This is part 1 of four. Together they build one song from your own samples, each part in 10 to 15 minutes.
1. Bring in your samples
Gridshift ships no sounds, so the library starts empty. In the first-launch setup, click Import Samples and MIDI Files… and pick the folder where your sample packs live; if you skipped it, press ⌘Y for the library window and click +. No samples yet: Free Sounds and Plugins.
The import keeps going in the background while you start. More: Sample Library.
2. Start an empty project
Press ⌘N, or choose File ▸ New Project.
You hear nothing yet. More: Projects.
3. Put a kick, a snare and a hat on their own tracks
Press ⌘T (Add Sample Track), then ⌥S (Load Sound…), type kick, press ↓ to hear each one and Return to keep it. Do the same for a snare and a closed hat, one track each.
You hear each hit as you arrow through the list. More: One Sound per Track.
4. Place kicks with the mouse
Double-click an empty spot on the kick track at beat 1 to place the kick there. With that clip selected, ⌘-click beats 2, 3 and 4 to stamp a copy at each (Stamping).
Press Space: you hear a four-on-the-floor kick. More: Clips, Linked Clips.
5. Place snares with the keyboard
Click beat 2 on the snare track to put the edit cursor there and press Return (Insert at Cursor) for a snare clip. Move the cursor to beat 4 with → and press Return again. Then select both and press ⌘D (Duplicate Clips) to fill the next bar.
You hear the snare on 2 and 4 over the kick. More: Clips.
6. Record the hats live
Select the hat track, press Caps Lock for record mode (Record On/Off) and Space. After the count-in, tap Z on every eighth note and press Space to stop; with the transport stopped, the same keys step-enter one hit per grid step instead.
You hear your own hat groove on top. More: Record MIDI, Step Entry.
7. Stamp a drum pattern
Press ⇧⌘T (New Instrument Track…), press ⇥ to Samples and pick a percussion sample, or any drum instrument you own. Press ⌥P (Stamp MIDI Shapes and Patterns…), type drum, arrow through the rows to hear each, press Return and click bar 1 of the track.
You hear an extra percussion figure under the beat. More: Patterns.
8. Load a drum loop and fit it to the song
Press ⌘T, ⌥S, type drum loop and press Return, then double-click bar 1 on the new track. If the loop runs off the bars, open the Inspector’s Warp section and keep Target BPM linked to the project tempo, or run Set Warp Target BPM from the Command Palette (⌘K).
You hear the loop lock to your kick. More: Time Stretching.
9. Play the loop’s slices and place one
With the loop track selected, press Z, X, C… to play its slices one by one. Play the one you like, then ⌘-click on the track where it should go to stamp it. From the keyboard, move the edit cursor there, hold the slice key and press Return; → while still holding makes it longer.
You hear a single chopped hit from the loop land in the beat. More: Slices.
10. Group the drums
Click the first drum track in the track list, ⇧-click the last, and press ⌘G (Group Tracks).
You hear the same beat, now running through one group. More: Groups.
11. Swap a sound while it plays
Press ⌘L (Loop On/Off) and Space, select the snare track and press ⌥S. Each ↓ swaps the snare in place, Return keeps it and Escape puts the old one back.
You hear every snare hit change at once, without the beat stopping. More: Sample Library.
Next: 2. Add a Bass Last modified on October 23, 2026
