GUIDES / FL STUDIO
DAW GUIDE

MPE in FL Studio

FL Studio has no MPE in its piano roll: one pitch bend moves every note on the channel, and there is no per-note pressure or slide. As of September 2026 that has not changed, and Image-Line has not announced it. You can still get real MPE inside FL today. This page covers what FL can and cannot do, the three ways people get around it, and the full setup for the one we make.

Does FL Studio support MPE?

No. FL Studio loads MPE-capable synths and records MIDI from an MPE controller into a pattern, but its piano roll and MIDI routing do not know what a member channel is. A pitch bend drawn in the FL piano roll is a channel message, so it bends every note on that channel at once. The same goes for aftertouch and CC74. The feature request on the Image-Line forum has been open for years; a vote there is worth a minute.

Without MIDISketch

With MIDISketch

Three ways to get MPE in FL Studio

  1. Host the synth inside a plugin that speaks MPE. The plugin loads as one FL generator, hosts Serum, Vital, Phase Plant or any MPE synth inside itself, and generates the per-note MIDI internally, so FL never has to understand it. That is what MIDISketch does, with a piano roll where you draw the bends, slides and vibrato note by note. It is the route for anyone who wants to write MPE with a mouse rather than play it in. Setup below.
  2. Bridge a controller through an MPE-aware plugin. If you own a Seaboard, Osmose or LinnStrument, FL will not hand its member channels to a synth by itself. Tools such as the MPE Emulator plugin or a MIDI Shape Shifter template do that for live playing. Good for performance, no help for editing afterwards, since the notes still land in a piano roll that cannot show the expression. MIDISketch records those controllers too and keeps every curve editable.
  3. Pitch wheel mode, one voice per instance. One synth per channel, one note at a time, a regular pitch wheel per lane. It works for a single lead line and falls apart on chords. MIDISketch has a Pitch Wheel mode that automates this for non-MPE synths such as Kontakt or Omnisphere 2 (Omnisphere 3 has MPE, so it runs in MPE mode).

Getting Started

Download & Install

Download the Windows Installer (.exe) from the MIDISketch page. The installer places the VST3 and CLAP plugins in the correct system folders automatically.

On a Mac, download the macOS installer (.pkg). Its choices are VST3 plugin, Audio Unit (Logic, GarageBand), CLAP plugin, Standalone app, the two MIDISketch MIDI FX options and MIDISketch Audio Send.

Download MIDISketch

There is also a MIDI FX version, an option in the installer (on Windows, choose Custom installation and tick MIDISketch MIDI FX). VST3 has no MIDI-effect type, so hosts list it as an effect. Everything in this guide uses the main MIDISketch plugin.

Scan & Load in FL Studio

Go to Options → Manage Plugins → Find installed plugins (or press F10 → Plugins tab). Wait for the scan to finish.

In the Channel Rack, click + and add MIDISketch as a Generator (instrument). The MIDISketch window opens with its own piano roll.

MIDISketch sizes its window to the space FL gives it, in the VST3 and the CLAP alike, and keeps that size when you reopen it, laptops included. If the window still looks wrong on your screen, pick FILE → Copy Window Report: it puts the window’s sizes and scales on the clipboard (Window report copied - paste it to us (Discord or email)) for a support message.

Hosting Synths

This is the recommended workflow for FL Studio. Load your synth directly inside MIDISketch, all per-note pitch bending is handled internally, no external routing needed.

  1. Click the Synth button in MIDISketch's toolbar to open the plugin browser.
  2. Load any VST3 synth, Serum, Vital, Phase Plant, Pigments, Surge XT, or anything installed on your system.
  3. Inside the hosted synth, enable MPE mode and set its pitch bend range to match MIDISketch's, 48 by default.
    Vital

    On the Advanced tab, turn on MPE (bottom left) and set the bend range (bottom right) to 48.

    Vital's Advanced tab with MPE enabled and the pitch bend range set to 48
    Vital: (1) Advanced, (2) MPE Enabled, (3) bend range 48. Click to see it full size.
    Serum 2

    Serum 2 ships with MPE on and a bend range of 48. To check, open its menu: MPE Enabled should be ticked and the MPE bend range at 48. To keep MPE on in every new Serum 2, tick MPE enabled by default under Global settings › MPE.

