In all DAWs the workflow for vocals is usually the same, but the way of doing things is different, in this post I will be talking about the DAW that I use, which is fl studio 20. If you use other DAW but you know well how to use it, you can follow the post without a problem. Autotune is a vocal pitch correction plug-in made by Antares. FL Studio owners can add on NewTone, a vocal pitch corrector as an online purchase for FL Studio 9, or buy Autotune and run it as a VST plugin.

• How To Add Your Own Vocals To Fl Studio
• How To Add Reverb To Vocals Fl Studio
• How To Add Vocals To Fl Studio 20
• How To Add Vocals To Fl Studio
• How To Add Vocal Presets To Fl Studio 20

When you are starting out, there are a lot of things to learn. Like how to record with a mic in FL Studio.

When you are new to the process it can seem overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to feel intimidating or overwhelming.

In this post I’ll cover the basics about how to set up and record, from a microphone in FL Studio.

It may seem complicated at first.

But I promise once you have done it a couple of times, it’ll feel like second nature.

Let’s get to it.

IF you want to see how I produce songs in FL Studio, check this FREE course out!

Basic Steps to setup your mic and interface

We’ll cover the components you need, how to set everything up the first time, and how to start recording.

I’m going to give you two options you can use for recording.
You can pick which method works best for your workflow.

Here are the pieces of audio gear you are going to need to follow along with this post:

1. A Microphone
2. An Audio Interface
3. A Microphone cable
4. A purchased copy of FL Studio Producer or Signature Edition.
5. Laptop or Computer
6. A pair of headphones

*Note if you are using a USB Microphone to record, the process is a little bit different.

Let’s get back to this example.

We’re going to do a couple of things to make recording happen:

1. Setup the gear we need
2. Open FL Studio
3. Save the project
4. Configure the audio interface
   1. ASIO Device
   2. Buffer Size
5. Set the location to record audio to
6. Setup the mixer track
7. Set up the transport controls
8. Record audio
   1. Option to record from playlist
   2. Option to record with Edison
9. Advanced options
   1. Loop recording
   2. Headphone mix

STEP 1 – Setup the Gear

Plug the audio interface into the computer.

Audio interfaces come in a variety of connections.
So plug into the correct port (USB, Firewire, or Thunderbolt).

Now plug the microphone cable into the mic.
Make sure that the Phantom power button is not on on your audio interface.

And then plug the other end into your audio interface.

If the microphone needs phantom power (+48V), then push the +48V button.

Generally, condenser mics need phantom power. Dynamic mics do not.

Having phantom power on when you plug the mic into the audio interface can cause damage to your microphone.

So we want to keep that microphone working well for a long time.

Open up FL Studio

Now let’s open up FL Studio.

I’m currently running version 20 of FL Studio. Which as of 2019, is the latest version.

It looks this when you open it up …

Save the Project

First thing I like to do is to save the project.
It may seem a little weird to save a song before we’ve started.

But it’s just to help prepare where we are going to record things.

FL Studio calls the files you save projects, but really it’s a song.

Hit CTRL + S on your keyboard.

This will bring up a dialog window that lets you choose where you want to save the project.

So name the song what you want to. And then choose where you want to save it on your computer.

And finally press the save button.

Setting up the Audio Interface

Let’s get everything setup to record from our mic.

To get to the settings window in FL Studio, press F10 on your keyboard.

This will bring up a dialog box that has a couple tabs across the top like Midi, Audio, General and File.

This is the settings window in FL Studio.

You’re going to click on the Audio tab.
And you should see a section called input/output.

So underneath is the device drop down menu.
You want to look for your device (audio interface).

There should be some options at the top that are called direct sound devices.
And underneath of that there should be some called ASIO devices.

We want to look at the drop down menu of ASIO devices.

ASIO Settings

So from the ASIO devices menu select the driver for your audio interface.

The name of the driver might not be exactly the name of your audio interface.
I am working off of a Presonus AudioBox iTwo audio interface in this example.

And in my case the ASIO device is called AudioBox ASIO Driver.

So I select that as my ASIO Device.
And then we need to set up the buffer.

Buffer Settings

Below the device drop down menu you’ll see another box that says buffer length.

I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about this.

But for recording, you want the buffer setting as low as you can get it, without it starting to clip, crackle, or pop.

This will prevent you from hearing a delay when you go to record your audio. It will also make sure that you get a clean sound from your interface.

In my case I’m selecting a buffer length of about 6-8 milliseconds. For me, if I try to go lower than that I start to get some crackle in my recordings.

