Samplab - AI-powered polyphonic audio note editor

What Is Samplab — Your AI-Powered Audio Note Editor

Finding that perfect sample but can't use it because one note throws off your entire track? That's one of the most frustrating bottlenecks in music production. You've likely spent hours searching for the right sound, only to discover that a single clashing note makes the whole sample unusable. Traditional tools either offer crude time-stretching that ruins audio quality, or require complex manual editing that eats up hours of your creative time.

Samplab changes that equation entirely. It's the first AI-powered tool that lets you edit individual notes within polyphonic audio — the kind of complex audio with multiple instruments playing simultaneously that most editing software struggles to handle. Instead of treating your sample as a single audio file, Samplab recognizes each note as a separate element, giving you surgical control over pitch, timing, and duration without compromising sound quality.

What makes this possible is a sophisticated AI engine that detects and reconstructs notes in real time. Whether you need to adjust a single off-key note in a melodic sample, shift an entire chord progression to match your track's key, or stretch a loop to fit a different tempo, Samplab handles it while preserving the natural character of your audio.

The tool has gained serious traction in the global music production community. International DJ and producer KSHMR put it simply: "Samplab is pure magic — no other program lets you tweak the notes of polyphonic audio while actually sounding good." With over 100,000 tracks processed using Samplab (based on fair use data), it's clear that producers worldwide have found this capability genuinely transformative.

Behind Samplab is Samplab GmbH, a Swiss company headquartered in Zurich. Founded in 2020 by Manuel and Gian-Marco, the company has attracted support from Venture, BRIDGE, and ZHdK (Zurich University of the Arts), combining technical innovation with deep understanding of what musicians actually need.

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Samplab's Core Features

Think of Samplab as giving you the editing powers that were previously reserved for MIDI — but applied directly to audio samples. Here's what you can actually do with it.

Polyphonic Note Editing at Your Fingertips

The flagship capability that sets Samplab apart is its ability to identify and isolate individual notes within complex audio. The AI doesn't just see audio as a waveform; it understands that a chord is made of multiple notes, that a drum pattern contains distinct hits, that a melody consists of separate events that can each be modified independently.

When you load a sample, Samplab maps every note, showing you a visual representation you can interact with directly. Want to fix that one note in a piano chord that's slightly off-key? Click it and pitch-shift just that note. Need to tighten the timing of a drum loop? Select individual hits and nudge them. The AI maintains the natural attack and decay characteristics of each note, so edits sound organic rather than artificial.

Premium users get even more control: you can adjust volume and pan for each individual note, enabling creative mixing decisions directly within the sample.

Seamless DAW Integration

Samplab isn't a standalone tool that disrupts your workflow — it integrates where you already work. The VST3 and AU plugin formats mean Samplab loads directly into Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, and other major DAWs. You stay in your familiar environment, using the same project file and session logic you're used to.

The plugin links to MIDI files, so you can trigger playback instantly and see your edits in real time. Auto tempo and key detection means samples automatically conform to your project's settings — no manual calculation or conversion needed.

Intelligent Chord Detection

When you're working with melodic samples, knowing the chord progression is essential. Samplab's Chord Detection feature analyzes your audio and identifies the chords being played, showing you the exact progression in a readable format.

This isn't just for information — you can interact with it directly. Detect the chords, then transpose to a different key with a single click. The AI handles the complexity of maintaining harmonic integrity while shifting the entire progression. You can also export clean MIDI files, giving you the chords as a foundation for your own compositions or remixes.

Stem Separation That Actually Works

Sometimes you don't need to edit notes — you need the individual components of a full track. Samplab's Stem Separation uses cloud-based AI to split any audio into four distinct tracks: vocals, drums, bass, and other instruments.

This opens up enormous creative possibilities. Extract the vocal from a reference track for your own remix. Pull out the drums to process them with your own effects chain. Isolate the bass line and re-record it with your own synth. Each stem exports as a separate file you can work with independently.

Audio to MIDI Conversion

Converting audio to MIDI is one of those capabilities that sounds technical but creates enormous creative freedom. When you transform a audio performance into MIDI data, you're not just copying a recording — you're getting the musical information: which notes were played, when they started, how long they lasted, how hard they were struck.

Samplab handles this for both melodic content and drum patterns. Load a guitar riff and convert it to MIDI, then trigger it with any virtual instrument in your DAW. Take a drum loop and transform it into a MIDI pattern you can completely redesign. The conversion preserves the nuances of the original performance while giving you full editing capability.

