---
title: Samples
layout: ../../layouts/MainLayout.astro
---

import { MiniRepl } from '../../docs/MiniRepl';
import { JsDoc } from '../../docs/JsDoc';

# Samples

Samples are the most common way to make sound with tidal and strudel.
A sample is a (commonly short) piece of audio that is used as a basis for sound generation, undergoing various transformations.
Music that is based on samples can be thought of as a collage of sound. [Read more about Sampling](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampling_(music)>)

Strudel allows loading samples in the form of audio files of various formats (wav, mp3, ogg) from any publicly available URL.

# Default Samples

By default, strudel comes with a built-in "sample map", providing a solid base to play with.

<MiniRepl client:idle tune={`s("bd sd [~ bd] sd,hh*16, misc")`} />

Here, we are using the `s` function to play back different default samples (`bd`, `sd`, `hh` and `misc`) to get a drum beat.

For drum sounds, strudel uses the comprehensive [tidal-drum-machines](https://github.com/ritchse/tidal-drum-machines) library, with the following naming convention:

| Drum                                | Abbreviation |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------ |
| Bass drum, Kick drum                | bd           |
| Snare drum                          | sd           |
| Rimshot                             | rim          |
| Clap                                | cp           |
| Closed hi-hat                       | hh           |
| Open hi-hat                         | oh           |
| Crash                               | cr           |
| Ride                                | rd           |
| Shakers (and maracas, cabasas, etc) | sh           |
| High tom                            | ht           |
| Medium tom                          | mt           |
| Low tom                             | lt           |
| Cowbell                             | cb           |
| Tambourine                          | tb           |
| Other percussions                   | perc         |
| Miscellaneous samples               | misc         |
| Effects                             | fx           |

Furthermore, strudel also loads instrument samples from [VCSL](https://github.com/sgossner/VCSL) by default.

To see which sample names are available, open the `sounds` tab in the [REPL](https://strudel.cc/).

Note that only the sample maps (mapping names to URLs) are loaded initially, while the audio samples themselves are not loaded until they are actually played.
This behaviour of loading things only when they are needed is also called `lazy loading`.
While it saves resources, it can also lead to sounds not being audible the first time they are triggered, because the sound is still loading.
[This might be fixed in the future](https://github.com/tidalcycles/strudel/issues/187)

# Sound Banks

If we open the `sounds` tab and then `drum machines`, we can see that the drum samples are all prefixed with drum machine names: `RolandTR808_bd`, `RolandTR808_sd`, `RolandTR808_hh` etc..

We _could_ use them like this:

<MiniRepl client:idle tune={`s("RolandTR808_bd RolandTR808_sd,RolandTR808_hh*16")`} />

... but thats obviously a bit much to write. Using the `bank` function, we can shorten this to:

<MiniRepl client:idle tune={`s("bd sd bd sd,hh*16").bank("RolandTR808")`} />

You could even pattern the bank to switch between different drum machines:

<MiniRepl client:idle tune={`s("bd sd bd sd,hh*16").bank("RolandTR808 RolandTR909")`} />

Behind the scenes, `bank` will just prepend the drum machine name to the sample name with `_` to get the full name.
This of course only works because the name after `_` (`bd`, `sd` etc..) is standardized.
Also note that some banks won't have samples for all sounds!

# Selecting Sounds

If we open the `sounds` tab again, followed by tab `drum machines`, there is also a number behind each name, indicating how many individual samples are available.
For example `RolandTR909_hh(4)` means there are 4 samples of a TR909 hihat available.
By default, `s` will play the first sample, but we can select the other ones using `n`, starting from 0:

<MiniRepl client:idle tune={`s("hh*8").bank("RolandTR909").n("0 1 2 3")`} />

Numbers that are too high will just wrap around to the beginning

<MiniRepl client:idle tune={`s("hh*8").bank("RolandTR909").n("0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7")`} />

Here, 0-3 will play the same sounds as 4-7, because `RolandTR909_hh` only has 4 sounds.

