PIANO ROLL
Piano roll Menu 
This menu provides many important functions for working with the Piano roll, such as copying and pasting notes, converting color groups etc.

1. File
- Open score - Lets you load notes from a FSC
file in the Piano roll.
- Save score as - Lets you save all notes in
the current Piano roll view as a FSC file.
- Import MIDI file... (
Ctrl+M) - Shows
the Import MIDI Data dialog box, which lets you import notes from MIDI files to the Piano roll. Selecting this
command from a Piano roll window imports only note events. To import controller data (cutoff, resonance etc.) from a MIDI file, launch the Import MIDI
Data dialog box from a separate Event Editor window.
- Paste from MIDI clipboard (
Shift+Ctrl+V)
- Works exactly as the previous command, but uses the MIDI clipboard data rather than a MIDI file. You can paste data from any sequencer that can copy
to MIDI clipboard format, as for example Cakewalk Pro Audio (TM).
2. Edit
- Cut (
Ctrl+X) - Cuts all selected
notes/slides to clipboard.
- Copy (
Ctrl+C) - Copies all selected
notes/slides to clipboard.
- Paste (
Ctrl+V) - Pastes notes/slides
from the clipboard.
- Delete (
Del) - Deletes all selected
notes/slides.
- Delete all - Deletes all notes, slides and events in the Piano roll.
- Shift left (
Shift+Left) - Bumps notes
one grid unit left.
- Shift right (
Shift+Right) - Bumps notes
one grid unit right.
- Transpose up (
Shift+Up) - Transposes
notes one semi-tone up.
- Transpose down (
Shift+Down) - Transposes
notes one semi-tone down.
- Transpose one octave up (
Ctrl+Up) -
Transposes notes one octave up.
- Transpose one octave down (
Ctrl+Down)
- Transposes notes one octave down.
- Discard lengths - Reduce all selected note lengths to the minimum size allowed by the SNAP setting.
- Change color (
Alt+C) - Repaints all
selected notes/slides in the current drawing color (if nothing is selected, applies to all).
- Select all (
Ctrl+A) - Selects all
notes, slides and events in the Piano roll.
- Select at random (
Shift+R) - Select a note at random.
- Select by color (
Shift+C) - Selects
all notes and slides that have the same color as the current one.
- Invert selection (
Shift+I) - Inverts the selection.
- Select previous time (
Ctrl+Left) - Shifts a selection (made by swiping the time-line) by its own width to the right.
- Select next time (
Ctrl+Right) - Shifts a selection (made by swiping the time-line) by its own width to the left.
- Insert space (
Ctrl+Ins) - Creates empty
space that matches the current selection start and length by shifting all following notes and events forward.
- Delete space (
Ctrl+Del) - Erases all
notes and events in the current selection and shifts back the remaining notes and events to close the gap.
- Insert current controller value (
Ctrl+I) -
Initializes the integrated event editor with the current value of the corresponding automated control. If you have selected a time slice in the graph,
the current values is inserted at the beginning of the selection instead.
- Turn into automation clip - Turns Event data into Automation clips.
3. Tools
- Quick legato (
Ctrl+L) - Performs a
quick "legato" to the sequence in the Piano roll (applies only to the selection if any). This tool is a quick preset for the Articulate
tool (see below).
- Articulate (
Alt+L)- Opens the
Articulate tool dialog which allows you to apply staccato, portato, legato and similar effects to the sequence in the Piano roll (applied only to the
selection if any).
- Quick quantize (
Ctrl+Q) - Applies
basic quantize to all selected notes/slides depending on the global snap setting in the Recording panel (if nothing
is selected, applies to all).
- Quantize (
Alt+Q) - More advanced
version of the quantize feature. Opens the Quantizer settings dialog.
- Quick chop (
Ctrl+U) - Slices long
notes into many shorter, based on the global snap setting in the Recording panel (if nothing is selected, applies
to all).
- Chop (
Alt+U) - More advanced version
of the chop feature. Opens the Chopper settings dialog.
- Glue (
Ctrl+G) - Glue contiguous
(touching) notes together.
- Arpeggiate (
Alt+A) - A powerful
arpeggiator based on specialized score presets. See Arpeggiator for more information.
- Strum (
Alt+S) - Shifts the timing
and velocity of the individual notes in chords to simulate strumming (as in guitar playing and some other string instruments).
See the Strum settings dialog.
- Flam (
Alt+F) - Applies
"drum flam" effect to the score (applies only to the selection if any). See Flam for more info.
- Limit (
Alt+K) - Allows you to
transpose the score and limit it within a user-specified key range. See Limiter for more info.
- Flip (
Alt+Y) - This tool can flip
the score both vertically and horizontally. See Flip for more info.
- Randomize (
Alt+R) - Opens the
Randomizer dialog where you can generate random note sequences based on a specific scale and/or randomize the note
levels (including those of existing notes).
- Scale levels (
Alt+X)- Allows you to
multiply/offset/invert the events in the integrated event editor, as well as map events to a logarithmic or exponential scale. See
Scale Levels for more info.
- LFO (
Alt+O) - Shows the
LFO box, which lets you draw LFO-shaped events in the integrated event editor. Note that this feature is enabled
only when in the property/event selector (15) type of event is selected, instead of a note property type.
4. View
- Grid Color (
Alt+G) -
Opens a standard Color dialog box, where you can set a color for Piano roll's
grid.
- Swap panels - Swap the upper and lower Piano roll workspaces.
5. Helpers
- View note helpers (
Alt+B) - Global
switch to activate/deactivate all helpers.
- Detect scale - When selected, the Piano roll is shaded to reflect the detected scale, the scale name is shown in the Hint Bar. The scale
detecton algorithm performs an 'average' detection based on either the whole score (if nothing is selected) or on the selection. Several notes are
required before auto-detection can begin.
- View length in note properties - Displays a horizontal line equal to the length of notes in the note properties window.
- Ghost channels (
Alt+V) - When selected,
the Piano roll will show the scores of all channels in the current pattern (they are displayed in the background and have a semi-transparent look). Note
that these scores are displayed only as a reference for easier sequencing, you cannot select or edit them.
6. Zoom
Contains a submenu with a set of quick zooming levels: Far (
1); Medium (
2); Close (
3); Best fit (
4); On selection (
5);
On selection zooms the time line to fit the selection (the command will be disabled if no time region is selected in the timeline).
7. Chord
Shows a menu with pre-defined chord/scales types. Select a chord to draw chords in the Piano roll. Select None
(
Shift+N) to draw single notes.
8. Target channel
Displays a list of channels which can accept Piano roll data. Use this to quickly change the channel you are working on without closing and opening
another Piano roll.
9. Target control
Displays a list of controls/automation data to display in the integrated event editor.
10. Auto Locate Channel
When selected, the Piano roll will automatically display the first non-empty channel when switching between patterns.
11. Auto Smoothing
When checked, the drawn automation events are automatically interpolated upon mouse button release.
12. Center (
0)
Scrolls the grid so the playing position marker appears in the middle. Useful when you want to see the playing position in a long sequence.
13. Detached
When checked, the window is "detached" from the main environment of FL Studio and can be maximized on a second monitor
(in a dual monitor setup).