FL Studio
10 FL Studio Piano Roll Tricks That Level Up Your Melodies
FL Studio's Piano Roll is the best in any DAW — if you know where the power hides. Ten tricks worth stealing:
- Scale highlighting — Piano Roll options → Helpers → Scale highlighting. Set your key; wrong notes literally look wrong.
- Ghost channels (Alt+V) — see other instruments' notes faintly behind the one you're editing. Write basslines that actually follow the chords.
- Stamp tool chords — the stamp dropdown places full chords (minor, maj7, sus2…) with one click.
- Strumize (Alt+S) — humanizes block chords into natural strums.
- Randomize velocity (Alt+R) — subtle velocity variation makes hats and keys feel played, not programmed.
- Slide notes — the trademark FL feature; essential for 808 slides.
- Chop chords with Alt+U — turns held chords into arpeggiated patterns instantly.
- Riff machine (Alt+E) — generates melodic ideas from progressions; underrated sketchpad.
- Flip horizontally/vertically — melody stuck? Flip it and keep the good half.
- LimitedFine pitch per note — right-click a note → note properties for micro-pitch (great for vocal chops).
And when the page is blank: generate a starting melody, chords or drums in your key with the free MIDI Pattern Generator, drag the .mid in, and edit with everything above. Not sure which key your sample wants? Check it here.
Start with a generated melody →Any key, any scale — download as .mid and edit in the piano roll.Frequently asked questions
How do I show the scale in FL Studio's piano roll?
Open Piano Roll options → View → Scale highlighting, choose the root and scale, and out-of-key rows are dimmed.
How do I see other instruments in the piano roll?
Enable ghost channels (Alt+V) — every other channel's notes appear faded behind the current one.
How do I make chords quickly in FL Studio?
Use the stamp tool dropdown to place complete chord shapes with one click, then Strumize (Alt+S) to humanize them.