11 Samples

Samples are audio files you place in the playlist or the Pattern Sequencer. You find them on the sidebar's Samples page, and adjust how a sample clip plays in the Sample tab.

11-1 Sample browser

Click the Samples key on the sidebar rail to show the sample browser. Click the key again to hide the sidebar.

The browser shows the samples folder as a tree of folders and samples.

• Open or close a folder: click it (or select it and press Return (Enter)). An empty folder shows Empty.
• Hear a sample: click it (or select it and press Return (Enter)). The sample last heard stays highlighted.
• Use a sample: drag it into the playlist (see Playlist) or the Pattern Sequencer, where it becomes a sample row (see 7-3-2 Adding rows).
• Search: type in Search at the top. Matching samples are listed by name, with the folder each is in. Esc clears the search.

NOTE

Search only looks in folders you've opened so far. If a sample isn't found, open its folder first.

11-2 Sample tab

The Sample tab shows a sample clip from the playlist and adjusts how that clip plays. It changes the clip, not the file: other clips of the same sample are not affected.

To open it, double-click a sample clip in the playlist, or choose Window ▸ Sample. With no clip chosen, the tab reads Double-click a clip in the playlist to inspect it.

1. Name — The clip's file name. Hold the pointer over it to see the full path.
2. Length — How long the clip plays, in seconds and beats, after trimming and pitch.
3. Audition (play button) — Plays the clip on its own with its settings.
4. Reset — Puts every setting back to its default. Dimmed when nothing has changed.
5. Waveform — The clip as it will play, with its gain and fades. Beat lines are numbered from the clip's start. The parts the clip doesn't play (after trimming) are dimmed. Drag the handles at the top of the envelope to set the fades.
6. Settings — A knob and number field for each setting (below).

11-2-1 Settings

Setting	Range	Default	What it does
Gain	−60 to +24 dB	0 dB	The clip's volume.
Pan	100% left to 100% right	Center	Where the clip sits left to right.
Pitch	−24 to +24 st	0 st	Raises or lowers the pitch in semitones. The clip also plays faster or slower (12 st up is twice as fast), so its length changes.
Attack	0 ms to 10 s, and no longer than the clip	0 ms	Fade in.
Decay	0 ms to 10 s, and no longer than the clip	0 ms	Fade out.

To change a setting:

• Drag the knob up or down. Hold Shift for fine moves.
• Or type a value in its field and press Return (Enter).
• Double-click the setting's label or knob to reset it.

Under the fields for Pan, Pitch, Attack and Decay, a short note describes the value (for example Center, the speed for Pitch, or Fade in).

Stretching a clip in the playlist (Shift-drag an edge) also changes its pitch (see Playlist).

11-3 Clips browser

The Clips page of the sidebar lists files Dawesome has written for the project: the results of Deep copy and of a Join that writes a file (see Playlist). They are kept in the clips folder next to the project file.

Click the Clips key on the sidebar rail to show it. With no clips yet, it reads No clips yet. Deep copy or join clips to make some.

It works like the Recordings browser (see Basic recording): click a clip to hear it, drag it into the playlist or the Pattern Sequencer, search, make folders, drag to move, and right-click to Rename or Move to Trash. A dot marks the clips the project uses; a clip in use can't be deleted.