AUTOMATION & RECORDING

Import MIDI Data Dialog (*.mid)

The Import MIDI data dialog appears when you import MIDI files that contain note and/or automation data.

NOTE: MIDI is not audio, it is note and automation data. It needs to be read by an instrument before you can hear it. The reason you can play many .mid files on your computer is that the Windows operating system assigns the MIDI data to the inbuilt synthesizer/samples in your soundcard (see the section on playing General MIDI files below).

How to import MIDI data

The options on the MIDI import dialog will change depending on how the MIDI file is loaded into FL Studio. Options are:

1. Import a MIDI file from the Main File menu.
2. Import a MIDI file from the Piano roll menu.
3. Drag a MIDI file from the Browser and drop on:

   3.1 Channel window.

   3.2 Piano roll.

   3.3 FL Studio desktop.

Options

• Which Tracks to Import - Click the drop-down menu to select which MIDI tracks to import. A track is usually associated with a MIDI Channel and contains a particular instrument's data ('Piano', 'Melody', 'Drums', etc.), there can be up to 16 MIDI tracks, what you will see depends on the data file to be imported.
• Which Channels to Import - Select the MIDI Channels to import. Left-click a Channel number (selected channels are marked in red) to include it in the import, right-click to exclude a Channel from the import.
• Blend with existing data - The MIDI data will be blended with any data already in the pattern/s.
• Start new project - Opens the MIDI file in a new project. If this option is deselected, any data in the Instrument channels for the selected pattern will be overwritten.
• Create one channel per track - Imports each MIDI channel (1 to 16 possible) in the MIDI file as a separate Instrument channel and loads a MIDI Out plugin set to the tracks Channel number, on each.
• Realign events - Removes any empty-space at the start of the file.
• Accept - Import the MIDI data.

Playing General MIDI Files

For this trick you will need MIDI Out instrument/s, a Fruity LSD effect and a General MIDI file. Each track in the MIDI file will be imported into a separate Instrument channel (holding a MIDI Out plugin), with unique Piano roll 'color group'/MIDI channel data. These will 'General MIDI' instruments from your soundcards inbuilt Synth/Sampler:

1. Import the MIDI data using the 'Create one channel per track' option (see above). NOTE: the import method will determine if you see the 'Create one channel per track' option, use 1 or 3.3 (above).
2. A MIDI Out plugin will automatically load on each Instrument channel. The MIDI Channel selectors on each MIDI Out plugin will be set accordingly.
3. Load a Fruity LSD plugin on the Mixer track Effect slot of your choice.
4. Set the Fruity LSD to Port 0 (Omni mode) so that it responds to all the MIDI Out Instrument channels.
5. Press play and enjoy the cheesy world of 'General MIDI'. We recommend replacing the Fruity Outs with regular Plugin instruments before someone catches you!