Applies to FLkey Mini / FLkey 37 / FLkey 49 / FLkey 61

A Mod Wheel on a MIDI keyboard is like any other control, such as a knob or fader.  It sends a MIDI Control Change (CC) message which you can assign to a parameter in your DAW.

The FLkey Modulation Wheel will send a specific Control Change message - CC1 - using the first USB MIDI Port (referred to here as "MIDI Port"), but not the second ("DAW Port").

[See the following article for further reference to the MIDI Port and DAW Port and the correct setup: FLkey: Manual FL Studio setup]

Mod wheel setup process

CC1 is the standard MIDI Control Change number for Mod Wheel control, but FL Studio does not predefine CC1 to anything by default.

As the Mod Wheel control has no predefined functions, it will require manual assignment to control parameters in FL Studio, of which there are a couple of methods:

1. Using the 'Omni - Mod Wheel (Wrapper)' remote control:
   This is where the mod wheel is set up to function in a more traditional way. So the CC1 message sent from the mod wheel is passed on to the plugin in focus automatically, which is generally set to a mod wheel function built into the plugin.
2. Manually assigning controls to the Mod Wheel:
   This is where the mod wheel is linked to any specific parameter within a plugin that is in focus or an FL Studio parameter.  You can set these links up for each plugin per project, or you can set them up globally to work on all projects.

Option 1: Using the 'Omni - Mod Wheel (Wrapper)'

To use the mod wheel in the more traditional way, you can use the 'Mod Wheel (Wrapper)' remote control parameter built into FL Studio.

If you wanted this to carry over to every new project you create, open a new project, follow the steps below and then save this as the default template project.  This way, you do not have to repeat this process more than once.

1. As per the screenshot below you can go to the browser on the left and find this Mod Wheel wrapper under 'Current project' > 'Remote control'.
2. Click the 'Omni - Mod Wheel (Wrapper)' entry here to see the 'Remote control settings' window open up.
3. When you move the Mod Wheel at this point, the 'Remote control settings' window should disappear letting you know it's linked successfully to the Omni - Mod Wheel (Wrapper).

If you open a virtual instrument plugin with a mod wheel in the user interface - such as Xfer's Serum, or Native Instruments' Kontakt to name some commonly used plugins - you should be able to see the mod wheel in the plugin GUI respond to the FLkey mod wheel movements.

Note that not all plugins or patches will respond to mod wheel MIDI messages.  You may find that you have to assign the mod wheel as a modulation source to a destination in the patch, or some plugins may not even respond to MIDI CC1 messages as expected.

Option 2: Manually assigning controls in FL Studio

There are two methods for manually assigning controls from your FLkey to FL Studio.

If you intend to use the Mod Wheel for the same parameter every time you open FL Studio, set up a 'Global Link' on the parameter you wish to control.  Repeat this process for each plugin. FL Studio will remember the Mod Wheel assignment every time each plugin is opened.

However, if you want to assign the Mod Wheel to one control and change its function in each project, we recommend setting up a 'Per Project Link'.  This is a less permanent solution that will need to be repeated for each project. 

The process for each method is described below:

1. Global Links

These links are carried over across FL Studio projects and may only be active when that specific plugin or window is in focus, allowing for one control to serve many different functions.

Create a Global Link by running through the following process...

1. Click the 'Multilink to controllers' button as per the screenshot below.

2. Click and move the parameter you wish to control in the plugin or FL Studio window
3. Move the Mod Wheel to link to this parameter.
4. After you've linked, right-click the ' Multilink to controllers' button and select 'Overwrite global links'.
5. Move the Mod Wheel when the window comes up so it populates this with a permanent link which will carry over into new projects when this plugin is in focus.

VIDEO: Click here for a video tutorial from the FL Studio

2. Per Project Link

These are MIDI links that are unique to each project and have one control per function.

You can map any control to any parameter in FL Studio per project by moving the parameter you want to adjust in FL Studio or the plugin and going to 'Tools' > 'Last Tweaked' > 'Link to Controller' and then moving the mod wheel to map this to that parameter.