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 three source buttons — SYSTEM, MIC, and USB — and a real-time amplitude bar that shows incoming signal level.
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.
- 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 now sitting on Pad 1 in the sampler, ready to chop.
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.
You have 15–30 seconds of captured audio loaded on Pad 1 in the sampler. You have raw material.