G-Stomper Producer — Full Operations Manual

1. Setup

• Install from Google Play → create new project.
• Audio: Settings → Audio → buffer 256-512. Lower for live pad playing, higher for stability.
• USB MIDI: MPK Mini IV via USB-C OTG → auto-detected. Pads trigger SPC pads directly. Keys play pads chromatically. Knobs assignable via MIDI Learn.
• Bluetooth MIDI: Pair wireless controllers in Settings → MIDI → Bluetooth.
• Ableton Link: Enable in Settings → Link. Syncs tempo with Ableton Live, BandLab, or any Link-enabled app on the same WiFi.

2. SPC Sample Pads — Complete Breakdown

• 96 pads total: 24 pads visible per bank × 4 banks (A/B/C/D). Organize by category — Bank A for drums, Bank B for bass, Bank C for melodic chops, Bank D for FX and transitions.
• Loading samples: Tap any pad → folder icon → browse device storage for WAV files. Or tap mic icon → record directly from phone mic. Or install Planet-H expansion packs from the Play Store (official 24-bit sample sets).

Per-Pad Controls

• Volume: Independent level per pad. Balance drum elements without a mixer — kick louder, ghost notes quieter.
• Pan: Stereo position per pad. Hi-hats slightly left, shaker slightly right. Creates width from mono samples.
• Pitch: Semitone (coarse) and cents (fine). Tune a kick down 3 semitones for deeper sub. Tune a snare up 2 for a tight crack. Tune a vocal chop to match the track's key.
• Filter: Cutoff and resonance per pad. Roll off highs on a muddy sample. Boost presence on a thin clap. Independent tonal shaping per sound.
• Attack: How fast the sample reaches full volume. Zero = instant hit (drums). Higher = fade-in (pads, ambient swells).
• Decay: How quickly the sample fades after the attack peak. Short = tight, controlled hits. Long = natural tail and sustain.
• Reverse: One toggle flips the sample backward. Reversed cymbals for transitions. Reversed vocal chops for textures. Reversed kicks for suction effects.
• Loop: Enable for sustained playback. Sample cycles while the pad is held. Set loop start/end points within the sample for seamless cycling. Use for bass notes, pads, and sustained textures.

Advanced Pad Features

• Choke Groups: Assign multiple pads to the same choke group — triggering one silences the others. Essential for open/closed hi-hat (open hat stops when closed hat triggers). Also prevents multiple bass notes from ringing simultaneously.
• Layer Mode: Stack multiple samples on one pad. All samples trigger simultaneously. Layer a kick with a sub-bass. Layer a snare with a clap. Velocity switching between layers — soft hit plays sample A, hard hit plays sample B.
• One-shot vs Gate: One-shot plays the full sample regardless of how long the pad is held. Gate mode plays only while the pad is held — release the pad and the sample stops immediately. Drums usually want one-shot. Bass and pads usually want gate.

3. Sample Chopping — The Core Workflow

This is THE technique for sample-based beat production. Load a record, chop it into pieces, assign the pieces to pads, rearrange them into something new.

Loading the Source

• Long-press any pad → select "Chop" or navigate to the chop screen.
• Load a long WAV file — a vinyl rip, a YouTube capture, a vocal recording, a field recording, an instrument loop. Any audio source becomes chop material.

Chopping Methods

• Manual chop: Tap on the waveform where you want slice points. Complete control over every cut. Listen to each slice individually. Adjust start/end points with precision.
• Auto by transients: G-Stomper analyzes the audio and detects hits (transients) — drum hits, note attacks, consonants in vocals. Slice points placed automatically at each detected transient. Adjust sensitivity: higher catches quieter hits, lower catches only loud hits.
• Auto by regions: Set a number of equal divisions (4, 8, 16, 32). The sample is sliced into perfectly equal sections regardless of content. Good for rhythmic loops where the beat is steady.
• Auto by BPM: Enter the original BPM of the sample. G-Stomper calculates beat positions and slices at exact beat boundaries. Clean, tempo-accurate chops that line up with your project's grid.

After Chopping

• Each slice automatically maps to its own pad. Slice 1 → Pad 1, Slice 2 → Pad 2, etc.
• Now play the pads in any order — rearrange the slices, skip slices, repeat slices, reverse individual slices, pitch-shift individual slices.
• Record a performance of the rearranged chops into the step sequencer. Quantize with swing. Export.
• Non-destructive: The original source file is never altered. Chops are playback markers — change the slice points anytime without losing the original audio.