    Serum 2's MPE settings: MPE Enabled and the MPE bend range at 48
    Serum 2's MPE settings. Click to see it full size.

    Another synth? Setup for every synth MIDISketch knows →

  4. Not sure of the synth's MPE settings? With it loaded, the strip under the synth shows a green ? with that synth's MPE steps (general tips if there is no guide for it) and Check MPE, which tests a hidden copy of the synth: is MPE on, does its bend range match MIDISketch's, does it react to pressure and slide. If a synth is missing from the browser, Scan for all VSTs... in its menu finds every installed plugin; the scan doesn't run on its own.
  5. Place notes in MIDISketch's piano roll. Double-click a note to add pitch points. Drag points to create bends, glides, and vibrato.
  6. Press play in FL Studio. Everything plays through the hosted synth in real time, FL Studio treats MIDISketch as a regular instrument.

Crackling or High CPU? Fix FL's Buffer Slicing

Performance & Latency

If your CPU spikes or audio crackles when playing heavy patches in hosted synths (like Serum or Vital), the culprit is almost always FL Studio's variable buffer processing.

The Problem: Buffer Slicing

By default, FL Studio slices audio processing into tiny, variable fragments (often 30-200 samples), regardless of your main buffer setting.

Every synth has a fixed CPU overhead just to start rendering an audio block. When fed tiny slices, your synth spends most of its time on setup overhead instead of audio generation. Raising your buffer length in Audio Settings alone won't solve this because FL keeps slicing.

Symptoms: Audio crackling and a pegged CPU meter even at buffer sizes (like 512 or 1024) that should easily handle playback.

The 1-Click Fix

  1. Click the Gear icon (top-left of the MIDISketch plugin wrapper) → select the Troubleshooting tab (wrench icon).
  2. Turn ON: Use fixed size buffers. This forces FL to deliver constant full-size blocks.
  3. In the More dropdown next to it, ensure both Process maximum size buffers and Use maximum buffer size from host are checked (default).
Result: Buffer lengths behave normally. Use 256-512 samples for sound design and 128 samples for low-latency recording. FL automatically compensates for latency on playback.

Diagnostic Tool: In-Plugin Performance HUD

Verify your buffer delivery and detect audio overruns. Shortcut: F10.

With the MIDISketch window focused, press F10 to toggle the real-time performance readout:

Before Fixed Buffers: The top line displays erratic, tiny sample deliveries (e.g., ...of 30smp) alongside a constantly climbing overrun counter.

After Fixed Buffers: Shows steady, full-size buffer blocks with zero overruns. The synth line reflects your hosted synth's actual compute cost.

Typing into Your Synth Without Triggering FL Shortcuts

Workflow & Controls

In older setups, searching presets inside a hosted synth (like Serum's browser) would accidentally trigger FL Studio global shortcuts, pressing R would toggle recording mid-word.

Automatic Keystroke Interception

Current builds of MIDISketch intercept keyboard input aimed at the hosted synth before FL Studio captures it. Preset searches, typing names, and text input work seamlessly out of the box.

Required Wrapper Setting

In the MIDISketch wrapper settings (Troubleshooting tab), keep "Allow FL Studio to process keyboard presses..." turned OFF (default). Turning this on passes keys back to FL's hotkey system.

Recommended FL Wrapper Settings

One-glance summary for optimal performance, transport synchronization, and input focus in FL Studio (Plugin Wrapper Settings → Troubleshooting tab).

Routing to a Synth on Its Own Channel

If you would rather keep a synth on its own Channel Rack slot and mixer track than host it inside MIDISketch, FL can carry MIDISketch's output to it through the plugin wrapper's MIDI ports. This route sends standard pitch wheel data on one channel, not per-note MPE, so a bend moves every note sounding at the same time. It suits monophonic leads, basses and single-note bends.

