HOW TO SAMPLE IN FL STUDIO | Sample Like a Pro (FL Studio 12 Sampling Tutorial)

In this post, you’ll learn how to sample in FL Studio. It’s an FL Studio sampling tutorial where you can learn how to make edit samples.

Make a sample of your sound

For sampling, you obviously need a sample, either one you already have or one you create from a sound. Say you’ve made a cool hardstyle screech and want to use it. Here are two easy ways:

1. Render your sound directly to a WAV file in FL Studio.
2. Use Edison to record your sound and then save it as a WAV file.

1. Render to WAV file in FL Studio

Select the right pattern with your sound and then follow these steps:

1. In the main menu, click “File” > “Export” > “Wave file…”.
2. Give the file a name and location on your hard drive. Click “Save”.
3. A render-window will appear. Click “Start”.

That’s it. Your sound has now been stored on your hard drive as a sample (WAV file).

Add sample to FL Studio

Next, add the WAV file to your project. This is how you do that:

1. In the main menu, click “Add” > “Sampler”.
2. The sampler screen will appear. Now click the folder icon, find the sample on your hard drive and click “Open”.

There it is. It’s now just a matter of drawing some notes in the Channel Rack or on the Piano Roll.

2. Record in Edison and save WAV file

This was the first method of making a sample of your sound. Now, let’s go to the second method. Select the right pattern with your sound and then follow these steps:

1. Open the Mixer in FL Studio by clicking “View” > “Mixer” in the main menu.
2. Select the Master track on the Mixer, click on an empty slot, and select “Edison” as your plugin.
3. Hit the “Record” button in Edison, and click the “Play” button in FL Studio.

Edison now records everything that you play in FL Studio. To stop the recording, click the “Stop” button in Edison.

Clean up your sample

Once your recording is done, you’ll see a waveform. But you will end up with some empty spaces left and right. It’s best to remove everything you don’t need, thus cleaning up your future sample. Therefore, select the areas you want to remove, and hit the delete button on your keyboard.

When your recording is cleaned up, you have to store it on your hard drive. Follow these steps:

1. Click the save icon (floppy disk icon) on Edison and click “Save sample as…”.
2. Give the file a name and location on your hard drive. Click “Save”.

That’s it again. Your sound has now been stored on your hard drive as a sample (WAV file).

Add sample to FL Studio (again)

Next to add the WAV file to your project. Follow these exact same steps as earlier:

1. In the main menu, click “Add” > “Sampler”.
2. The sampler screen will appear. Now click the folder icon, find the WAV file on your hard drive and click “Open”.

You can now use the sample in your songs and snippets.

Edit your sample

We have learned how to make a sample, so we actually have one for our projects. But what if we want to edit it?

To edit a sample, make sure it’s added to your project. We covered that in the earlier. Once the sample is loaded in FL Studio’s Sampler, just click on the waveform that you see, hold your mouse button, and drag it to the Playlist. Of course, open the Playlist beforehand.

You will now see a sample on your playlist. This is called an “audio clip”. The audio clip is ready for your creative usage.

Editing on the Playlist & Sampler

There are many tools on the Playlist you can use for sampling, like a slice tool for cutting, a slip tool for shifting, or just automation clips for movements. Simply explore the options.

On the Sampler, there are also many convenient effects, like pitch settings, time stretch settings, or pogo settings. Again, just explore and try everything.

Sample your sound again

When you’re finally happy with the result, you can sample it again, so you can use it in your song. At least now you know how to sample in FL Studio.

Tip: You can also edit samples in Edison itself. There are many advanced options you may want to explore