Getting started

What you need

• Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, on a PC with a 64-bit processor with 4 cores or more, 4 GB of memory and 100 MB of free disk space.
• Speakers or headphones connected to the PC.
• Something to play PianoFlex with: a MIDI keyboard, ComposerFlex, or your music program. If you don't have any of these yet, you can still click the keys of the keyboard drawn at the bottom of the window, or open a MIDI file and play it.

Start PianoFlex

Open the Start menu and click PianoFlex.

The first time, PianoFlex starts with a preset called Session Player. It is a grand piano with a balanced, even sound that suits almost any kind of music, so it's a good piano to start with.

To set the volume, find the word volume in the second row of the window and click the − and + buttons beside it. A limiter holds the loudest chords just under the top, so the sound doesn't clip when you turn it up.

After that, PianoFlex starts as you left it: the last preset you chose or saved, your keyboard, Output, Delay and the volume. If that preset isn't there any more, PianoFlex starts on Session Player and the yellow line says so.

Now choose how you want to play.

Playing from a MIDI keyboard

1. Connect your keyboard to the PC and switch it on. Most keyboards connect with a USB cable.
2. Tell PianoFlex to listen to it. Click MIDI in at the top of the window and choose your keyboard from the list. The yellow line at the bottom of the window then says "Listening to", followed by the name of your keyboard.
3. Play. You'll hear the piano, and the keys at the bottom of the window light up as you play.

PianoFlex remembers your keyboard, and listens to it again the next time you start PianoFlex. If the keyboard isn't connected then, the yellow line says so: connect it, or choose another under MIDI in.

Playing ComposerFlex's songs

ComposerFlex composes piano music, and PianoFlex can play it. You don't need a keyboard for this.

1. Start PianoFlex first, and choose the piano you'd like to hear.
2. Start ComposerFlex, choose a preset (a style of music, such as Gospel Piano or Ragtime), and click Start.

ComposerFlex finds PianoFlex by itself and plays its song on the piano you chose. There is nothing to connect or set up.

While the song plays, you can choose another piano or move any slider. The notes that follow play with your change. To learn more, see With ComposerFlex.

Playing in your music program

PianoFlex also works as a plugin inside music programs. Add it to an instrument track like any other instrument. See In your music program.

What to try next

• Try other presets. Click the name next to Preset at the top of the window. The list puts the presets into groups, such as Concert & Classical and Uprights & Vintage. See Presets.
• Change the sound. The sliders are grouped in panels, and each panel shapes one part of the sound, from the hammers and strings to the microphones and the room. Click the name of any slider, and the line under the sliders, above the keys, explains what it does. See The window.
• Play a MIDI file. Click Open MIDI… and choose the file. See Playing, rendering and recording.

If you hear nothing

• Look at "voices" in the second row of the window. It counts the notes that are sounding.
  • If the number goes up when a note should play, PianoFlex is playing. Check the PC's volume, and check which speakers or headphones Windows is sending the sound to.
  • If it stays at 0, the notes aren't reaching PianoFlex. If you play from a keyboard, check that it's chosen under MIDI in. If you play from ComposerFlex, read what ComposerFlex's yellow line says.
• For more, see If something doesn't work.

Uninstalling

Uninstall PianoFlex from Windows' Settings, Apps, Installed apps. The plugin goes with it. Your presets, recordings, settings and license key stay. To start afresh with PianoFlex's settings, delete the folder %APPDATA%\Flex Music Labs\PianoFlex (type it into File Explorer's address bar).