Alright, today I'm going to show you how to create a song on FL Studio.
The version I'm using is 7, but should apply to older versions.

The whole premise here is to make beat patterns and string them all
together to make one whole song.

Gonna use pictures as references, so let's get started.


Here's the basics of the program:



1. File
This is where you'll save your projects and export them into
readable formats, such as MIDI, MP3 and WAV.

2. The Browser
This is where you'll get the intruments provided by the program
in order to use them. In this tutorial, we'll be using "Packs".

3. Sound Channels
This is where you'll put the instruments you want to use and set up
their beat and note patterns.

4. The Playlist
This is where you'll string all the beat and note patterns together
to be made into the finalised song.

5. Playback and Tempo
When the light is on "Pat", only the pattern selected will play.
When the light is on "Song", the whole playlist will play.
"Tempo" changes the whole speed of the song.


Creating a Song:

We'll do a basic one. How about a hip hop beat?

Step 1:
Finding instruments to use.

Go to the browser and click on "Packs". Browse to "Hip Hop" and click
it to expand it.



Step 2:
Setting up the instruments.

Okay, click and drag "HIP_Hat", "HIP_Kick_4" and "HIP_Snare_7" to the Sound channels. It should look like the picture right now.



Step 3:
Alright, making a beat.

On the playlist, make sure you have "Pattern 1"
Selected. Press "F2" to rename that pattern to "Hip Hop Beat".
To make beats, you just click on the Grey and Red rectangles.
Click on them as shown in the picture.



Step 4:
Time to make the song.

On the playlist, click the paint brush icon and click in the pattern
"Hip Hop Beat" to put the beat pattern into the song. Make about 12 of these rectangles (or 6 squares depending on if you messed with the view settings) as shown in the picture. MAke sure they are aligned with the lines and that no rectangle overlaps another. If your rectangles are overlapping and not snapping evenly yo the Playlist lines, find "Snap" and set it to "Line".



Step 5:
Exporting your playlist into a song.

Go to File>Export>MP3 file. Choose where to save the file.
A new prompt screen will appear in which you'll be able to control the
bitrate and quality and set it's looping characteristics. Press start when you're happy with your product to start rendering and saving the MP3.



And there you have it! You've just created a song.

A few notes:
Remember that to make songs you have to make patterns and string them
together. For instance, Pattern 1 holds a Drumbeat pattern, while Pattern 2
holds a guitar pattern. Put them together on the playlist and you have a rock song.

I'll go into deeper detail with that at a later date.

I hope everyone finds this helpful. If anyone has questions please leave
them in this topic and I'll try to help with the best of my ability.

Thanks for making this, Kumo. I will have some time coming in a couple of days, and this is the first thing I'll be doing.

Good, cause I'm waiting for everyone who wanted to learn how to
work this thing show me some progress before I start another lesson.

I've finished the tutorial!

Click for 2-second mp3

I'm glad you were doing a tutorial, because I would have been lost! I'm gonna experiment more now.

P.S. I'm also looking on how to expand the time past 2 seconds.

Edit: I am straight now. Here with a 10-second song!

Take This Out - I'm really uninventive.

At least you made some progress, Ix.

Alright, the next tutorial will be written and posted here very soon. Hopefully within the next week or so.

This next lesson will detail more about the patterns, and how you can string
together different beat patterns to make a pretty basic song.