How to Set Up a DnB Project Template in FL Studio

FL Studio for Drum and Bass Production

FL Studio is one of the most popular DAWs for bass music production. Its pattern-based workflow, powerful mixer, and built-in plugins make it an excellent choice for drum and bass. Artists like Netsky, Camo and Krooked, and many other DnB producers have used FL Studio to create chart-topping tracks.

This guide walks through setting up a DnB project template in FL Studio, from tempo and routing to essential plugins and workflow tips.

Setting Up Your DnB Template

Tempo and Time Signature

Set your project tempo to 174 BPM. This is the most common tempo for drum and bass and gives you the right feel for most subgenres. If you make faster darkstep or slower liquid, adjust accordingly, but 174 is a solid starting point.

Keep the time signature at 4/4. DnB may use complex breakbeat patterns, but the underlying grid is always 4/4.

Mixer Routing

Set up your mixer with dedicated channels: Kick (Insert 1), Snare (Insert 2), Hi-Hats (Insert 3), Breaks/Percussion (Insert 4), Sub Bass (Insert 5), Mid Bass (Insert 6), Pads/Atmospheres (Insert 7), Leads (Insert 8), Vocals/Samples (Insert 9), FX (Insert 10).

Route your drum channels to a Drum Bus (Insert 11). Route your bass channels to a Bass Bus (Insert 12). Route both buses to the Master. This bus routing gives you control over the balance between drums and bass.

Essential FL Studio Plugins for DnB

FL Studio comes with several plugins that are excellent for DnB production:

Sytrus – FM synthesis powerhouse. Great for creating metallic neuro basses, bright leads, and complex textures. The FM matrix lets you modulate any operator with any other, creating sounds similar to what you would get from Serum FM mode.

Harmor – Additive/subtractive synthesis with image synthesis capabilities. You can literally import an image and turn it into a bass sound. Brilliant for experimental sound design.

Maximus – Multiband compressor, limiter, and maximiser. Essential for the master bus and for processing individual elements. The OTT preset in Maximus is similar to the Ableton OTT and works great on bass sounds.

Fruity Blood Overdrive – Simple but effective distortion. Add it to your bass channel for extra grit and harmonics.

Programming DnB Drums in FL Studio

The Step Sequencer Approach

FL Studio step sequencer is perfect for quickly laying out basic DnB patterns. Set the step sequencer to 32 steps (2 bars at 16th note resolution). Place your kick on step 1 and step 13, snare on step 9 and step 25. Add hi-hats on the offbeats.

For more complex patterns, switch to the piano roll. Right-click the channel and select “Piano Roll”. Here you can draw in patterns with variable velocity, fine timing adjustments, and ghost notes.

Using Breakbeats

Load your Amen break or other breakbeat sample into Slicex (FL Studio built-in sample slicer). Slicex automatically detects transients and maps each slice to a note. You can then rearrange the slices in the piano roll to create chopped breakbeat patterns.

Layer the chopped break with your kick and snare for maximum impact. High-pass the break around 300-500Hz and let your individual kick and snare samples handle the low end.

Bass Sound Design in FL Studio

Using Serum in FL Studio

Load Serum as a VST instrument on a channel. FL Studio routes MIDI to VST plugins automatically. For bass sounds, make sure you are working in mono (set Serum voicing to mono with legato). Route the Serum output to your Mid Bass mixer insert.

Our Dirty DnB Serum Presets work perfectly in FL Studio. Load a preset, assign it to a mixer channel, and start writing your bassline in the piano roll.

Sidechain Compression

In FL Studio, sidechaining is done through the mixer. Right-click the arrow at the bottom of the Kick channel and select “Sidechain to this track” while your Bass channel is selected. Then add Fruity Limiter on the Bass channel, enable the sidechain input, and adjust the compression settings.

Alternatively, use Grossbeat with a volume pattern that ducks on each kick hit. This gives you more visual control over the sidechain shape.

Arrangement in FL Studio

Use the Playlist view for arrangement. Create pattern clips for each section (intro drums, verse bass, drop bass, breakdown pad, etc.) and arrange them on the timeline. FL Studio pattern-based workflow actually suits DnB well because you can create variations of patterns quickly.

A typical DnB arrangement: 16-bar intro, 16-bar build, 32-bar drop, 16-bar breakdown, 32-bar second drop, 16-bar outro. Total around 5-6 minutes.

Exporting Your DnB Track

Export as WAV 24-bit for mastering. If you are self-mastering, export the full mix. If sending to a mastering engineer, export stems (drums bus, bass bus, everything else). Make sure to leave at least 3-6dB of headroom on the master bus.

Ready to level up your FL Studio DnB productions? Check out our Serum preset packs for professionally designed bass sounds that drop straight into FL Studio.

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