Making Your Track: Effects

One of the most important and interesting features of FL Studio 12 is the vast array of effects it contains within the DAW. More information on all of these plugins can be found here. Below, I will describe the stock and Imagine Line paid effects that I use on a regular basis and how to use them to their full potential.

  1. Edison - This plugin is one of the most helpful tools in all of FL Studio 12 and is the go to plugin/effect for sampling. With Edison, you can record and play audio from any source on the DAW and manipulate sound through slicing, fading, stretching, etc. I highly recommend spending some time playing around with it.

  2. Gross Beat - If you’ve been listening to the radio for the past 5 years or so, you’ve probably heard a song that used Gross Beat in it somewhere. Gross beat is a time and volume stretching and time manipulating plugin. It is famous for its repetition, gating, and scratching effects that it produces. One of the most popular settings, however, is the infamous 1/2 speed setting which can turn any sound in the mixer into something completely different and ambient.

  3. Harmless - Harmless is an additive synth that does subtractive synthesis. This means that it’s a fun synth to play around with and can have some very unique timbres and musical qualities to the various sounds you can create.

  4. Maximus - Maximus is a great and easy-to-use tool that can be used in a variety of different ways. First off, it packs high quality limiting and volume maximization capabilities without the sound getting too over saturated. It is also a great final mastering plugin.

  5. MiniSynth - This plugin was designed for those of you with computers that have a hard time with processing speed and need to go easy on the CPU. Although it has limited capability relative to the other FL synths, MiniSynth is very easy to use and can create some great sounding synths for your project.

  6. Morphine - Morphine is a powerful synth which allows you to adjust the harmonics manually, create beautiful original sounds, and emulate almost every instrument ever.

  7. Sakura - Sakura is a synth unlike any other. has the capability to mimic the sound and feel of a stringed instrument with its delicate plucks and loud, breathing chords. It is perfect for creating stringed sounds and making Asian-inspired music.

  8. Slicex - This plugin’s advanced intuition slices samples up into independant pieces and makes them playable from the piano roll or a controller.

  9. Sytrus - Sytrus is a subtractive synth with additive features and an impressive array of effects.