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Play a sample track’s sample from the keys

Select a sample track, press ⌘K and run Convert to Instrument Track. The track now plays its sample through the built-in Sampler, pitched across the keyboard. You can also right-click the waveform in the Inspector’s Sample section and choose Convert to Instrument Track.

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Turn a Sampler track back into a sample track

Select an instrument track that runs the built-in Sampler and run Convert to Sample Track, or right-click the Sampler card in the Inspector. The track becomes a sample track with the same sample.

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Good to know

  • Both directions remove every clip on the track. An audio clip can’t live on an instrument track and a MIDI clip can’t live on a sample track. When clips would go, Gridshift asks first and names what is lost; Convert goes ahead.
  • The track stays the same track. Its name, color, effects, sends, group, ducking and mixer automation stay where they were.
  • Only Sampler tracks convert back. An instrument track running an Audio Unit has no sample to keep, so Convert to Sample Track is unavailable there (No Sample to Keep). An instrument track with nothing loaded converts to an empty sample track.
  • Going back to a sample track drops what a sample track can’t hold: the MIDI effects, the Sampler’s root note, envelope, loop and voicing settings once you changed them, and the instrument as a target of its automation lanes. The warning lists each.
  • A conversion is one undo step.
  • The sample keeps everything Gridshift knows about it: waveform, transients, warp settings and detected key.
  • The Sampler’s root note is set from the sample’s detected pitch, so the sample plays at its own pitch on that key.
  • An empty sample track converts to an empty instrument track.
  • Both commands act on one selected track. With several selected, or none, the Command Palette shows them as unavailable.
  • MIDI bindings learned onto the instrument are cleared when it goes, so they do not jump to the next instrument you load.
  • A sample track that serves as the groove template stops being one when it becomes an instrument track.
  • Converting during playback takes effect at once. The removed clips stop sounding right away.
Last modified on October 22, 2026