Never Nudge Playlist Patterns in FL Studio

Updated: Oct 8, 2023

This FL Studio tutorial teaches you to never nudge patterns in the Playlist.

If you want to Note-Nudge, like I explain in SAFE SPOTS, it’s best to do this in the Piano Roll or Channel Rack.

You can nudge audio-clips within the Playlist, however, and get great results!

Should I Nudge FL Studio Patterns in Playlist?

Here’s why you SHOULD NOT nudge patterns in FL Studio’s Playlist.

Music requires sounds to be in time, otherwise sounds will be OUT OF TIME.

As a producer, you only need to worry about two things!:

• You need to pick a key and scale
• Make sure your sounds are in time

LISTEN: S2E11 – We All Have 12 Notes

If we nudge Playlist patterns, it puts our sounds out of time! When we arrange our song, all of these patterns are not aligned on the Playlist grid, and become very hard to work with!

In short, note-nudge notes in a Pattern within the Piano Roll or Channel Rack.

When Can I Note-Nudge in the Playlist?

You can nudge audio clips in the Playlist without worry, as these are unique in the Playlist.

The best way to make beats in FL Studio is using MIDI Notes and our Virtual Instruments to create patterns. Then, when applying Audio Painting to prepare the listener, I drag an audio clip into the Playlist as a transition!

Very often these audio clips need to be lined up in the Playlist to be in time. (Do this by holding ALT + SCROLL WHEEL while hovered over the audio clip!)

If you nudge a pattern in the Playlist, your project will become out of time, and it’s hard knowing what’s wrong! Thankfully, FL Studio allows us to “quick quantize” patterns in the Playlist with keyboard shortcut SHIFT + Q.

“Quick Quantizing” in the Playlist is a quick fix if your patterns are not aligned perfectly.

In short, nudging audio-clips in the Playlist gives us great results!

How Should I Nudge Notes in FL Studio?

The best way to make sounds early or late in FL Studio is nudging notes within the pattern. This means entering notes into the Piano Roll, or Channel Rack, then note nudge.

FL Studio Keyboard Shortcuts to Note Nudge:

FL Studio’s Piano Roll is SO FAST once you learn these keyboard shortcuts:

• SHIFT + SCROLL-UP (Nudge note right – late)
• SHIFT + SCROLL-DOWN (Nudge note left – early)
• ALT + SCROLL-UP (Increase highlighted note’s velocity)
• ALT + SCROLL-DOWN (Decrease highlighted note’s velocity)

Questions About Nudging Notes in FL Studio?

The main reason producers nudge their notes is to purposely make certain notes and sounds OUT OF TIME.

Wait a minute, I just said notes need to be in perfect time?

Think about this: If you clap or say the same word over and over into a microphone, you’ll never be able to record the sound the exact same way. (Seriously, try it if you don’t believe me!)

In other words, the audio will either be louder, sound further or closer, or just sound different from any of the other takes!

This is what we’re trying to emulate with note-nudging.

This allows us to make notes early or late, while making sure our song in the Playlist is always in time with out desired intentions.

I cannot tell you how many times new students were having problems with timing.. and it was because their Playlist Patterns were out of time.. they didn’t even know!

To learn more about Note-Nudging, read my SAFE SPOTS Drum Loop Book.

It teaches you powerful drum loop tips, like Velocity, Panning, Note-Nudging, Sound Placement, Sound Selection, and how to get AMAZING results in your custom drum loops using premium one-shot drum samples.

Questions? Email GratuiTous directly here!

About Author: GratuiTous

GratuiTous discovered FL Studio around 2009 when a friend introduced him to the DAW.. he then began making FL Studio tutorials in 2011 which lead to creating his Beatmaker Training Platform. He also authors music production books, and hosts the "Music Production Made Simple Podcast". Fun Fact: He was an electrician in Canada for 10 Years!

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