Selecting sounds also works inside the mini notation, using "`:`" like this:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`s("bd*4,hh:0 hh:1 hh:2 hh:3 hh:4 hh:5 hh:6 hh:7")
.bank("RolandTR909")`}
/>

# Loading Custom Samples

You can load your own sample map using the `samples` function.
In this example we create a map using sounds from the default sample map:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  bd: 'bd/BT0AADA.wav',
  sd: 'sd/rytm-01-classic.wav',
  hh: 'hh27/000_hh27closedhh.wav',
}, 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tidalcycles/Dirt-Samples/master/');
s("bd sd bd sd,hh*16")`}
/>

When you load your own samples, you can choose the names that you will then refer to in your pattern string inside the `s` function.
Compare with this example which uses the same samples, but with different names.

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  bassdrum: 'bd/BT0AADA.wav',
  snaredrum: 'sd/rytm-01-classic.wav',
  hihat: 'hh27/000_hh27closedhh.wav',
}, 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tidalcycles/Dirt-Samples/master/');
s("bassdrum snaredrum bassdrum snaredrum, hihat*16")`}
/>

Here we have changed the "map" to include longer sample names.

## The `samples` function

The `samples` function has two arguments:

- A [JavaScript object](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object) that maps sound names to audio file paths.
- A base URL that comes before each path describing where the sample folder can be found online.
  - Make sure your base URL ends with a slash, while your sample paths do **not** begin with one!

To see how this looks in practice, compare the [DirtSamples GitHub repo](https://github.com/tidalcycles/Dirt-Samples) with the previous sample map example.

Because GitHub is a popular place for uploading open source samples, it has its own shortcut:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  bd: 'bd/BT0AADA.wav',
  sd: 'sd/rytm-01-classic.wav',
  hh: 'hh27/000_hh27closedhh.wav',
}, 'github:tidalcycles/dirt-samples');
s("bd sd bd sd,hh*16")`}
/>

The format is `github:user/repo/branch/`.

Let's see another example, this time based on the following GitHub repo: https://github.com/jarmitage/jarmitage.github.io.
We can see there are some guitar samples inside the `/samples` folder, so let's try to load them:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  g0: 'samples/guitar/guitar_0.wav',
  g1: 'samples/guitar/guitar_1.wav',
  g2: 'samples/guitar/guitar_2.wav',
  g3: 'samples/guitar/guitar_3.wav',
  g4: 'samples/guitar/guitar_4.wav'
}, 'github:jarmitage/jarmitage.github.io/master/');
s("<g0 g1 g2 g3 g4>/2")`}
/>

## Multiple Samples per Sound

It is also possible, to declare multiple files for one sound, using the array notation:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  bd: ['bd/BT0AADA.wav','bd/BT0AAD0.wav'],
  sd: ['sd/rytm-01-classic.wav','sd/rytm-00-hard.wav'],
  hh: ['hh27/000_hh27closedhh.wav','hh/000_hh3closedhh.wav'],
}, 'github:tidalcycles/dirt-samples');
s("bd:0 bd:1,~ <sd:0 sd:1> ~ sd:0,[hh:0 hh:1]*4")`}
/>

The `:0` `:1` etc. are the indices of the array.
The sample number can also be set using `n`:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  bd: ['bd/BT0AADA.wav','bd/BT0AAD0.wav'],
  sd: ['sd/rytm-01-classic.wav','sd/rytm-00-hard.wav'],
  hh: ['hh27/000_hh27closedhh.wav','hh/000_hh3closedhh.wav'],
}, 'github:tidalcycles/dirt-samples');
s("bd bd,~ sd ~ sd,hh*8").n("<0 1>")`}
/>

In that case, we might load our guitar sample map a different way:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  guitar: [
    'samples/guitar/guitar_0.wav', 
    'samples/guitar/guitar_1.wav', 
    'samples/guitar/guitar_2.wav', 
    'samples/guitar/guitar_3.wav', 
    'samples/guitar/guitar_4.wav'
  ]
}, 'github:jarmitage/jarmitage.github.io/master/');
s("<guitar:0 guitar:1 guitar:2 guitar:3 guitar:4>*2")`}
/>

