. You can be quite creative with these type of things.

hope that makes some sense
 
Last edited:
I don't think there is any time that you SHOULDN'T separate each sound into its own pattern, it can only help and takes literally 1 second to click a new pattern before you record each sound. I almost always put each sound in it's own pattern. If you ever want to drop a sound out during a part of the beat and there is 2 sounds on the same pattern, you will have to go back and separate those. It makes arranging much easier with full control over what you want playing a certain time, like Ctothep said.

I guess to simplify, i will label each pattern like "kick", "hi hat", "cymbal", "lead synth", "bells", etc. If you just have patterns called "drums", "melody" Then when you arrange your beat in the playlist you only have 2 options, the drums playing with the melody, or the melody playing alone, or the drums playing alone. Not much control.
 
Last edited:
Super!
However,hitting the right steps in the sequencer becomes a problem as I wouldn't know how it would sound with the other patterns. What if I what i play something that sounds cool yet gets messed up when i place it in the sequencer(because i was unaware of how it sounded with the other instruments). You understand what i mean,right?
 
ZEKE!!! said:
Super!
However,hitting the right steps in the sequencer becomes a problem as I wouldn't know how it would sound with the other patterns. What if I what i play something that sounds cool yet gets messed up when i place it in the sequencer(because i was unaware of how it sounded with the other instruments). You understand what i mean,right?
Click to expand...

I'm not exactly sure what you mean because i think you are calling the playlist the sequencer at some points. FL is kind of separated into 2 parts, the step sequencer, or piano roll, which you make your initial patterns in, and the playlist where you arrange those patterns into a full song. Say you are beginning a beat, you will click "pattern 1" in the playlist and the step sequencer will pop up. click in or record your kick on pattern 1. Click "song mode" and hit play.. Now click "pattern 2" and a blank step sequencer will pop up, click in or record your snare on "pattern 2" put an instance of "pattern 2" right under "pattern 1" in the playlist. If you are on song mode it will play those at the same time and you can try out different placements of your snare in the step sequencer while both are playing in real time. Hit play in song mode, if you notice your snare is out of place by a little bit go into your "pattern 2" step sequencer and move the snare one spot, you will hear the change while both are playing in song mode. When you are in song mode you can always hear how all the sounds are playing together in real time as you click in the steps in the step sequencer. There is no need to be surprised by how something will play together because you can just play the song mode and adjust timing of things in the step sequencer while you are playing both together in the playlist. Not sure if i explained that too well, if you have any other questions just ask.

To make it easier, if you place your pattern in the playlist prior to putting sounds in the step sequencer, there will be no need to ever hear the sequence playing alone, you can always hear what it sounds like with everything else playing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top