Warping Without Compromise

Time-stretching audio has traditionally meant sacrificing quality. Speed up a sample too much and it sounds chipmunked; slow it down and it gets muddy. Samplab's Warping feature uses intelligent algorithms that maintain audio quality across a 20% to 200% speed range.

You can also change pitch independently of tempo, or vice versa. Need a sample to match your track's tempo but keep its original pitch? Samplab handles that. Want to change the key without affecting duration? That's equally straightforward. This flexibility is essential when you're building tracks from multiple samples that need to work together.

Resynthesizer — Create New Sounds from Existing Ones

Resynthesizer is Samplab's most creatively ambitious feature. Rather than just editing or converting audio, it reconstructs the音色 (timbre) of your samples using AI analysis, generating entirely new sounds that retain musical characteristics of the original.

This is powerful for sound design — you can take an acoustic piano sample and create something that sounds like a hybrid instrument, or transform a vocal phrase into a textural pad. Complete plan subscribers get access to this tool, which represents a genuinely different approach to sound creation.

Smart Tempo and Key Matching

When you're combining multiple samples in a track, the last thing you want is to manually calculate BPM and key conversions. Samplab analyzes each sample's tempo and musical key, then automatically matches them to your project settings.

This automation eliminates the tedious preparation work that often kills creative momentum. Load a sample, and Samplab handles the math — you hear how it fits immediately and can focus on the creative decisions that matter.

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Who Uses Samplab — Real Use Cases

Samplab serves music creators across the full spectrum — from bedroom beatmakers to professional producers working on released tracks. Here's how different types of users actually apply these capabilities.

Fixing Problem Notes in Perfect Samples

You're a beatmaker who found an incredible piano sample, but there's one note in the chord that clashes with your track's key. In the past, you'd either abandon the sample or spend hours trying to recreate it manually.

With Samplab, you load the sample, visually identify the offending note, and pitch-shift just that single element. The rest of the chord remains untouched. Your sample is intact, the clash is resolved, and you've spent seconds rather than hours. This is the core use case that makes Samplab invaluable — it saves samples you would otherwise discard.

Matching Any Sample to Your Project's Key and Tempo

You have a sample you love, but it's in the wrong key and the wrong tempo for your track. Manual transposition is time-consuming, and you often end up with artifacts or quality loss.

Samplab's one-click detection analyzes both the key and tempo, then automatically matches them to your project. You hear how the sample sits in your track immediately. This accelerates your workflow dramatically — what used to be a technical hurdle becomes a simple step.

Extracting Stems for Remixing and Sampling

You want to build a remix around the vocal from a commercial track, or take the drums from one song and layer them into your own production. Without stems, you're stuck with the full mix.

Samplab's Stem Separation gives you clean extractions of vocal, drums, bass, and instrumental components. The quality is sufficient for professional remixing and sample-based production. You're not restricted to what's available in stem packs — you can create your own from any audio file.

Taking Audio into MIDI for Complete Redesign

You've found a melodic phrase you want to transform completely — not just edit, but rebuild with your own sounds and timing choices.

Audio to MIDI conversion gives you the raw material. The phrase becomes a MIDI pattern you can open in your piano roll, where every note is fully editable. Change the rhythm, quantize differently, trigger different instruments, add notes, remove notes. You're no longer constrained by the original audio performance.

Fusing Multiple Samples Into Cohesive Tracks

When building tracks from multiple samples, the biggest challenge is making them feel like they belong together. Tempo and key mismatches make everything sound disjointed.

Samplab's automatic matching handles this for you. Load samples from different sources, and Samplab ensures they align tempo-wise and harmonically. Your track sounds cohesive rather than like a collection of unrelated clips.

Creating Creative Speed Effects

Sometimes you want extreme tempo manipulation as an artistic choice. Trap and dubstep producers frequently manipulate sample speeds for that half-time or double-time effect.

Samplab's Warping handles extreme speed changes (20%-200%) while maintaining audio quality. You get those dramatic effects without the artifacts that typically plague time-stretching.

Staying in Your DAW for the Entire Workflow

If you're constantly switching between different tools and applications, your creative flow gets interrupted. Each context switch breaks momentum and makes iterative experimentation cumbersome.

Samplab's plugin format means you never leave your DAW. The same workflow you've developed — loading samples, trying edits, bouncing variations — continues uninterrupted. Your creative session stays focused and productive.

