Samples and audio · Drambo guide

12.1Basics

Which sampler to use

Sampling in Drambo happens in modules, so you choose the sampler that suits the job and build around it. All of them are in GENERATOR / SAMPLER.

Module	Best for
`Flexi sampler`	Almost everything: one-shots, slices, loops, scratching, time-stretched loops. See The Flexi sampler.
`Sampler`	Multi-sampled instruments with key and velocity zones. Load a whole folder, and samples whose names carry a note number and velocity map themselves.
`Shot sampler`	Simple one-shots. Samples with markers are chopped, and each hit plays a randomly chosen slice.
`Recorder`	Recording and playing back audio inside a patch, with buttons you can parameter-lock. Its recording is saved with the project.
`Looper`	Live looping and overdubbing. See Live looping.
`Granular sampler`	Rebuilding a sample from tiny overlapping grains. Needs the Granular extension.

Every module is described in Samplers.

From the community

Sampler can map a folder of samples from the file names alone. Name them like Pad_C2_096.wav or Pad_048_096.wav, that is the name, then the note name or a three-digit note number, then the velocity, and keep other numbers out of the name. This comes from a 2022 forum post. via BeepStreet forums: Importing many samples into Sampler: File names matter., 2022

Drambo by BeepStreet - Samplers
Ben Richards
A thorough tour of Flexi Sampler, Sampler, Shot Sampler and the Recorder, with chapters for each mode. Filmed on 1.x in April 2020, long before the Looper and Granular modules.

Slicing Ambient Samples in Drambo for iOS
Field Tone Audio
A 94-minute live stream working out how to slice ambient samples in Flexi Sampler and build a track from them. From March 2026.

12.2Intermediate

The Flexi sampler

Flexi sampler is Drambo’s all-round sampler. Until a sample is loaded it shows Load and Rec buttons, so you can pick a file or record straight into it. To remove a sample, swipe it downwards.

Play modes

1-Shot: Plays the sample once from start to end.
1-Slice: Plays one slice once; Start slice decides which.
Loop: Plays from Offset to the loop end, then repeats from the loop start.
Loop p-pong: Loops back and forth instead of jumping to the start.
Scratch: The playhead stands still and Offset moves it. Modulate Offset with an LFO or an oscillator to scrub through the sound.

Playback controls

Pitch: Transposes the sample in semitones.
Speed: Playback speed in both directions: positive values play forwards from Offset, negative ones backwards from the loop end.

Lock a loop to the tempo

Open the module’s header menu and turn on Stretching.
Enter the number of beats in the loop in the Sync field.
The loop now follows the project tempo.

Also worth knowing

It has an auto-monitoring parameter for hearing the input as you record.
Recordings can be synchronised to the clip.
Settings can be kept when you load a new sample, and automatic sample recognition can be switched off.
Playback carries on while the recording panel is open; the old behaviour is in the module options.
In the sample view, drag up to zoom in and down to zoom out.

From the community

Is Offset too coarse for a long sample? Ben Richards combines three knobs, one from 0 to 1, one from −0.01 to 0.01 and one from −0.001 to 0.001, and uses the sum to modulate Flexi Sampler’s Offset for very fine control over the start point. via BeepStreet forums: There’s some things I feel ashamed to ask, October 2026

Drambo: FlexiSampler Tutorial
echo opera
Loading samples into Flexi Sampler and its shortcuts, then modulating cutoff with an LFO and randomising slices. From October 2023.

SP Flexi 2.0 - Sampler for Drambo
Ben Richards
A community instrument rack, on Patchstorage, that puts 16 or more Flexi Sampler slices on faders for an SP-style workflow, with a lo-fi mode. A good example of what a well-built rack can be. From February 2023.

12.3Basics

Find and load samples

Tap Load on a sampler to open the sample browser. It can search your samples, and it highlights the sample you chose last.

Its web browser mode lets you download samples straight from websites — BeepStreet’s example is freesound.org — without leaving Drambo.

From the community

BeepStreet Drambo v2 - Demo / Tutorial 94: Sample Browser
SoundForMore MusicTech Tutorials
Browsing and loading samples, then modulating them with LFOs. From September 2023.

BeepStreet Drambo v2 - Demo / Tutorial 69: Drag and Drop and Upload files from PatchStorage
SoundForMore MusicTech Tutorials
Dragging in audio and MIDI files, and importing presets and zipped projects downloaded from Patchstorage. From May 2022.

12.4Intermediate

Record audio into Drambo

There’s more than one way to get new audio into a project, depending on whether you want a sample to play, a part of a patch, or a quick capture.