You will be able to hear pops and crackles in your recording if you have it set too low.

You can see in this menu if you have had underruns.

So now we have the audio interface setup.

Now FL Studio can receive the input from the audio interface.

So let’s choose where we are going to save our recorded files.

Choose where to save the audio files

While we still have the Setting Window open let’s do one more thing.

We’re going to go over to the Project tab.

You should see a box beneath that that says data folder.

This lets you pick the folder on your computer that you want to save the recorded audio to.

Click on the folder icon and select where you want the data to be stored.

And now we’ll move on to setting up the mixer track.

Setting up the mixer track

This is where we set up the microphone input from the mixer track.

This will get the input from the microphone and the audio interface into a mixer track in FL Studio.

The first thing that we’re going to need to do is set up your microphone in a mixer Channel.

Press F9 on your keyboard and that will bring up the mixer window.

You should see a whole bunch of vertical bars, They will be titled Insert 1, Insert 2, and so on.

These are all mixer tracks for the project that you’re working on.

Let’s pick Insert 4 for this example.

When you click on it you’ll see a green box around it. And the fader will turn green at the bottom.

If you go to the right side of the mixer window you’ll see another box. In that box you’ll see Slot 1, Slot 2, and so on.

These are your effects slots that you can put on an individual mixer Channel.

But we’re going to be paying attention to the drop-down menu that’s at the top. It has an arrow pointing into a box. That is where you are going to select the input that you connected your to.

When you look at the drop-down menu you should see options that have your audio interface name and then stereo and mono track options.

Since we’re recording one microphone I’m going to assume that it’s a mono source. Because most mics are mono sources unless you have a stereo microphone.

So I select mic input one. Because that’s where I plugged in my microphone.

As you talk into the microphone you should see the bars on the insert for channel moving up and down. This means that you’re getting signal into the insert Channel.

Which means that you set it up right. Woohoo!

Now onto the transport controls.

Setting up transport controls

Up at the top of the FL Studio program you’ll see some transport controls.
These are the play button, the stop button and record button.

Right click on the record button and you should see some options.
It should have a box that says recording filter. And underneath of that with options to check automation, notes, audio, and clips.

Since we are recording audio we want to make sure that the audio option is checked by right-clicking.

Next to the play button there is a button that says pat on the top and song on the bottom.

Make sure that the song button is highlighted. Because that will allow us to record directly to the playlist. If it’s not selected, press the song button now.

Now you should see a green arrow show up in your playlist window and the song button should be highlighted in green.

I also like to set up a count in before it starts recording.

This option gives you a four count click before the recording starts. Which is helpful.

Press CTRL + P to turn this option on.

Alright, you’ve finished all the setup.
Now it’s time to do some recording.

Record Audio

What I like about FL Studio is that there are several different ways of doing everything.

So there are a couple different options for recording audio:

1. Recording directly into the playlist
2. Recording through Edison

Before you start recording, make sure to plug in your headphones.
You don’t want the audio from the song to be bleeding into your mic.
You’ll get some weird sounds and feedback from doing that.

We’ll cover recording into the playlist first, since that is the most common.

Recording in the playlist in FL Studio

Open up the Mixer window by pressing F9.
Go to Insert 4 where we set up the mic.
At the bottom of the fader there is a track arm button.
Press that so it turns red.

You can also right click on the arm track button to bring up a window.
You could save the audio file to a different location if you want. And you can give the file whatever name you choose.

Open up the playlist window by pressing F5.
Click a spot on the playlist where you would want to start your recording.
I like to choose a spot a little before so it give me more time.

Now click on the record button in the transport bar, and wait for the count in.

Then start recording audio.

Once you are finished. Press Stop in the transport controls, or press the Space bar.

How To Add Your Own Vocals To Fl Studio

And that’s it. You’ve learned how to record a mic in FL Studio.
But I’ll show you another way to do it as well.

Recording a mic in Edison in FL Studio

Let’s get back to the mixer window.
Press F9.
Then go to Insert 4.
Go to the right side where the Slots are.
Click on the down arrow in Slot 1.
A window will come up that you will show you all the available plugins.

Look for the miscellaneous section and you should see Edison.
Pick Edison and a window should pop up.

To the right of the record button is a drop down menu.
Select On Play. And then press the record button.
Nothing will happen at this point, so don’t freak out.

This option just arms Edison to record.
Then go to your playlist window.
Click where in the song you want to start recording.

I like to move the marker to a little bit before that.
It gives you a little extra time before it starts the part you want to record.