4. Step Sequencer — Advanced

• Grid: 16, 32, or 64 steps per pattern. Longer patterns for complex arrangements. 16 steps = one bar at 4/4 time.
• Per-step velocity: Long-press any active step → drag up/down to set velocity (1-127). This is the difference between mechanical and musical. Ghost snares at 30. Regular hits at 90. Accents at 120. The velocity variation IS the groove.
• Per-step pitch: Change the pitch of each individual step. One bass sample on one pad → program different pitch values per step → full bass line from a single sample. This technique works for tuned 808s, melodic toms, pitched vocal chops, or any tonal sample.
• Per-step probability (0-100%): Set the chance that each step actually triggers. 100% = always plays. 70% = plays most of the time. 30% = rare ghost hit. This generates natural human-like variation where no two loop repetitions are identical. The machine performs differently every cycle.
• Swing/Shuffle: Global percentage that offsets even-numbered steps late. 0% = perfectly straight. 20% = subtle pocket. 40% = deep shuffle. 50% = approaching full triplet feel. Hip-hop boom-bap usually sits at 30-45%.
• Pattern length: 1-64 bars per pattern. Most beats use 4 or 8 bar patterns. Create short variations (2-bar fills) and long sections (16-bar builds).

5. Quantize

• Step sequencer = pre-quantized. Each step IS a grid position by design.
• Live recording: When recording by playing pads in real time, hits may fall between steps. The Quantize function snaps them to the nearest step position.
• Swing is post-quantize. First quantize (snap to grid) → then apply swing (offset even steps for groove). Both together = tight but groovy.

6. Transpose

• Per-pad pitch: Each pad has a Tune parameter (semitones + cents). Transpose individual samples independently.
• Per-step pitch: In the sequencer, each step can have its own pitch offset. One sample → multiple pitches per step → melodic patterns from a single source.
• Pattern transpose: Shift an entire pattern up or down by semitone values without reprogramming individual steps.

7. Looping — Every Scenario

• Patterns loop automatically. Press Play → pattern repeats. This IS the loop. 1-64 bars.
• Overdub recording: Pattern loops while you add more hits each pass. Kick on pass 1, snare on pass 2, hats on pass 3. Layers build organically.
• Song Mode: Chain patterns with repeat counts. Pattern A (intro) × 1 → Pattern B (verse) × 2 → Pattern C (chorus) × 1 → repeat. Full arrangements from loop blocks.
• Live Mode: Trigger patterns in real time. Tap any pattern → it launches in sync. Perform arrangements live. Record the performance into Song Mode.
• Making tracks stop: Mute specific pad channels within patterns. Same pattern with different mutes = variation. Create pattern variants with specific elements removed.
• Export control: Mute/solo channels → only active channels render. Stems: export each channel as separate WAV.

8. Mixing & Effects

• Mixer: Volume, pan, mute, solo per pad channel. Meter bridge for level monitoring.
• Per-pad insert effects: EQ, Compressor, Distortion, Bitcrusher, Filter, Delay, Reverb, Chorus, Phaser. Each pad gets its own independent chain — reverb on snare only, bitcrush on hats only, compression on kick only.
• Master bus: Limiter (loudness control), EQ (overall tone), Reverb Send, Delay Send.
• Sidechain compression: Set kick as the sidechain source → target the bass channel → bass ducks on every kick hit. The classic pumping effect for modern production.

9. Exporting

• WAV/OGG: Full mix render. WAV recommended for quality.
• MIDI export: Patterns saved as standard MIDI files. Open in any desktop DAW. Drum patterns become MIDI notes assignable to any drum plugin.
• Stem export: Each pad/channel rendered as a separate WAV file. Import individual stems into Cubase, Ableton, or any desktop DAW for professional mixing.
• Project compatibility: G-Stomper Producer projects open in G-Stomper Studio and vice versa. Move between sample-based and synth-based workflows.

10. Shortcuts & Controls

11. Producer vs Studio — When to Use Which

Producer = sample-focused (SPC engine). Loading WAV files, chopping records, flipping vocals, programming drums with individual hits, building beats from audio source material. The workflow: find a sound → load it → chop it → sequence it → mix it → export it. If the raw material is audio samples, use Producer.

Studio = synth-focused (VA-Beast engine). Designing sounds from oscillators, filters, envelopes, and modulation. Building patches from mathematical components. The workflow: pick waveforms → shape with filters → animate with envelopes/LFOs → sequence → mix → export. If the raw material is sound design from scratch, use Studio.

Both together = complete mobile production. Design synth sounds in Studio (bass, leads, pads). Chop samples and program drums in Producer (drums, chops, vocal flips). Export both as stems → import into a desktop DAW for final mixing. Two specialized apps covering the full production spectrum.