> ## 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.

# One Sound per Track

> Each Gridshift track plays exactly one sample or one instrument. Why that trade is made, and how to build a drum kit with it.

In Ableton a Drum Rack holds a whole kit on one track; in FL the channel rack does. In Gridshift a track holds one sound: one sample or one instrument, then its effects and its fader. A kit is a few tracks in a group.

## Why the trade

* **You can swap the sound while the song plays.** `⌥S` replaces the one sound on the track and every clip follows, because there is no question which sound is meant. See [Sample Library](/library/sample-library.md).
* **Every sound has its own fader, effects and sends** without opening a rack. The snare gets its reverb, the kick its clipper.
* **Ducking and sidechain are per sound.** The bass ducks under the kick track, not under a whole kit. See [Ducking](/mix/ducking.md).
* **The library knows what each track is.** Suggestions, similar sounds and the assistant work on one sound at a time.

## Build a drum kit

Put each hit on its own track with **Insert on New Track**, then select the tracks and press `⌘G` to put them in a group, or run **Group Tracks** from the Command Palette. The group is one fader for the kit and folds away when you do not need it. See [Groups](/tracks/groups.md).

## Or play a whole loop from one track

A drum loop on a sample track is cut into [slices](/samples/slices.md) at its hits. The letter keys play the slices, so one track is a playable kit made from the loop.

## Or use a drum instrument

A drum plugin or a multi-pad instrument on an instrument track is still one instrument. The **Drums** keys layout plays its pads. See [Play with the Keyboard](/work-fast/play-with-the-keyboard.md).

**Next:** [How Gridshift Thinks](/get-started/tracks-clips-sources.md) for clips, the edit cursor and the loop.


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