Flexi sampler — tap Rec on an empty sampler to record into it. Recordings can be synchronised to the clip. See The Flexi sampler.
Sampler — can record to a key, including from an external MIDI controller.
Recorder — a simple recorder in the rack whose record and play buttons can be parameter-locked, so the sequencer decides when it records. Its audio is saved with the project.
The signal monitor’s recorder — capture whatever reaches any input, then drag it into a sampler. See Catch audio and MIDI on the fly.
Stems recording — record whole tracks as audio. See Record stems.

To record from outside Drambo — a microphone or an instrument on your interface — set the track’s Audio from to an external input, or add an Audio input module (Process outside audio).

From the community

To multisample a hardware synth, use Sampler’s key-to-sample recording with MIDI input going through MIDI to CV into Sampler. It records while you hold each key and stretches samples across any notes you skip. Afterwards, drag zones to rearrange them, or drag one off the top or bottom to remove it. via BeepStreet forums: How do I use Drambo’s sampler as a live keyboard instrument?, May 2026

Finally Here! BeepStreet DRAMBO - GRANULAR SAMPLER - Tutorial 113: How to use it! (iOS)
SoundForMore MusicTech Tutorials
The Granular Sampler from the Granular in-app purchase that arrived in 2.55: sampling into it and building a soundscape. From September 2026.

12.5Intermediate

Live looping

Looper, added in 2.55, is a performance looper. It records a source — its module input or an external audio input — plays it back and overdubs on top, all from one ACTION button.

The buttons

ACTION: Starts recording on an empty loop. While the loop plays, it starts an overdub; press again to go back to playing. After STOP, it starts the loop again.
STOP: Stops the loop.
CLEAR: Throws the recording away.
UNDO and REDO: Take back the last recording, overdub or clear, and bring it back.

Settings

Length: Custom ends the recording when you press ACTION again; a beat or bar length ends it by itself; Clip uses the length of the clip being edited on the track, or one bar if there isn’t one.
After Rec: Whether a finished recording carries on playing or goes straight into overdubbing.
Quantize: Makes button actions wait for the next beat or bar. While one is waiting, the button shows CANCEL.
Feedback: How much of the existing loop survives each overdub. At 100% every layer stays; lower values let older layers fade.
Monitor: When you hear the source through the looper: always, automatically (not while the loop is just playing), only while recording or overdubbing, or never.Range Always, Auto, Rec+OD, Off

Gate inputs can trigger ACTION, STOP and UNDO, and outputs report the loop’s phase, each cycle and whether it is recording or playing — so a sequencer can run the looper and other modules can follow it.

From the community

To make the Looper start recording exactly when you play, send the note’s gate to its Action input, and also through a Gate Inverter into its Stop input. A forum regular suggested this patch and the person asking confirmed it works. via BeepStreet forums: Drambo Looper module threshold record start?, August 2026

Drambo (iOS/macOS): update 2.55: modular groovebox gets granular synthesis and moreSynth Anatomy — A running article that adds each update on top: 2.55’s Looper and Granular modules, Drambo Visual, the Code module, the 2.40 MIDI and time-signature changes, and back to 2.0.

12.6Intermediate

Catch audio and MIDI on the fly

Since 2.57 the signal monitor can record. It’s the quickest way to keep a happy accident: whatever is reaching an input — audio or MIDI — can be captured and turned into a sample or a clip.

Hold the input socket you want to capture.
In the signal monitor, choose Recorder and press REC.
Press REC again to stop.
Drag recorded audio into a sampler, or recorded MIDI notes into a clip.

Turn on SYNC to make recording start and stop on bar boundaries, so the capture loops cleanly.

From the community

A Huge Update For BeepStreet’s DramboThe Beat Community — The full 2.57 notes: on-screen wheels, the Signal Monitor recorder, Dual Oscillator, the new LFO and Noise modules, Buffer Live, Multi Envelope and Morph Switch.

12.7Intermediate

Process outside audio

Drambo is as much an audio processor as a groovebox. There are three ways to get outside audio into a rack.

Set a track’s Audio from to an external audio input (Route a track’s audio).
Add an Audio input module to a rack for an external input wherever you need it.
Load Drambo as an AUv3 effect in another app and process that app’s audio (Drambo as a plugin).

For a live rig, put a different effect on each track and set every track’s Receives audio to Active track. Each track then only processes the input while it’s selected, so selecting a track switches the effect.

From the community

Drambo doesn’t support Inter-App Audio. To bring in audio from an app that only offers it, one forum user hosts the app in AUM with an AudioPipeline send after it, then loads the AudioPipeline receiver in Drambo as an instrument Audio Unit. Expect some extra latency. via BeepStreet forums: Routing audio from another app into drambo, November 2026