What's the easiest way to do Pitch Automation in FL Studio?

[redraven]

I've been trying to figure this out for several hours now... I've done normal Google searches, Youtube searches, DSF searches and DSF Google searches without luck (maybe I'm searching with the wrong key words?) with no luck... Now don't get me wrong I know I can set the pitch knob range and do it with edit events or the 'edit events' thing in the bottom half of the piano roll but frankly that is a HUGE pain the ass to get it to slide up to the correct note since it tells you how many cents from the root note you are... so if I were sliding up 1 octave that would be 1200 cents ... I've also tried doing it with an automation clip in the Playlist but since the live readout for automation clips does a percentage (ex- if a point were centered vertically it would read 50%) sliding to the correct note that way is rather difficult as well.

I love the piano roll 'slide notes' that only work with FL native plugins like 3xOsc and Sytrus but then having something like say Blue's portamento sync to that slide is ... well also a feat in itself....

So the question remains what is an easy way to automate pitch slides effectively and in a time efficient manner that will work no matter what soft synth is being used within FL Studio... I currently run FL 10 but I doubt that should make much of a difference on a matter like this.

Any help on this is MUCH appreciated!

[jrisreal]

I don't know a definitive answer to your question since I am a Sytrus user, but heres the things I would try:

- Bounce the patch to audio and automate the pitch with slide notes in the sampler.
- Use the synth's portamento options (I wouldn't be satisfied with this, though)
- Bounce the audio and use Newtone or Melodyne (If you have purchased either one) to edit the pitch and slide it around to taste...and using their pitch shifting algorithms may either make your sound worse or better because of artifacts.

But you could always switch to dubturbo. You'll be cranking out hundreds of sick beats overnight with that stuff

[3za]

I set the pitch bend to he amount I need, and then play them with my pitch wheel.

[redraven]

Thanks for the ideas man! I have purchased Newtone and Pitcher but thats not the type of slide I'm looking for... I've also just considered loading up Direct Wave VST and doing that 'screenshot' of that patch where it samples and maps all the notes but then you loose the option to go back and mess with your patch unless you sample the tweaked version (can you imagine how many direct wave sample patches you'd end up with after just 1 song if you had to do that for each little tweak to the synth patch yo make o_O ) I love Fl Studio but it's little things like this that make me consider switching to something like Abelton.

[jrisreal]

Thanks for the ideas man! I have purchased Newtone and Pitcher but thats not the type of slide I'm looking for... I've also just considered loading up Direct Wave VST and doing that 'screenshot' of that patch where it samples and maps all the notes but then you loose the option to go back and mess with your patch unless you sample the tweaked version (can you imagine how many direct wave sample patches you'd end up with after just 1 song if you had to do that for each little tweak to the synth patch yo make o_O ) I love Fl Studio but it's little things like this that make me consider switching to something like Abelton.

I doubt ableton would be able to pitchbend any better. Its a synth-side problem, not a daw-side problem. The programmers could have coded the ability to capture FL's slide notes if they wanted to, but they didnt.

[redraven]

I doubt ableton would be able to pitchbend any better. Its a synth-side problem, not a daw-side problem. The programmers could have coded the ability to capture FL's slide notes if they wanted to, but they didnt.

I was under the impression that Abeltons automation clips for pitch were easier to work with (may be wrong idk)... if image line would just make the edit events window less of a hassle to work in manually it'd be no problem...

[jrisreal]

I actually heard that FL has one of the best automation systems and that automation is much harder on other daw's. plus if you don't like edit events, you can make an automation clip which is much neater and easier to work with.

[redraven]

I actually heard that FL has one of the best automation systems and that automation is much harder on other daw's. plus if you don't like edit events, you can make an automation clip which is much neater and easier to work with.

I know about automation clips dude (I use em alllll the time) but as said in my first post when dealing with pitch automation the Auto Clip is basically a random guess as to which note im sliding to because it doesn't say for example - E# it say a percentage based on how high the point is vertically ... for instance if a dot were in the middle vertically it would say 50%... not helpful with pitch automation.

[jrisreal]

good point, but is edit events any better with that issue?

[redraven]

good point, but is edit events any better with that issue?

The Edit Events panel at least tells you how far in cents from the note being played you are... so lets say i had a C5 note playing for 4 beats and starting on beat 3 i wanted it to start to slide up to an E flat (D sharp) by the end of beat 4... then I'd have to set the pitch bend range and either record it in with my pitch wheel (which I'm not keen on) or draw a slope rising 300 cents (which would equal 3 semitones) ... now the problem is its just a bit difficult to draw the line in since it doesn't work like an auto-clip and you have to literally draw it in and be precise with the cents... (unless you don't mind being off a few cents but I do. Another issue I have with doing it that way is say you have 2 diff synths playing that same melody so you copy paste the piano roll notes... you have to copy paste the events separately... just takes a fair amount of time and distract from my work flow... Which is why I love the slide notes that you can use with the stock plugins...