When you are ready hit the play button.
This will start the recording in Edison.

When you are done, press the Stop on Edison.
And then you can Press stop on the Transport Controls in the Playlist.

There’s a button in the top right side of Edison.
Click that and then drag what you recorded into the playlist where you set your marker to start.
Everything will be lined up.

And that’s all you have to do to record audio in Edison.

BONUS TIPS – ADVANCED RECORDING OPTIONS

Now we’re getting into the extra credit section. You don’t have to do this.

But this is a way to take your mic recording skills to the next level.

Multiple Takes

One of the reasons that I like using Edison to record is the multiple takes option.
So as I’m putting together a song, I can highlight a certain section I want to record.
Let’s take the chorus for instance.

I can go the Playlist window by pressing F5.
I right click and drag around the section of the song I want to record.
Open up Edison on the Mixer Track, with the On Play option selected.
Arm Edison to record by pressing the record button.

Now when I press Play on the transport controls it will record.
It will keep recording as many takes of that section as you want.
I could do 3-5 takes on that one part.

Stop Edison when you are done. And stop the song in the transport controls.

Now in Edison you should see multiple takes.
I can select one of those takes by double-clicking on the orange marker at the front.

Then I can drag that take into the playlist. Using the drag to playlist option on Edison. (The button that’s highlighted in blue below)

I could drag all of them in individually if wanted.
Then I could create vocal comps of the best of those takes. But that’s a different subject.

Separate Mix

Another option you can try is to set up a headphone mix for your vocalist.

Each track in the mixer window is routed by default to the Master Fader.
You can see this when you click on any of the Insert tracks. It’s the neon green line that goes to the Master Fader.

You can change the default routing of a track if you want, though.

So let’s go back to Insert 4, where we set up our mic.

Now right click on the arrow at the bottom of Insert 5. You’ll see an option box come up.
It looks like this.

Now we’ll select the option that says route to this track only.
This is going to send the audio from Insert 4 to Insert 5 only.

So we’ve set up a new signal path for Insert 4.

It used to be that Insert 4 went directly to the Master Fader.

Now Insert 4 goes to Insert 5, and then to the Master Fader.
So we’re going to set up effects on Insert 5. And that will go into the Master Fader.
So that’s what you’ll hear in the headphones.

But, we will record on Insert 4, where there will be no effects.
So we’ll have a dry signal that we can edit and add effects to later.

So click on Insert 5.
Now go the Slots on the right side of the Mixer Window.
In Slot 1, let’s pick Fruity Delay 2.
In Slot 2, let’s pick Fruity Reeverb 2.

So if you sing into the mic. You’ll hear the effects.
But, if you record the vocals from Insert 4, there won’t be any effects.

This gives you the opportunity to edit and add different effects later in your mix.

So there you have it.

You’ve learned how to record with a mic in FL Studio. And I’ve given you some bonus tips on how to record multiple takes. And even set up a separate headphone mix for a vocalist.

Learn how to produce full songs in FL Studio with this FREE class

I hope you enjoyed it.

So you want to learn how to record vocals in FL Studio?

In this article I am going to show you four easy steps to get you recording in no time.

When you open up FL Studio the first time, it can feel a little overwhelming..

It seems a little daunting to figure out how to record vocals. There are so many windows, so many options.

How do you get started?

Trust me I’ve been there.

But don’t worry, I’m going to take you step-by-step through the process that I use to record vocals in FL Studio.

This is certainly not the only way. But it’s the method I use almost all the time.

I think the way you choose to record vocals in FL Studio will be dependent on the workflow that you choose.

Music production is a very personal things.

As you get more comfortable, you may find a different way to do vocal recording, and that’s completely fine.
NOTE: if you want to see how I produce music in FL Studio, you can check out the free course below

HOW TO RECORD VOCALS IN FL STUDIO

ASSUMPTIONS BEFORE WE BEGIN

There are a few assumptions that I am going to make up front to help clarify the process.

ASSUMPTION #1: I am going to assume that you are working on a desktop or laptop computer to record your music. I am working on a Windows 10 based laptop. So that’s where a lot of my examples will be drawn from.

ASSUMPTION #2: I am also going to assume that you are going to be recording through an audio interface as well. If this is not true for you, then you can look at some other options, like recording voice through a USB mic, or using your iPhone to do mobile recording. So let’s just get that out of the way before we start, so that there not a misunderstanding.

STEP 1 – SETTING UP THE HARDWARE

The Recording Studio Components for Recording Vocals

Here’s a brief list of home recording equipment that I use when I am going to record my voice in FL Studio.

