Prerequisites:

You need to have a plugin to install! There are many free synth & FX avaliable to choose from, as a quick google will reveal.

1. The need for 3rd-Party Plug-ins

FL Studio has a large number of synth and fx to choose from - already built into the program. There are, in general, two types of Plugins - generators and FX. Generators create sound, and FX modify the sound. Among generators you will find various analog synth emulators, and "real" instrument emulators (i.e. pianos, guitars, vocals, etc). Among FX you will find reverbs, delays, choruses, overdrives, etc (the list goes on for quite awhile!)

You can view the generator list by Right Clicking a sample button on the Step Sequencer, and under "Insert Channel" you will see "More..." This brings up a list of all the installed generator plugins. You can view the FX plugins by bringing up the Mixer window and clicking the little down-pointing arrow button to the left of an FX slot to bring up the menu - clicking "select," then "More..."

So why, if FL has so many plugins already available, would anyone need more? Two basic reasons (among others):

1. FL plugins sound... well... like FL plugins. : ) Not necessary bad, but not the best. When you become more serious about the quality of your audio output, you'll want to look into more professional plugin packages.

2. More variety - yes, FL has a substantial variety - but, particularily on the generator side of things, the creative possibilities for plugin programmers is endless. And of course, the more you have to play with, the easier it might be for you to come up with creative ideas (that is not always true though! Sometimes, having too much interesting stuff at your disposal detracts from you learning how to use what you do have - which is where creativity really starts to come into play).

 

2. Installing 3rd-Party Plug-ins

The process for installing a plugin is either:

1. The plugin came as a single install program. If this is the case, run the program, and choose what directory you want to install the plugin to. If you have more than one audio program that you want to be able to access the plugin from, then it might be a good idea to set up a generic plugin directory on your computer somewhere, and install all plugins there. Otherwise, install it to the FL Studio VST directory (i.e. "C:\Program Files\Image-Line\FLStudio5\Plugins\VST"). If you do choose to install to a generic location, you'll need to tell FL where this is. Go to Options | File Settings and add the directory to the "VST plugins extra search directory."

2. The plugin came as a dll file. Simply save this *.dll file into the appropriate directory (per the above paragraph), and you're done!

Now you're ready to tell FL that you've installed a new plugin! Go to Channels | Add one | More... and in the dialog that comes up, click the "refresh" button down at the bottom, then "fast scan." Your new plugin will show up in red on the list.

 

And that's all there is to it!

One tip - in the plugins dialog ("Channels | Add one | More..."), if you check the box to the left of any plugin name, that plugin will show up in the shortcut menu when you right click on a channel button or go to select a plugin in the mixer.

top