> ## 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.

# Slices

> Cuts a sample at its transient markers into slices you play from the letter keys and shape all at once. Select a sample track and press the letter keys; place and move the markers in the Sample Editor.

## Play slices from the keyboard

Select a sample track, or open an audio clip in [Focus Mode](/edit/focus-mode.md), and press the letter keys. `Z` plays slice 1, `X` slice 2, and so on up the keyboard; each slice plays to its end.

## Edit the markers

In the [Sample Editor](/samples/sample-editor.md) (`⌥X`), select a marker with `←` / `→` and nudge it with `⌘←` / `⌘→`. Double-click empty waveform to add a marker, double-click a marker to remove it.

## Choose where the markers come from

Pick **Auto**, **Manual** or **Beat** in the **Transients** picker on the left of the Sample Editor's bar. In Auto, drag the sensitivity slider for more or fewer markers.

## Shape every slice

<video src="/videos/time-stretching-slices.mp4" poster="/videos/time-stretching-slices.jpg" aria-label="In the expanded Sample section, Length is dragged down to sixty percent, and each slice of the break stops early" title="In the expanded Sample section, Length is dragged down to sixty percent, and each slice of the break stops early" muted loop playsInline preload="none" />

Expand the **Sample** section and drag **Fade In**, **Fade Out** or **Length**. The waveform on the timeline shows the shape while you drag.

## Split a clip at its transients

Select an audio clip and press `⇧⌘E` (**Split Clips at Transients**). The clip becomes one clip per slice, ready to rearrange drum hits or build variations.

## Place one slice as a clip

Play a slice with its letter key, then `⌘`-click on the clip's track where it should go. A ghost shows its length before you click. Or run Command Palette → **Place Slice at Cursor…** and pick the slice.

## Good to know

* **Each slice starts at a transient marker and runs to the next**, the last one to the end of the sample. Audio before the first marker is not a playable slice. Slices are numbered from 1 everywhere: on the keys, in the palette, in the [assistant tools](/assistants/capabilities.md).
* **Slices play one at a time.** A new slice stops the one before, releasing the key does not stop it, and `Esc` stops a slice that is still playing.
* **The keys go 26 to a page.** With more slices, `Fn↑` / `Fn↓` (**Keyboard Octave Up** / **Keyboard Octave Down**) switch to the next or previous 26. Keys past the last slice wrap around to the first.
* **Markers and envelope belong to the sample.** Every clip that plays it slices at a moved marker and takes the new envelope.
* **Below 100 % Length, each slice gates to silence** and the rest becomes a rhythmic gap.

> **Details**
>
> * **The slice keys follow physical key positions**, the same on QWERTY, QWERTZ and AZERTY: slice 1 is the key left of `X` (`Y` on a German keyboard). They are always on for a sample track, separate from the Keys Layout of instrument tracks, and play in the library window too.
> * **To play a slice at a chosen level**, use the number row: [Play with the Keyboard](/work-fast/play-with-the-keyboard.md). Recording slices: [Record MIDI](/record/record-midi.md).
> * **Slice keys and the marker nudge cannot be rebound.** They are handled directly, not as Command Palette commands.
> * **The loop follows the selection while it plays.** A transient can be judged and corrected with `⌘←` / `⌘→` without stopping. Moving or deleting a marker moves the loop onto the corrected position, and holding an arrow walks the loop continuously.
> * **Step with the bare arrows, hold `⌘` to shove the marker, add `⌥` for a single-sample step**, so the right hand never leaves the arrow cluster. A dragged marker updates its slice on release.
> * **`Backspace` removes the selected marker**, and `Return` while a slice or the `Space` loop plays drops one at the playhead.
> * **Manual pins the current markers** so auto-detection no longer overwrites them. Its **Clear** button removes every marker on the sample. Switching back to Auto re-applies detection and discards manual edits.
> * **The envelope appears once the sample has slices**, in the inspector's **Sample** section (expanded) and on the right of the Sample Editor's bar in Slices mode; the two mirror each other. Option-click a slider to reset it, double-click to type a value; while you drag, the value shows above the slider.
> * **The inspector's Sample section counts the slices** in its **Slices** row, once the sample has transient markers.
> * **Split Clips at Transients makes one clip per detected transient marker**, and every piece is unlinked from its copies: [Linked Clips](/arrange/linked-clips.md). In Focus Mode a right-click below the header cuts at the pointer instead: [Audio Clips](/edit/audio-clips.md).
> * **Palette commands**, in the Audio Tools group: **Set Slice Marker Detection**, **Set Slice Marker Sensitivity**, **Clear All Slice Markers**, **Set Slice Fade In**, **Set Slice Fade Out** and **Set Slice Length**.

> **Slice keys**
>
> ```text theme={null}
> Upper row:   Q W E R T Y U I O P     (slices 17–26)
> Middle row:  A S D F G H J K L       (slices 8–16)
> Lower row:   Z X C V B N M           (slices 1–7)
> ```

> **Transients picker**
>
> | Mode | Behavior |
> | - | - |
> | **Auto** | An on-device detector places markers. A sensitivity slider beside the picker filters the candidates: up for more markers, down for fewer, live as you drag. |
> | **Manual** | The current markers are pinned and auto-detection no longer overwrites them. The bar shows a **Clear** button. |
> | **Beat** | Markers are evenly spaced on a beat grid from the sample's BPM. A division picker sets the spacing: 2 Bars, 1 Bar, 1/2, **1/4** (default), 1/8, 1/16. |

> **Marker editing (Sample Editor, Slices mode)**
>
> | Action | Input |
> | - | - |
> | Select a marker | `←` / `→`, click it, or play its slice with its letter key |
> | Nudge the selected marker | `⌘←` / `⌘→` (1 ms), or `⌥⌘←` / `⌥⌘→` for a single-sample step |
> | Drop a marker at the playhead | `Return` while a slice or the `Space` loop is playing |
> | Add a marker | Double-click empty waveform |
> | Move a marker | Drag it; the slice updates on release |
> | Remove a marker | Double-click it, or select it and press `Backspace` |

> **Slice envelope**
>
> | Control | Description | Default |
> | - | - | - |
> | **Fade In** | Linear fade at each slice's start, 0–250 ms | `0 ms` |
> | **Fade Out** | Linear fade back from each slice's effective end, 0–250 ms | `0 ms` |
> | **Length** | Played portion of each slice, 1–100 % | `100 %` |

> **Keys**
>
> | Action | Shortcut |
> | - | - |
> | Play a slice | Letter keys |
> | Next / previous 26 slices | `Fn↑` / `Fn↓` |
> | Stop a playing slice | `Esc` |
> | Split Clips at Transients | `⇧⌘E` |
> | Place the last played slice | `⌘`-click on the track |


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