This a good starting point to work from. And this is the list of equipment that I will be using in this guide.

ESSENTIAL ITEMS:

• Laptop or Desktop computer
• Audio interface
• Microphone – condenser or dynamic
• Microphone cable
• Pop Filter
• Mic Stand
• Pair of Headphones

CONNECTING ALL THE RECORDING EQUIPMENT

Let’s get all the recording equipment set up.

This brief video will show you how I connect all the items together before I start the recording process.

Before you connect your condenser mic, make sure that phantom power is off.

This can cause damage to a condenser microphone, and you definitely want to protect it.

Once the condenser microphone is connected is when you want to turn on the phantom power.

Not before.

If you are interested in seeing what products I use in my studio, you can go to the resources page.

I’ll show you what I have purchased and what I am currently using in my home studio to record and work on music production.

PLUGGING THE AUDIO INTERFACE INTO YOUR COMPUTER

Most of the smaller audio interface draw their power from the computer they are connected to.

How To Add Reverb To Vocals Fl Studio

These include USB, Firewire, and Thunderbolt audio interfaces.

So you shouldn’t have to plug them into a wall outlet to get them powered on.

Just plug the cable into the back the audio interface. And connect to the correct port on your computer. It should power on.

See if the computer recognizes the device.

Sometimes you’ll get lucky, and everything will work right out of the box.

Sometimes you won’t.

DOWNLOADING THE LATEST DRIVERS FOR YOUR AUDIO INTERFACE

It’s great if your computer recognizes your audio interface straight out of the box.

But it’s still a good idea to make sure that you have the latest drivers.

Open up Google and type in:

[manufacturer] [device name] driver.

In my case, I’m using the Presonus AudioBox iTwo, so I type in Presonus AudioBox iTwo Driver, like this:

You will see the page that you can download the driver from in the top results.

Make sure it’s the manufacturer’s website, and not some crazy spammy site.

Select the correct driver based on your operating system and download it:

Once you download the file, install it.

*Unplug the device from the computer before you install the driver. Once the driver is installed you should be able to plug it back in and have the computer recognize the device.

After you the install the driver, there may be updates needed.

Common updates are firmware.

Run those to make sure you are all up to date.

Now let’s set up the audio interface in FL Studio.

STEP 2 – SETTING UP THE AUDIO INTERFACE IN FL STUDIO

Open up FL Studio.

Use the shortcut key F10 to open up the settings menu.

*By the way, learning short cut keys in FL Studio is one of the best things that you can do. It can speed up your workflow so much!

In the Settings window open, you are going to click on the Audio tab.

This is where we are going to make sure that FL Studio recognizes our audio interface.

Look for the drop down menu DEVICE.

Click on that drop down menu:

Look under the ASIO drivers section.

Find the driver that has some or all of the name of your audio interface.

I am using the Presonus AudioBox iTwo interface in this example.

The ASIO driver I see is labeled as AudioBox ASIO Driver. So I’ll select this option.

I don’t know all the technical details of ASIO drivers. So I’m not going to spend a ton of time trying to explain it.

If you want to get into the technical details of ASIO, you can start with this Wikipedia article.

Now let’s click on the buffer length option.

What I do know is that it was developed by Steinberg. And that’s enough for me.

Mine looks like this for the Presonus AudioBox iTwo:

If you are curious what latency is, Presonus has a good overview article about audio latency.

Rule of thumb: when you are recording audio, the lower the latency, the better.

Set the latency as low as you can go.

Make sure you aren’t getting any glitches, crackles, pops, etc.

You will have to work that out by a little bit of trial and error.

STEP 3 – SETTING UP THE MIXER FOR RECORDING AUDIO IN FL STUDIO

To open up the mixer in FL Studio, you press the F9 shortcut key.

It may look a little different than mine, but you should a window similar to this.

With a tracks that are labeled Insert 1, Insert 2, etc.

Select an empty track

Click on an empty track in your mixer. In my case, Insert 6.

To the far right of the mixer window there is the effects panel.

Choose the input from your audio interface

At the top and bottom of the effects panel you will see drop down menus.

The default selection is (none).

Left click on the top, drop-down menu. This is your input selection from your audio interface.

Select whatever input you have your microphone connected to.

In my case, I’m going to select input 1, like this:

When you do that, you should start seeing the audio meter in the mixer channel detecting sound.

You will see the meter responding as you speak into the mic.

It will look like this:

There is a button down at the bottom of the mixer track. A circle. As soon as you select the input on your interface, it will turn red.

Make sure the track is armed for recording

When it’s red, it’s letting you know that it is ready for recording.

You can see the red circle in the picture above on Insert 6.

To find out a lot more detailed information on the mixer window visit the FL Studio Mixer Explained page.

FILE LOCATION AND NAMING FOR RECORDED FILES

FL Studio will automatically select where to record file to and what to name it, if you do not.

But I like to be a little more organized with my projects than that.

I like to name files in a way that helps me when I come back to a project.
File names like vocal, or electric, or acoustic, etc. What can I say? I like simplicity.

To be able to select the location you want to save the file and what to name it, right click on that red circle.

A folder will open up. This is where you are going to name that track that you will to record.

You can also select the location that you want to save the file.

The more organized you are with the recording the better.

It’s easier to come back to a project and pick up where you left off.

With file location and name set, you can start the process of setting the level of the microphone.

SETTING THE RECORDING LEVEL

There are lots and lots of opinions on this topic.

I won’t get into all the details, but one of the biggest traps for beginners is to record the audio as loud as you can get it.

This is not the smartest move.

AUDIO HEADROOM

The reason this is not a smart move is that you aren’t taking into consideration the steps that come after the recording process.

After recording, there are the editing, the mixing and mastering phases of a project.

Each track that you record at a high level adds up in your mix.

The more files you have in the mix, the faster those levels add up.

Plus you don’t have a lot of wiggle room to alter and manipulate the track you record with effects.

In my opinion it’s better to take a more conservative approach to recording your audio tracks.

Here’s what I mean by that.

Find a good level for the vocal

As you are setting your levels for your voice, watch the dB meter on your track.

You want the basic range of where those levels hit to be somewhere between -16 and -12 dB.

This is just a rule of thumb to follow when you are starting out.

It just helps you make sure that you are louder than the room noise.

But makes sure that you have some headroom to manipulate the audio after you record it.

Again, this is just a safe rule of thumb, this is not the gospel of recording by any means.

Setting up the transport controls

So once you have the track averaging at the right levels, then you can move up to the main transport control.

This is where you see the record button, play, stop, etc.

Right click on the record button and you will see a menu appear with a lot of options.

Since I’m recording audio, I want to make sure that option is checked.

You can uncheck or check any other option by right clicking on them.

This is usually how I set up the recording options when I am recording vocals:

You may also want to select the option “Recording Starts playback”.

This just means it automatically starts recording when you hit record.

Otherwise you have to hit the space bar after you hit the record button.

SETTING UP HEADPHONE MIX TO RECORD

Put your headphones on and set the volume of the music that you are recording to.

Check to make sure that you can hear the vocals the amount that you want to hear.

this will be for the headphone mix, not for the recorded file. Balance that the way that you would like to hear it.

CHECK THE RECORD ARMING IN THE MIXER

How To Add Vocals To Fl Studio 20

Go back to mixer window.

Check to make sure that the vocal track is still armed for recording.

The small circle in the bottom of the mixer track should be highlighted in red.

SONG vs PATTERN MODE WHEN RECORDING

Look back at the transport bar in FL Studio.

Make sure that you are in song mode, not pattern mode.

Pattern mode is active when the button to the left of the play button is highlighted in orange like this:

YOU DO NOT WANT THAT PATTERN BUTTON TO BE ORANGE.

You want the SONG button to be green like this:

So now you are in song mode.

This allows the audio to be recorded onto the playlist. Just trust me on this.

I can’t tell you how many times I thought I had a great take, but no audio appeared on the playlist when I stopped recording.

I would frantically search around to see what had gone wrong only to realize later that I had been in loop mode.

So frustrating.

Now that you have setup everything, you get to the exciting part.

STEP 4 – Recording the vocal in FL studio

All of that set up work has led to this moment.

How To Add Vocals To Fl Studio

Now you get to actually record the vocal.

When you click on the record button in the main transport panel the first time, a menu is going to pop up, like this:

I select the button in the top corner that says “Don’t ask me this again in the future”.

Like this:

And then I click the option:

“Audio, into the playlist as an audio clip”

And the recording will start!!

Press stop when you are finished and you should see your audio show up in the Playlist like this:

Congratulations!

You now know how to record vocals in FL Studio.

It may seem like a lot at first. But once you do it 3 or 4 times, it feels more natural.

How To Add Vocal Presets To Fl Studio 20

AGAIN, if you want to check out how I produce songs in FL Studio, check out my FREE course!