FL Studio automation can be achieved by a number of different methods. One way is by using an automation clip. An automation clip (or envelope) can automatically control the behavior of a parameter or group of parameters in FL Studio. They are part of a larger group of features in FL Studio and many other DAWs that are formally known as internal controllers. This basically means they’re pieces of software code within FL Studio that can be linked to different buttons, sliders, knobs, etc. to vary the behavior of said button, slider, or knob, with time and without the user actively engaged. Let’s say you want your drums to slowly decrease in volume as an airy synth increases in volume. You could achieve this by creating an automation clip linked to the volume of each instrument channel or mixer track. It may sound confusing, but I promise after this, it’ll look simple. The best way to learn what these do is by seeing how they’re used. For this example, we’ll create and manipulate an automation clip for the channel volume of the default kick in the channel rack. The fastest and easiest way to make an automation clip is to open FL Studio and right-click on almost any knob or slider you can get your eyes on. A drop down menu will appear, and an option saying “Create automation clip” will become available. Clicking that will do two things: If you go over to your Playlist, you can see a flat default automation clip has been created and pasted there for you. Your channel rack will now also have a channel specifically made for the automation clip. We’ll mess with the Playlist clip first. So we’ve got the clip in the playlist, now what? First, if you hover over the clip in the playlist you can see a few thing happen. Three orbs will appear, one at each far end, and one in the dead center. The two orbs at the left and right represent the Kick channel volume level at the beginning (left side) and end (right side) of the clip. The middle orb is called “tension” which changes the shape or curvature of the line between two points. At default settings, as time progresses over the clip, the kick channel volume will remain constant since there is no change in vertical position between the left and right points. By clicking and dragging the end points, we can change their position, and this changes how the volume knob will behave over time. We can also create new points anywhere between the default start and end points by right-clicking inside the clip. Each of these new points can be clicked and dragged to wherever you want, and you’ll also notice that new tension points were created between each new pair of points. Right-click on a point and click “Delete” to get rid of it. There area a few ways to do this. If you right-click on any point, you will be presented with the options Copy value, Paste value, and Type in value… Copy and Paste is pretty self explanatory. Type in value… allows you to manually set the point to any value between 0 and 1, with 0 sending the point to the bottom of the clip and 1 sending the point to the top of the clip. When you click and drag tension points, they will change the shape of the line they’re located on. If you want a straight line again, just right-click on the tension point to reset it. To change the type of line between two points, right-click a point and select a different Mode. By default, the Mode is set to Single curve. Here’s a visual breakdown of the different modes: Back in our example, there are no kicks being triggered yet. We need to create a Pattern with a few kicks and slap it into the playlist just above the automation clip. I made a basic pattern in the Pattern 1 slot in the Step Sequencer. It’s got one kick on every step. Take a minute to experiment with the end points, shapes, and tension, and how each effects the volume of the kick as time progresses. Move the end points around a bit and click the play button or hit the space-bar to start it. Make sure FL Studio is in “Song mode” by toggling the button on your top toolbar (just to the left of the play button) off. You’ll even notice the knob itself will move as the time sweeper moves across the clip in the Playlist. Next, we’ll look at what we can do with the complementary automation clip channel created in the Channel rack. Click on it and it will bring up a new window shown below. This window basically allows you to override everything we just talked about in the previous section by turning the automation clip into an LFO (low frequency oscillator). The LFO produces a periodic and repeating waveform that you can modify by playing with the knobs in the window. Make sure the LFO button is on and you have your AMT knob set at anything but zero. I’ve summarized the knob functions below: If you liked this 100% free FL Studio tutorial, let me know what else you’d like me to cover in the comments, on the Synaptic Sound Facebook page, or YouTube channel. And be sure to check out the complementary infographic!Introducing FL Studio Automation
Create an Automation Clip
FL Studio Automation Clip Playlist Operations
Creating, Moving, & Deleting Points
Setting Point Values
Tension & Shape Modes
Using Points, Tension, & Shape Modes in Playlist Automation Clips
FL Studio Automation Clip Channel Operations
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Very straight forward and informative. I would like to know if when working with legato instruments have a particular effect on stairs graph for example. Thanks.
Hey! Thanks for the feedback. If I understand your question correctly, yes the “stairs” shape mode can be set to control parameters of plugins and arrangements that utilize legato. The instruments and arrangements you choose will not effect the automation clip settings, though.
Hey. I don’t know how, but I how to change the “paint” in automation on a “hand’ ?
I can’t
Hey Michael. It sounds like you may have step editing turned on in the Playlist. To turn it off, you will need to look in the top left of the Playlist and change the playlist focus to automation clips. The button looks like two connected dots. Then, just below that, make sure the “Step” button is unchecked.