Welcome to FlowState. In this guide, you'll create your first beat using the drum machine, timeline, and mixer. No experience required.
Open FlowState
Go to flowstatedaw.com in Chrome, Edge, or Safari. FlowState works entirely in your browser—no downloads needed.
Tip: For the best experience, use headphones and a quiet environment.
The Interface
FlowState has four main areas:
- Transport Bar (top) — Play, stop, record, and tempo controls
- Timeline (center) — Where you arrange clips and see your song structure
- Track List (left) — Volume, mute, solo, and arm controls for each track
- Bottom Panel — Drum machine, mixer, sample browser, and more
Create a Drum Pattern
-
Open the Drum Machine
Click the Drums tab in the bottom panel. You'll see 16 pads representing different drum sounds. -
Start the sequencer
Press Space or click the Play button. You'll see the step indicator moving across the 16 steps. -
Add kicks on beats 1, 5, 9, 13
Click the Kick pad, then click steps 1, 5, 9, and 13 in the sequencer grid. This creates a four-on-the-floor kick pattern. -
Add snares on beats 5 and 13
Click the Snare pad, then click steps 5 and 13. The snare now hits on beats 2 and 4. -
Add hi-hats
Click the Hi-Hat pad and fill in some steps—try every other step for a standard pattern, or experiment.
Quick Pattern: For a classic hip-hop beat, try kicks on 1, 7, 9—snares on 5, 13—hi-hats on every step.
Add a Bassline
-
Open the Sample Browser
Click the Samples tab in the bottom panel. -
Search for a bass
Type "808 bass" in the search box. Browse the results and click any sample to preview it. -
Add to timeline
Drag a bass sample onto an empty track in the timeline. Position it at the start of bar 1. -
Duplicate the clip
Hold Alt/Option and drag the clip to copy it. Create a 4 or 8 bar loop.
Adjust the Mix
-
Open the Mixer
Click the Mixer tab in the bottom panel. -
Balance levels
Each track has a volume fader. Pull down the drums if they're overpowering the bass, or vice versa. -
Pan instruments
Use the pan knob to spread sounds left and right. Keep kick and bass centered, but experiment with hi-hats and melodies.
Play Your Beat
Press Space to play from the beginning. Use L to toggle loop mode so your beat repeats.
Keyboard shortcuts:
Space — Play/Pause
Enter — Stop and return to start
L — Toggle loop
R — Arm track for recording
Space — Play/Pause
Enter — Stop and return to start
L — Toggle loop
R — Arm track for recording
Save Your Project
FlowState auto-saves your work locally. To save to the cloud:
- Click the project name in the top left
- Select Save to Cloud
- Sign in with Google or create an account
Next Steps
Congratulations! You've created your first beat. Here's what to explore next: