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1. Enable your MIDI keyboard
- Open Options > MIDI settings, or press F10.
- In the Input list, select the detected keyboard or controller and click Enable.
- Play a key and check that the MIDI activity indicator on the Main Panel responds. Image-Line explains that MIDI carries control data such as notes and knob movements; it does not transmit audio. An instrument channel in FL Studio must respond to the notes to produce sound. See Image-Line’s Controller/MIDI Settings manual.
No physical controller is required for basic note input: the same MIDI settings documentation describes the Typing keyboard to piano keyboard option, which lets you play notes with your computer keyboard. A touch controller is another documented input option.
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2. Select the pattern and instrument channel
Choose the pattern you want to record into, then select the instrument channel that should receive the performance. An enabled controller normally plays the selected channel, so selecting the wrong channel can send notes to the wrong instrument. For a fixed controller-to-channel assignment, use the Channel Rack’s controller-receive options. Image-Line describes channel selection and recording behavior in its Recording and Automation & event editor documentation.
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- Right-click the Transport Record button.
- In the recording filter, select Note.
- For the regular Piano roll recording workflow, make sure Toolbar Step Editing is off.
- Optionally enable Recording Countdown if you want a lead-in before the recording starts.
These controls are covered in Image-Line’s Recording manual.
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4. Record the performance
- Click Record to arm recording.
- Press Play, then perform on the MIDI keyboard.
- When finished, stop playback and open the selected instrument channel’s Piano roll to inspect the notes.
In Pattern mode, notes are recorded into the selected pattern and shown in the selected channel’s Piano roll preview; double-click that preview to open the Piano roll. In Song mode, the pattern clip is placed in the Playlist at the playback start position after recording stops. If you need the clip on a particular Playlist track, Image-Line advises placing an empty pattern clip at the intended position first. See the Recording manual.
| Mode | Where the notes go | What appears in the Playlist |
|---|---|---|
| Pattern | Into the selected pattern and selected channel’s Piano roll. | The recording workflow described by Image-Line does not specify a new Playlist clip for this mode. |
| Song | Into the pattern being recorded. | After recording stops, a pattern clip is placed at the playback start position. To target a specific track and position, place an empty pattern clip there first. |
5. Find and adjust the MIDI notes
Open the Piano roll for the instrument channel you recorded. Notes are score data: pitch is arranged vertically and time horizontally. The Piano roll grid follows snap settings, and some Global Snap settings can quantize incoming live MIDI notes. Before changing latency-related settings, check Global Snap. If note starts are still mistimed, Image-Line’s recording guide points to Audio Settings > Playback tracking: Offset as a correction for timing problems caused by system issues or latency. The relevant documentation is the Piano roll manual and Recording manual.
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Fix common recording problems
- The keyboard does nothing: confirm it appears in the MIDI Settings input list, click Enable, and watch the Main Panel MIDI activity indicator while pressing a key.
- You hear an instrument but no notes are recorded: verify the Record filter includes Note, Toolbar Step Editing is off for the standard Piano roll workflow, and a pattern is selected.
- Notes play the wrong instrument: select the intended channel before recording, or configure a controller-channel association.
- Notes land on the wrong pattern or in the wrong place: check the selected pattern and recording mode. In Song mode, prepare an empty pattern clip at the desired Playlist location if needed.
- Notes appear quantized: inspect Global Snap before changing playback tracking or offset settings.
- Piano roll recording is unavailable: Image-Line’s MIDI Settings documentation says Piano roll recording is disabled in Performance Mode: Controller/MIDI Settings.
Recover notes with Score Logger
Image-Line also documents a three-minute Score Logger buffer for note activity from external controllers and the typing keyboard. If you played notes but did not capture them in the intended recording, you can dump the score log to the selected pattern. The feature is described in the Recording manual.
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