Two ways to play a sample
Samples on a melody part need the expanded studio: press Add expanded sounds on the shelf, or Explore FM, acid bass, sampler & more in Sounds. Then choose a part, open Sounds and pick one of two synth types.
- SAMPLER
- Plays the recording itself, sped up or slowed down to reach each note. Good for real instruments, voices and one-off hits.
- GRANULAR
- Chops the recording into tiny grains, a few hundredths of a second each, and layers them. Good for pads, textures and sounds that never existed.
Loading a sound
- With SAMPLER or GRANULAR chosen, press + LOAD SAMPLE. YOUR SAMPLES opens.
- Drop a file onto + ADD SAMPLE, or click it to choose one. WAV, MP3, OGG, FLAC, M4A, AAC and Opus all work.
- Choose it from the SAMPLE menu. The part now plays it, and its waveform appears.
TipEach sample must be under 2 MB and 30 seconds long, and a song holds up to 8 of them (6 MB in all).
Trimming
Drag the START and END handles on the waveform to choose which part of the sound plays. ▶ AUDITION plays the selection. For a sound that should keep going while a note is held, turn LOOP on: two more handles, L.ST and L.END, mark the part that repeats.
The sampler’s controls
- MODE
- GATE plays the sample only while the note lasts. ONE-SHOT starts it with the note and lets the whole selection play out.
- RATE
- Speed, from a quarter to four times. Pitch moves with it.
- FIT
- Tell it how many beats the selection is (1 BT to 32 BT) and it matches the song’s tempo: ideal for drum loops.
- ROOT
- The note that plays the sample exactly as recorded. Other notes play it higher or lower from there.
- TUNE
- Fine tuning, in cents.
- ATK, DEC, SUS, REL and GAIN
- An envelope and a level, as on the synths (chapter 5).
Its presets (ONE SHOT, LOOP, PAD, CHOP, SUB, BREAK, TAPE KEYS, MALLET and HALF SPEED) set these for common jobs and shape whichever sample you have chosen.
Granular controls
- SIZE and DENS
- How long each grain is, and how many start every second. Small, dense grains blur into a smooth tone.
- POS and P.RATE
- Where in the sample the grains come from, and how fast that point travels through it.
- SPRAY, JITTER and P.RAND
- Randomness in where, when and at what pitch each grain plays.
- SPREAD
- How widely the grains scatter between left and right.
- REV and WINDOW
- Play grains backwards, and change the shape each one fades in and out with.
Presets include CLOUD, FREEZE, SHIMMER, STUTTER, TEXTURE, SOFT FOCUS, RAIN DROPS and REVERSE HALO.
Recording your own
Anything your microphone hears can become a sample: your voice, a tapped glass, a hand clap. With SAMPLER or GRANULAR chosen, press ● REC next to + LOAD SAMPLE and RECORD A SAMPLE opens.
- Press ● REC. The first time, your browser asks whether the studio may use the microphone: allow it.
- Make your sound. A meter shows the level and a clock counts up to the 30-second limit. Press ■ STOP when you are done.
- Trim the take on its waveform, give it a name, and press ▶ PREVIEW to hear it.
- Press SAVE AS SAMPLE to keep it; it goes straight onto the part. ● AGAIN records another take, and DISCARD throws this one away.
TipRecordings are mono and must be under 2 MB once trimmed. Nothing leaves your browser, and nothing is kept until you press SAVE AS SAMPLE. If the studio says the microphone is blocked, allow it in your browser’s address bar and press ● REC again.
Samples on drum voices
Any drum voice can play a sample, with or without the expanded studio. In Drums, choose the voice and set Sound source to Sample. Press Load sample (or pick one already in the project under From this project), then adjust Tune, Pan, Level, where it Starts and Ends, and whether it plays in reverse.
Where samples are kept
Samples are stored in this browser alongside your projects. A song file saved with SONG (.JSON) only refers to its samples, so on another device they show as SAMPLE MISSING until you load the same files again with RE-LINK. To move a project with its sounds inside it, use SONG + SAMPLES in the Finish tool.