> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.gridshift.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# 2. Add a Bass

> Part 2 of four: load a bass sample into the Sampler and loop it, record notes on the letter keys, stamp a bass pattern, fix notes, duck under the kick.

Part 2 of four. Open the song from [1. Make a Beat](/get-started/first-track.md).

## 1. Add an instrument track with a bass sample

Press `⇧⌘T` (**New Instrument Track…**), press `⇥` to **Samples**, type `bass` and press `Return`. The sample loads into the built-in [Sampler](/samples/sampler.md); a bass plugin you own works too, and [Free Sounds and Plugins](/get-started/free-sounds-and-plugins.md) lists free ones.

Press a letter key: you hear the bass at that pitch. More: [Load Instruments and Effects](/sounds/load-instruments-and-effects.md).

## 2. Loop the bass in the Sampler

Press `⌥X`, or click the sample card in the Inspector, to open the sampler editor. Switch **Loop** on, drag the loop flags around the steady part of the note and raise **Crossfade** until the seam is smooth; `Return` closes it.

Hold a letter key: the note now sustains as long as you hold it. More: [Sampler](/samples/sampler.md).

## 3. Play and record a bass line

Play the letter keys along with the beat; in the **Scale** layout they stay in the project's key. When you have a line, press `Caps Lock` and `Space`, play it, and press `Space` to stop. Or write it note by note without record mode: hold a key, press `Return` to write it at the cursor, and tap `→` while still holding to make it longer ([Stamping](/get-started/stamping.md)).

You hear your own bass line under the drums. More: [Play with the Keyboard](/work-fast/play-with-the-keyboard.md), [Record MIDI](/record/record-midi.md).

## 4. Or stamp a bass pattern

Press `⌥P` (**Stamp MIDI Shapes and Patterns…**), type `bass` and arrow through the rows to hear each in your key. Press `Return` and click where the pattern goes on the bass track.

You hear a written bass line play through your Sampler. More: [Patterns](/sounds/patterns.md).

## 5. Fix notes in the piano roll

Select the bass clip and press `⌥↓` (**Enter Focus Mode**), or double-click it. `⌘`-click and drag to draw a new note, press `⌘→` to mark a note and `↑` / `↓` to move it a semitone, and with it marked `⌘`-click elsewhere to stamp a copy; `⌥↑` steps back out.

You hear the corrected line on the next loop. More: [Piano Roll](/edit/piano-roll.md).

## 6. Duck the bass under the kick

With the bass track selected, press `⌥D` (**Add Ducking…**) and choose the kick track.

You hear the bass make room on every kick. More: [Ducking](/mix/ducking.md).

**Next:** [3. Arrange](/get-started/first-track-arrange.md)


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