Routing Steps

  1. Load MIDISketch as a Generator in the Channel Rack, and load your VST synth in its own Channel Rack slot.
  2. In MIDISketch, open the settings gear → MIDI Settings.... On the MIDI OUT tab, under WHERE NOTES GO, check that MIDI Output is on (it is by default). On the MPE & PITCH tab, under MODE, pick Pitch Wheel, then set Bend Range (default 12) to the one your synth uses. The card says “All notes on ch1.”
  3. Open MIDISketch's wrapper settings (the gear at the top of its plugin window), MIDI section, and set Output port to a number no other plugin uses, say 1.
  4. Open the synth's wrapper settings, MIDI section, and set Input port to the same number.
  5. Check the synth's pitch bend range matches MIDISketch's, then write notes and pitch curves as usual.

A new MIDISketch plays its built-in synth, and MIDI Output and Internal Audio are both on by default, so the MIDISketch track keeps sounding next to the routed synth. To hear only the other synth, turn off Internal Audio (settings gear → MIDI Settings... → MIDI OUT → WHERE NOTES GO) or click the speaker left of Play.

There is no MIDI Out plugin in this chain. FL's MIDI Out plugin plays its own piano roll to a port; it has nothing to do with what MIDISketch sends, and adding one would only double the notes.

Only VST, AU and CLAP plugins have an Input port in the wrapper. FL Studio's own plugins, Slicex, Sytrus, Harmor, FLEX, 3x Osc, the Sampler channel and the Fruity generators, have none, so MIDISketch cannot be routed into them this way. To play one of them from MIDISketch you would need Patcher, with a note cable from MIDISketch to that plugin, or a virtual MIDI port such as loopMIDI enabled as a controller in FL. Both are one bend at a time and neither is something we have tested. The supported route for per-note bends stays the same: host a VST3 synth inside MIDISketch.
FL Studio does not send MPE (per-note pitch bends) between plugins or out of the DAW. For per-note expression, host your synth inside MIDISketch using the method above.

Tested Synths

+ any VST3 synth with MPE support

MIDISketch on FL's Playlist

MIDISketch sits in the Channel Rack and plays its own sketch, in time with FL's transport while its playback mode is AUTO, so it plays along with your Playlist (Start at bar and Loop count are in the playback cog). Three ways to arrange it there:

Quick Tips

Muting MIDISketch in FL Studio

The green light in FL’s Channel Rack does not silence MIDISketch. FL keeps running the plugin and sending its sound to the mixer; the light only stops the pattern’s notes, and MIDISketch plays the notes on its own roll in time with FL, so they keep sounding. FL gives plugins no signal for that light, so mute MIDISketch one of these ways:

FL Studio MPE questions

Does FL Studio support MPE?

No. FL Studio has no MPE support in its piano roll or MIDI routing. Per-note pitch bend, pressure and slide need a plugin that generates MPE internally and hosts the synth, which is what MIDISketch does.

Can the FL Studio piano roll do per-note pitch bend?

Not on its own. Pitch bend in the FL piano roll is a channel message, so it moves every note on that channel. Per-note bends need MPE, drawn in MIDISketch's roll and sent to the synth it hosts.

How do I use Serum or Vital with MPE in FL Studio?

Load MIDISketch as a generator, load Serum or Vital inside it with the Synth button, enable MPE in the synth and set its pitch bend range to 48 semitones. Then draw pitch curves per note in MIDISketch. The steps above walk through it.

Can I use FL Studio's Playlist with MIDISketch?

Yes. Trigger mode is the main way: click TRIGGER in MIDISketch's playback bar, put a note in an FL pattern on MIDISketch's channel and arrange that pattern on the Playlist, and the note plays the sketch. You can also arrange inside MIDISketch's own Playlist, which follows FL's song clock, or drag the notes out with FILE → Export... into a pattern. In AUTO, the default, MIDISketch simply plays along with FL's song position. See MIDISketch on FL's Playlist.

Will FL Studio add MPE support?

Image-Line has not announced it. The feature request on their forum has been open for years and gathers votes; nothing in a released version of FL Studio handles MPE as of September 2026.

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