Accordion Keyboard Layout for FL Studio

0 README.md

About

FL Studio support custom layouts for the "typing keyboard to piano keyboard" feature, and I made one to represent the top four rows of an accordion! The left-hand bass side of the accordion (the stradella bass system) is laid out to make playing roots of chords and common chords very easy, and it's laid out using the circle of fifths to make the common chords (V and IV) very accessible. Here is my favorite accordion fingering chart: http://accordionscanada.com/bassrangev3.jpg

Accordion 1:

1. The 12345 row is the third of the chord row
2. The QWERTY row is the main root chord row - the Y key is C
3. The ASDFG row is the major chord row
4. The ZXCVB row is the minor chord row

Accordion 2:

1. The 12345 row is the main root chord row - the Y key is C
2. The QWERTY row is the major chord row
3. The ASDFG row is the minor chord row
4. The ZXCVB row is the major 7th chord row

Need the the seventh chord or diminished chord rows? You could make another layout yourself if you need them (and please comment it below!)

How to Install

To get this to work:

1. Put this file (below) in a certain spot.

• For me on PC it goes in the folder C:\Program Files\Image-Line\FL Studio 20\System\Config\Typing to piano
• For me on Mac it goes in the "show contents" folder of the FL Studio application, in System/Config/Typing to piano

2. Restart FL Studio
3. In FL Studio, open an instrument in the channel rack (my go-tos are FL Keys or FLEX)
4. Make sure that "Typing keyboard to piano keyboard" is on and you can make sounds using your keyboard
5. Right click on the "Typing keyboard to piano keyboard" button and choose your new layout: "Accordion".

References

How I figured out the fingering files:

1. Reference: https://forum.image-line.com/viewtopic.php?t=51383
2. But the forum post is more thorough, but there is also an instructions txt file in that folder for quick reference, too.

This feature only supports up to four notes per keypress (according to both the forum post and my own testing)

Accordion1.scr

F1,F2,F3
C1,C2,C3
G1,G2,G3
D1,D2,D3
A1,A2,A3
E1,E2,E3
B1,B2,B3
F#1,F#2,F#3
C#1,C#2,C#3
G#1,G#2,G#3
D#1,D#2,D#3
A#1,A#2,A#3
FREE
FREE
C#1,C#2,C#3
G#1,G#2,G#3
D#1,D#2,D#3
A#1,A#2,A#3
F1,F2,F3
C1,C2,C3
G1,G2,G3
D1,D2,D3
A1,A2,A3
E1,E2,E3
B1,B2,B3
F#1,F#2,F#3
FREE
FREE
C#2,F2,G#2,C#3
G#2,C2,D#2,G#3
D#2,G2,A#2,D#3
A#2,D2,F2,A#3
F2,A2,C2,F3
C2,E2,G2,C3
G2,B2,D2,G3
D2,F#2,A2,D3
A2,C#2,E2,A3
E2,G#2,B2,E3
B2,D#2,F#2,B3
FREE
FREE
FREE
C#2,E2,G#2,C#3
G#2,B2,D#2,G#3
D#2,F#2,A#2,D#3
A#2,C#2,F2,A#3
F2,G#2,C2,F3
C2,D#2,G2,C3
G2,A#2,D2,G3
D2,F2,A2,D3
A2,C2,E2,A3
E2,G2,B2,E3

Accordion2.scr

C#1,C#2,C#3
G#1,G#2,G#3
D#1,D#2,D#3
A#1,A#2,A#3
F1,F2,F3
C1,C2,C3
G1,G2,G3
D1,D2,D3
A1,A2,A3
E1,E2,E3
B1,B2,B3
F#1,F#2,F#3
FREE
FREE
C#2,F2,G#2,C#3
G#2,C2,D#2,G#3
D#2,G2,A#2,D#3
A#2,D2,F2,A#3
F2,A2,C2,F3
C2,E2,G2,C3
G2,B2,D2,G3
D2,F#2,A2,D3
A2,C#2,E2,A3
E2,G#2,B2,E3
B2,D#2,F#2,B3
FREE
FREE
FREE
C#2,E2,G#2,C#3
G#2,B2,D#2,G#3
D#2,F#2,A#2,D#3
A#2,C#2,F2,A#3
F2,G#2,C2,F3
C2,D#2,G2,C3
G2,A#2,D2,G3
D2,F2,A2,D3
A2,C2,E2,A3
E2,G2,B2,E3
B2,D2,F#2,B3
FREE
FREE
FREE
C#2,F2,G#2,C3
G#2,C2,D#2,F#3
D#2,G2,A#2,C#3
A#2,D2,F2,G#3
F2,A2,C2,E3
C2,E2,G2,B3
G2,B2,D2,F3
D2,F#2,A2,C3
A2,C#2,E2,B3
FREE
FREE
FREE
FREE

Can't attach an .scr in a comment, but anyone looking to try it just paste the notes below in a text document and save it with extension .scr. This version more closely mirrors the Stradella system, although I'm sure there's still some inaccuracies. It's based on Accordion2.scr, the one without the second bass row. I've:

• reduced basses to a single note
• moved everything up two octaves (mostly for convenience)
• compressed chords into a smaller range (g#3-g4). op's chords are a lot wider, and I found it made it hard to play melody on top.
• changed all chords to a 3-note voicing (1/M3/5, 1/m3/5, and 1/M3/m7 respectively. 7th chord is missing the 5th as is common in recent accordions).
• changed the 3rd chord row from a major 7 into a dominant 7. I assume this was probably intentional but it's not how Stradella does it so I've reverted the change.

Overall it's quieter and chords are a little less busy. Not necessarily any better, but a different tone for sure. Thanks to op for sharing this originally, I wouldn't have known it was possible otherwise.

C#3
G#2
D#3
A#2
F3
C3
G3
D3
A2
E3
B2
F#3
FREE
FREE
C#4,F4,G#4
G#3,C4,D#4
D#4,A#3,G4
A#3,D4,F4
F4,A3,C4
C4,E4,G4
G4,B3,D4
D4,A3,F#4
A3,C#4,E4
E4,B3,G#3
B3,D#4,F#4
FREE
FREE
FREE
C#4,E4,G#4
G#3,B3,D#4
D#4,A#3,F#4
A#3,C#4,F4
F4,G#3,C4
C4,D#4,G4
G4,A#3,D4
D4,A3,F4
A3,C4,E4
E4,B3,G4
B3,D4,F#4
FREE
FREE
FREE
C#4,F4,B3
G#3,C4,F#3
D#4,C#4,G4
A#3,D4,G#3
F4,A3,D#4
C4,E4,A#3
G4,B3,F4
D4,C4,F#4
A3,C#4,G4
FREE
FREE
FREE
FREE