> ## 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.

# 1. Make a Beat

> Part 1 of four: import your samples, build kick, snare and hats with mouse, keys and recording, stamp a pattern, stretch and slice a drum loop, group the drums.

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](/get-started/first-launch.md), 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](/get-started/free-sounds-and-plugins.md).

The import keeps going in the background while you start. More: [Sample Library](/library/sample-library.md).

## 2. Start an empty project

Press `⌘N`, or choose **File ▸ New Project**.

You hear nothing yet. More: [Projects](/projects/projects.md).

## 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](/get-started/one-sound-per-track.md).

## 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](/get-started/stamping.md)).

Press `Space`: you hear a four-on-the-floor kick. More: [Clips](/arrange/clips.md), [Linked Clips](/arrange/linked-clips.md).

## 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](/arrange/clips.md).

## 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](/record/record-midi.md), [Step Entry](/record/step-entry.md).

## 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](/sounds/patterns.md).

## 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](/timing/time-stretching.md).

## 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](/samples/slices.md).

## 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](/tracks/groups.md).

## 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](/library/sample-library.md).

**Next:** [2. Add a Bass](/get-started/first-track-bass.md)


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