And as above, we can choose the sample number using `n` for even more flexibility:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  guitar: [
    'samples/guitar/guitar_0.wav', 
    'samples/guitar/guitar_1.wav', 
    'samples/guitar/guitar_2.wav', 
    'samples/guitar/guitar_3.wav', 
    'samples/guitar/guitar_4.wav'
  ]
}, 'github:jarmitage/jarmitage.github.io/master/');
n("<0 1 2 3 4>*2").s("guitar")`}
/>

## Pitched Sounds

For pitched sounds, you can use `note`, just like with synths:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  'gtr': 'gtr/0001_cleanC.wav',
}, 'github:tidalcycles/dirt-samples');
note("g3 [bb3 c4] <g4 f4 eb4 f3>@2").s('gtr').gain(.5)`}
/>

Here, the guitar samples will overlap, because they always play till the end.
If we want them to behave more like a synth, we can add `clip(1)`:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  'gtr': 'gtr/0001_cleanC.wav',
}, 'github:tidalcycles/dirt-samples');
note("g3 [bb3 c4] <g4 f4 eb4 f3>@2").s('gtr').clip(1)
  .gain(.5)`}
/>

## Base Pitch

If we have 2 samples with different base pitches, we can make them in tune by specifying the pitch like this:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  'gtr': 'gtr/0001_cleanC.wav',
  'moog': { 'g3': 'moog/005_Mighty%20Moog%20G3.wav' },
}, 'github:tidalcycles/dirt-samples');
note("g3 [bb3 c4] <g4 f4 eb4 f3>@2").s("gtr,moog").clip(1)
  .gain(.5)`}
/>

If a sample has no pitch set, `c3` is the default.

We can also declare different samples for different regions of the keyboard:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples({
  'moog': {
    'g2': 'moog/004_Mighty%20Moog%20G2.wav',
    'g3': 'moog/005_Mighty%20Moog%20G3.wav',
    'g4': 'moog/006_Mighty%20Moog%20G4.wav',
  }}, 'github:tidalcycles/dirt-samples');
note("g2!2 <bb2 c3>!2, <c4@3 [<eb4 bb3> g4 f4]>")
  .s('moog').clip(1)
  .gain(.5).cpm(60)`}
/>

The sampler will always pick the closest matching sample for the current note!

## Shabda

If you don't want to select samples by hand, there is also the wonderful tool called [shabda](https://shabda.ndre.gr/).
With it, you can enter any sample name(s) to query from [freesound.org](https://freesound.org/). Example:

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples('shabda:bass:4,hihat:4,rimshot:2')
stack(
  n("0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3").s('bass'),
  n("0 1*2 2 3*2").s('hihat'),
  n("~ 0 ~ 1 ~ 0 0 1").s('rimshot')
).clip(1)`}
/>

You can also generate artificial voice samples with any text, in multiple languages.
Note that the language code and the gender parameters are optional and default to `en-GB` and `f`

<MiniRepl
  client:idle
  tune={`samples('shabda/speech:the_drum,forever')
samples('shabda/speech/fr-FR/m:magnifique')
stack(
  s("the_drum*2").chop(16).speed(rand.range(0.85,1.1)),
  s("forever magnifique").slow(4).late(0.125)
)`}
/>

# Sampler Effects

Sampler effects are functions that can be used to change the behaviour of sample playback.

### begin

<JsDoc client:idle name="Pattern.begin" h={0} />

### end

<JsDoc client:idle name="Pattern.end" h={0} />

### loop

<JsDoc client:idle name="loop" h={0} />

### loopBegin

<JsDoc client:idle name="loopBegin" h={0} />

### loopEnd

<JsDoc client:idle name="loopEnd" h={0} />

### cut

<JsDoc client:idle name="cut" h={0} />

### clip

<JsDoc client:idle name="clip" h={0} />

### loopAt

<JsDoc client:idle name="Pattern.loopAt" h={0} />

### fit

<JsDoc client:idle name="fit" h={0} />

### chop

<JsDoc client:idle name="Pattern.chop" h={0} />

### striate

<JsDoc client:idle name="Pattern.striate" h={0} />

### slice

<JsDoc client:idle name="Pattern.slice" h={0} />

### splice

<JsDoc client:idle name="splice" h={0} />

### speed

<JsDoc client:idle name="speed" h={0} />

After samples, let's see what [Synths](/learn/synths) afford us.