Learning from Existing Tracks

If you're studying music theory or analyzing how your favorite tracks were constructed, having access to the chord progression and melodic content in a readable format accelerates learning.

Samplab's Chord Detection combined with MIDI export gives you the actual chords and melody from any audio file. You can see exactly what was played, in what key, with what timing. This is invaluable for transcription, education, and developing your ear.

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Technical Architecture and Capabilities

Understanding what's under the hood helps you use Samplab more effectively and sets realistic expectations for what it can accomplish.

AI-Driven Processing Engine

Samplab's core is a neural network trained specifically on polyphonic audio analysis. Unlike traditional audio tools that treat sound as waveforms, the AI understands musical structure — it recognizes notes, chords, rhythmic patterns, and timbral characteristics. This allows operations that would be impossible with conventional DSP (digital signal processing) alone.

The architecture uses cloud processing for computationally intensive tasks like Stem Separation, which requires significant processing power. Real-time editing operations happen locally, ensuring responsive interaction when you're working with notes directly.

Plugin Architecture

The VST3 and AU plugin formats represent the professional standard for DAW integration. Samplab supports both, covering the Windows and macOS ecosystems comprehensively.

Plugin architecture means Samplab loads as an effect or instrument within your DAW session. Audio routes through it, you make edits, and the processed audio outputs to your track. This integration is deep — automation, sidechain, and project synchronization all work as expected within your DAW environment.

Performance Specifications

Samplab handles professional workflows without artificial limitations. Key specifications include:

• Audio length: No arbitrary limits — process full tracks, long samples, or brief loops
• Warping range: 20% to 200% speed adjustment while maintaining quality
• Detection accuracy: Tempo and key detection handles a wide range of musical styles and recording qualities
• MIDI resolution: Full piano roll granularity for converted MIDI data

Product Ecosystem

Samplab offers a suite of specialized tools beyond the main editor:

• Resynthesizer: AI-powered timbre reconstruction for sound design
• Audio to MIDI: Conversion of audio performances to MIDI data
• Chord Detection: Harmonic analysis and transposition
• Stem Splitter: Cloud-based audio separation
• BPM & Key Detection: Automatic tempo and key identification
• TextToSample: AI-generated audio from text descriptions

This modular approach means you can use exactly the tools you need without paying for capabilities that don't fit your workflow.

Platform Support

The main DAWs supported include Ableton Live, FL Studio, and Logic Pro, covering the majority of electronic music production workflows. Additional DAWs supporting VST3 or AU formats should also work, though specific configurations may vary.

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Pricing Plans

Samplab offers three tiers designed to match different user needs and experience levels. All plans require a subscription — there is no perpetual license option.

Basic — Free

The Basic plan lets you try Samplab without any commitment. It includes 10-second audio limit and mono audio processing. This is ideal if you're new to AI-powered audio editing and want to explore whether the workflow suits your needs. No credit card required to get started.

Premium — $7.99/month or $95.88/year

The Premium plan unlocks the full creative potential for most producers. You get unlimited audio length and stereo processing, plus advanced note control including individual volume and pan adjustments for each note. This covers the vast majority of production needs — stem separation, chord detection, audio to MIDI, and comprehensive warping.

The annual billing saves roughly $8 compared to monthly, making it the economical choice if you know you'll use the tool regularly.

Complete — $9.99/month or $119.88/year

The Complete plan adds Resynthesizer to everything in Premium. This tool lets you reconstruct and transform audio timbres, creating entirely new sounds from existing recordings. For sound designers and producers seeking unique sonic textures, this capability justifies the additional investment.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Get Started with Samplab

If you've ever abandoned a perfect sample because one note was off-key, or spent hours trying to make disparate samples work together, Samplab addresses problems that have frustrated music producers for years. The AI-powered note editing capability genuinely changes what's possible — you no longer have to choose between using the sample you want and having it sound right.

The tool has proven itself in professional workflows. With KSHMR's endorsement, over 100,000 tracks processed, and integration into the workflows of producers worldwide, Samplab has moved beyond the experimental phase into reliable production utility.

Start with the free Basic plan to explore the core experience. When you're ready for unlimited processing and advanced controls, Premium delivers the full production capability most users need. And if sound design and timbre experimentation are your creative focus, Complete gives you access to the most innovative feature in the ecosystem.

Ready to transform how you work with samples? Download Samplab at samplab.com/download or visit samplab.com to learn more.