A sample is a piece of audio you borrow and reshape. It might be a chord from a jazz record, a drum break, a vocal phrase, a sound effect — anything. Sampling is a core part of hip-hop, lo-fi, house, and dozens of other genres. You take something that exists and turn it into something new.
Navigate to the GRAB screen using the bottom navigation bar. This is where audio enters the app.
You'll see four source buttons — SYSTEM, MIC, USB, and MIDI — and a real-time amplitude bar that shows incoming signal level. If you connect a MIDI controller, the MIDI source appears — notes you play route directly to the sampler pads.
You can also import audio files you already have. Tap the import button next to the source chips and pick a WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, M4A, AAC, or WMA file from your device.
Capture from system audio
System audio capture grabs whatever your phone is playing — a song in a streaming app, a sound from a video, audio from a website. This is the most common way to grab a sample.
- Open a music source on your phone — YouTube in a browser, SoundCloud, a voice memo, anything with audio you want to sample.
- Start playing the track. Find the section you want before going back to ESSNCE.
- Switch back to ESSNCE. Tap SYSTEM in the source selector.
- Watch the amplitude bar. It should be moving. If it's flat, check that your source app is still playing and the volume is up.
- Tap the record button. The inner circle turns red — you're capturing. Toggle the tuner to see the pitch and chord of the incoming audio in real time.
- Let 15–30 seconds of audio play through. More material gives you more to work with.
- Tap the record button again to stop.
Your captured audio is ready for the next step. Before saving, you can rename your sample by tapping the name field. Tap the ⋯ menu to save to a pad, to a Note (with automatic transcription), or to your Library.
Record with the mic
If you'd rather capture something live — hum a melody, tap a rhythm on your desk, record an instrument — tap MIC instead. Same process: watch the amplitude bar, hit record, hit stop. For a USB microphone, plug it in and tap USB.
Split into stems
After capturing, tap the SPLIT button. ESSNCE uses AI to separate your audio into four layers: vocals, drums, bass, and other instruments. Each layer gets its own volume slider (up to 150%), and you can toggle between the original and separated version to compare. Save individual stems to pads, or use Save All to put all four on consecutive pads at once.
Project reference
ESSNCE automatically detects the BPM, musical key, and chord of your captured audio. These appear in a card below the waveform. Tap Set As Project Reference to lock these in for your whole project.
You have 15–30 seconds of captured audio loaded on Pad 1 in the sampler. You have raw material.