diff --git a/packages/soundfonts/fontloader.mjs b/packages/soundfonts/fontloader.mjs
index 017ba763..2f214cad 100644
--- a/packages/soundfonts/fontloader.mjs
+++ b/packages/soundfonts/fontloader.mjs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
-import { noteToMidi, freqToMidi } from '@strudel.cycles/core';
+import { noteToMidi, freqToMidi, _mod } from '@strudel.cycles/core';
 import { getAudioContext, registerSound, getEnvelope } from '@strudel.cycles/webaudio';
 import gm from './gm.mjs';
+import { getSoundIndex } from '../superdough/util.mjs';
 
 let loadCache = {};
 async function loadFont(name) {
@@ -130,9 +131,9 @@ export function registerSoundfonts() {
     registerSound(
       name,
       async (time, value, onended) => {
-        const { n = 0 } = value;
+        const n = getSoundIndex(value.n, fonts.length);
         const { attack = 0.001, decay = 0.001, sustain = 1, release = 0.001 } = value;
-        const font = fonts[n % fonts.length];
+        const font = fonts[n];
         const ctx = getAudioContext();
         const bufferSource = await getFontBufferSource(font, value, ctx);
         bufferSource.start(time);
diff --git a/packages/superdough/sampler.mjs b/packages/superdough/sampler.mjs
index 39e5b548..9dd0d2f5 100644
--- a/packages/superdough/sampler.mjs
+++ b/packages/superdough/sampler.mjs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { noteToMidi, valueToMidi, nanFallback } from './util.mjs';
+import { noteToMidi, valueToMidi, getSoundIndex } from './util.mjs';
 import { getAudioContext, registerSound } from './index.mjs';
 import { getEnvelope } from './helpers.mjs';
 import { logger } from './logger.mjs';
@@ -31,10 +31,11 @@ export const getSampleBufferSource = async (s, n, note, speed, freq, bank, resol
   transpose = midi - 36; // C3 is middle C
 
   const ac = getAudioContext();
+
   let sampleUrl;
   if (Array.isArray(bank)) {
-    n = nanFallback(n, 0);
-    sampleUrl = bank[n % bank.length];
+    const index = getSoundIndex(n, bank.length);
+    sampleUrl = bank[index];
   } else {
     const midiDiff = (noteA) => noteToMidi(noteA) - midi;
     // object format will expect keys as notes
@@ -45,7 +46,8 @@ export const getSampleBufferSource = async (s, n, note, speed, freq, bank, resol
         null,
       );
     transpose = -midiDiff(closest); // semitones to repitch
-    sampleUrl = bank[closest][n % bank[closest].length];
+    const index = getSoundIndex(n, bank[closest].length);
+    sampleUrl = bank[closest][index];
   }
   if (resolveUrl) {
     sampleUrl = await resolveUrl(sampleUrl);
diff --git a/packages/superdough/util.mjs b/packages/superdough/util.mjs
index d49ffd6b..29eaa7bc 100644
--- a/packages/superdough/util.mjs
+++ b/packages/superdough/util.mjs
@@ -61,3 +61,10 @@ export function nanFallback(value, fallback) {
   }
   return value;
 }
+// modulo that works with negative numbers e.g. _mod(-1, 3) = 2. Works on numbers (rather than patterns of numbers, as @mod@ from pattern.mjs does)
+export const _mod = (n, m) => ((n % m) + m) % m;
+
+// round to nearest int, negative numbers will output a subtracted index
+export const getSoundIndex = (n, numSounds) => {
+  return _mod(Math.round(nanFallback(n, 0)), numSounds);
+};