Free FL Studio Soft Piano Template (Spitfire LABS)
This is the soft piano template I start from. It's built on Spitfire LABS Soft Piano, which is free, and it comes with the tempo, dynamics, expression and sustain automation already set up so you can just start playing.
It's free. The only thing you need to pay for is FL Studio itself, and any edition works.
Before you download: install Spitfire LABS Soft Piano
The template won't open properly without it. LABS is free, but it needs its own installer, so grab it first or you'll just get a missing plugin error.
Two places to get it, both free:
- Spitfire LABS, direct from Spitfire
- Soft Piano on Splice
Either one works. They both want a free account and their own app, so pick whichever you already have.
One thing worth checking: the template loads the VST3 build of LABS. If you only install the VST2 version, FL won't find it.
What you need
- FL Studio 2026 v26.1.4 (build 5589) or newer. FL can open older projects but not newer ones, so anything earlier won't load this file.
- Spitfire LABS Soft Piano, VST3 build. Free.
- Any FL Studio edition. The only two effects in here are Fruity Reeverb 2 and Fruity Parametric EQ 2, and both are in Fruity Edition, the cheapest one.
Download
Download the template (.flp, 67 KB)
Saved in FL Studio 2026 v26.1.4. If you're on an older version it won't open, but everything in the next section is written out so you can rebuild it by hand in a few minutes.
What's inside
Four automation clips, two piano channels into a shared effects bus, and two stock effects.
The automation
- Tempo. For pulling the speed around instead of sitting on a fixed grid.
- Dynamics (MIDI CC1). This is the one that crossfades between the recorded dynamic layers in LABS, so it changes which samples you hear, not just how loud they are.
- Expression (MIDI CC11). Straight volume on top. Doesn't change the samples.
- Sustain Pedal (MIDI CC64). On and off, nothing in between.
Dynamics and Expression both feel like volume when you move them, which is why they get mixed up. The difference: Dynamics picks which performance you're hearing, Expression sets how loud that performance is.
The LABS settings
If you'd rather dial it in yourself, this is what the template uses:
- Expression: full
- Dynamics: full
- Reverb: about 30%
- Tight: halfway
- Release: halfway
- Vibrato: full
- Variation: off
- Velocity mode: Compressed Velocity High, with a linear velocity curve
- Sync to tempo: on
Routing and effects
Two piano channels, Piano and Piano - A, both feeding an Effects Bus. The bus carries Fruity Reeverb 2 and Fruity Parametric EQ 2.
If you change one thing, change the reverb. If you change nothing, leave the routing alone, it's the part most likely to break the sound.
Adapting the sustain to your own part
The sustain clips that ship with the template are a starting grid, not a fixed arrangement. You'll want to reshape them around wherever your own chords change.
One thing that will catch you out: if you duplicate a sustain clip and start editing it without using Make unique first, you're editing every copy at once. Move one pedal release and watch all of them move.
I wrote the whole thing up separately, with screenshots: how to add sustain pedal to any piano in FL Studio.
Where to take it next
Swap the reverb for something bigger if you want it more cinematic, or pull the Tight control down for a softer, further-away sound.
The piano I actually play these parts on is on the setup page, and my other templates are under tools.