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How To Move A Group Of Notes In FL Studio (Quick Guide)

To quickly select and move a group of notes in the FL Studio piano roll, press ctrl+left click and drag over the desired notes. Once selected, you can move the notes by clicking and dragging them to a new position. 

Moving A Group Of Notes In FL Studio

Selecting and then moving groups of notes in FL Studio is a tremendous time-saving MIDI editing technique that allows users to quickly make large adjustments to their midi patterns from with the piano roll. 

In this FL Studio tutorial, we will first look at how you can select multiple notes in the piano roll. Then we will look at how you can move them and various keyboard shortcuts you can use to your advantage in specific contexts. 

Moving A Group Of Notes In FL Studio

Selecting Multiple Notes In The Piano Roll 

There are a couple of different methods that you can use to select multiple notes from your MIDI pattern in the piano roll. 

One of the fastest methods you can use is to press ctrl (cmd Mac)+left click, which allows you to drag and select the desired notes. Once selected, the notes will turn red as an indication of this. 

However, you may want to be slightly more precise when selecting your notes. In this case, you are better off using ctrl (cmd Mac)+shift and then left click-dragging over the specific notes you want. Utilizing this method means that you can select multiple different notes from a chord progression, for example. 

Moving Multiple Notes In The Piano Roll

Now that you have selected multiple notes from the piano roll, you will want to move them to a new location. 

In most cases, you will want to click on one of the selected notes and drag the selected pattern to the desired location.

You can also utilize a keyboard shortcut when moving groups of notes. 

For example, shift+arrow keys can be used to move the selected note in all directions. To quickly move your selected notes up or down an octave, you can make use of the ctlr (cmd Mac)+arrow key up or down depending on which you are trying to achieve.  

Related Questions 

What Is the Benefit of Moving Groups of Notes in FL Studio? 

Moving groups of notes in FL Studio is an excellent way of saving time when creating midi patterns in the piano roll. For example, say you are making a chord progression.

You will be able to quickly change whole chords around instead of moving the individual notes.

Using the shortcuts discussed in the article, such as ctrl (cmd Mac)+arrow keys and shift+arrow keys, are also great ways of saving even more time when it comes to moving notes in the piano roll. 
With multiple notes selected, you can adjust them all together, such as changing the note length or velocity automation. 

Can You Move Groups of Notes in Other DAWs? 

All popular DAWs such as Ableton, Pro Tools, Studio One, and Logic Pro X will allow you to move groups of notes, as it has become a standard feature. You may find that the way you do it in other DAWs differs from how it is done in FL Studio, but you will be able to achieve the same outcome in practice. 

How Do You Copy and Paste Multiple Notes in FL Studio? 

To copy and paste multiple notes in FL Studio, you will want to follow fairly similar steps to those discussed in this article. Begin by selecting the desired notes by using ctrl (cmd Mac)+left-click-drag or ctrl+shift+left-click for more specific note selections. 

Once the notes are selected, you can use the shortcut ctrl+c to copy the notes selection. Now that you have copied the notes, you can go to the new location and use the shortcut ctrl+v to paste them. 

Can You Group Notes in A MIDI Pattern In FL Studio? 

In more recent versions of FL Studio, users can now group notes by color in the piano roll. To do this, double-click on the desired note and then click on the color indicator. You will then be greeted with various color options from which you can choose to group the note to. 

Grouping notes within a MIDI pattern can be a great way of organizing a complex sequence. It can also allow users to make more precise note slides for single notes out of a chord. 

How Do You Slide Individual Notes in FL Studios’ Piano Roll?

To slide an individual note out of a chord stack, you can use the note grouping features that have been implemented in more recent versions of FL Studio. 

Double-clicking on the desired note will bring up the option to change its color, which will assign it to a new group. Any other notes to which you assign this same color will now share the same group.
So, adding a slide note in the same color will only slide notes of the same group, allowing users to slide individual notes out of a group. 

Can You Copy Multiple Notes from One Pattern to Another In FL Studio? 

Users can copy and paste notes using ctrl (cmd Mac)+left-click and drag or ctrl (cmd Mac)+shift+left-click to select specific notes. Once the desired notes are selected, you can copy them using ctrl+c and then paste them into the new pattern by using ctrl+v

How Do You Import Midi Notes to The Piano Roll In FL Studio? 

You can quickly import a MIDI pattern into the piano roll by simply clicking and dragging it into the piano roll view within FL Studio. Users can also quickly save new MIDI patterns by navigating to the drop-down menu within the piano roll, which can be found via the small arrow in the top left. 

Once here, you can go to ‘file‘ and then ‘save score as,’ allowing you to use the MIDI pattern again in a different project. 

 Final Words

Moving groups of notes is a great way of saving time within FL Studio’s piano roll. Combined with the keyboard shortcuts mentioned in this article, it can be a great time saver for any music production. 

Want to learn more tips & tricks? Click here to find out How To Delete Automation In FL Studio.

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