[jrisreal]

I understand your predicament, now. Unfortunately, I now have nothing helpful to say other than that sometimes, you have to get down and dirty and go through time-consuming stages to get the sound you want.

[redraven]

I understand your predicament, now. Unfortunately, I now have nothing helpful to say other than that sometimes, you have to get down and dirty and go through time-consuming stages to get the sound you want.

Yeah I suppose but FUCK...

[3za]

I understand your predicament, now. Unfortunately, I now have nothing helpful to say other than that sometimes, you have to get down and dirty and go through time-consuming stages to get the sound you want.

We're talking a pitch bend???

I bend like a batty boi in FL daily, and have never found it to be time consuming.

[redraven]

I understand your predicament, now. Unfortunately, I now have nothing helpful to say other than that sometimes, you have to get down and dirty and go through time-consuming stages to get the sound you want.

We're talking a pitch bend???

I bend like a batty boi in FL daily, and have never found it to be time consuming.

I'm not talking about the slight like quick bend up here and there... I'm talking about like a controlled bend up over a full measure and shit like that... I COULD do it with my pitch wheel or a slider but then I'd still have to clean it up a fair amount in Edit Events...

[wormcode]

Thanks for the ideas man! I have purchased Newtone and Pitcher but thats not the type of slide I'm looking for... I've also just considered loading up Direct Wave VST and doing that 'screenshot' of that patch where it samples and maps all the notes but then you loose the option to go back and mess with your patch unless you sample the tweaked version (can you imagine how many direct wave sample patches you'd end up with after just 1 song if you had to do that for each little tweak to the synth patch yo make o_O ) I love Fl Studio but it's little things like this that make me consider switching to something like Abelton.

I doubt ableton would be able to pitchbend any better. Its a synth-side problem, not a daw-side problem. The programmers could have coded the ability to capture FL's slide notes if they wanted to, but they didnt.

It's more the other way around, Gol has it so the slide/portamento only works with what they let it work with i.e. a few internal plugins and the sampler. Other DAWs do handle pitchbend in a more standard way, like in Cubase, you just select Pitchbend in the key editor and start creating bends. Pitchbend messages are universal btw.

Redraven, You can also do it via MIDI using the MIDI Out channel or a plugin such as madshifta. In the channel settings of the VST, automating the pitch knob is the standard way in fl really. It can bend 2 octaves I think, that should be plenty. If you want to smooth out the edit events data, make sure to use the interpolation button next to the brush tool. Could also just bounce the sound to audio, and then you can use the porta/slide in the piano roll all you want. Really the automation clips should work fine, the percentage isn't that hard to figure out. It's not exact notes, but neither is using a pitch wheel. If you want very precise control, bouncing to audio is probably the best bet.

It shouldn't bend too "perfect" imo, pitch bending should sound like it's being done by a human (unless being used purely as an effect I guess, like risers, in which case audio is the way to go).
Also check out http://www.kvraudio.com/db/hotel_s_o_a_ ... y_saltline

[jrisreal]

oh mybad lol.

[Kes-Es]

Piano roll>Velocity>Channel pitch/// Mouse down to thin flat pink line in center of purple rectangle, right click, drag, thin line becomes obtuse triangle. Change the magnitude of the bends by scrolling up or down over the black rectangle on top of the scroll bar thing to the right, down shrinks the rectangle, bends get bigger, up grows it, bends get more minute. takes like 2 seconds.

Problem solved.

edit: PS. works on everything, samples... hamvst... Skrllex baezz.

[wormcode]

Yes that works too, it automates the pitch knob in the channel window, same as edit events. He's trying to avoid that I guess, I think he wants it done by note which using audio in the piano roll will do with ease.

[Kes-Es]

Yes that works too, it automates the pitch knob in the channel window, same as edit events. He's trying to avoid that I guess, I think he wants it done by note which using audio in the piano roll will do with ease.

I get it pretty exact, I use it for independent sound design outside of dubstep, just gotta be patient and figure it out, portamento changes your synth and doesn't sound nearly as natural as an honest PITCH bend, that's not automation, and you could easily get exact, clean notes, there is no quick fix here, you're either gonna spend time finding the note or you're going to spend time getting the porta to sound right, and frankly porta takes way longer.

[sunny_b_uk]

Piano roll>Velocity>Channel pitch/// Mouse down to thin flat pink line in center of purple rectangle, right click, drag, thin line becomes obtuse triangle. Change the magnitude of the bends by scrolling up or down over the black rectangle on top of the scroll bar thing to the right, down shrinks the rectangle, bends get bigger, up grows it, bends get more minute. takes like 2 seconds.

Problem solved.

edit: PS. works on everything, samples... hamvst... Skrllex baezz.

iv been using that method for a while its the only way that seems to work.. mostly. iv neva got it 2 work on Massive for some reason, however i got it 2 sometimes work by putting Massive in a layer group and then using the channel pitch on the layer. doesnt always work but its the best method for this