Getting started

This walkthrough takes you from an empty INTERSECT editor to a sliced sample triggered by MIDI from your DAW. It takes about 5–10 minutes.

For the deeper concepts behind what you’re doing — multi-sample sessions, the inheritance model, time/pitch algorithms — see Concepts next.

Before you start

You should already have:

  • INTERSECT installed and showing up in your DAW (see Installation if not)
  • An audio file to play with — a drum loop is ideal, but any sample works (.wav, .ogg, .aiff, .flac, .mp3)

Add an INTERSECT instance to a MIDI track in your DAW, open the editor, and have your MIDI keyboard or a clip handy.

1. Load a sample

Drag your audio file from your file manager onto the waveform area. The waveform fills the editor; the sample lane (the strip above the slice lane) shows a single block representing this sample.

Alternative: click FILES in the header to open the built-in sample browser, then double-click a file.

2. Draw your first slice

Press Shift + A (or click ADD in the action bar). A hint appears: “ADD mode: drag on waveform to create a slice.”

Drag on the waveform to draw a region. When you release, you have a slice — visible as a coloured region on the waveform and a labelled block in the slice lane.

The first slice gets MIDI note C2 (note 36) by default.

3. Play the slice

Play C2 on your DAW’s keyboard input (or send a note from a MIDI clip). The slice plays back, and you’ll see a yellow playhead cursor sweep across it.

If nothing plays, see Troubleshooting → A slice doesn’t make sound.

4. Adjust a slice parameter (and see how locking works)

The bottom of the editor is the signal chain bar. It has two tabs: GLOBAL (sample-wide defaults) and SLICE (overrides for the selected slice).

  1. Click your slice on the waveform to select it.
  2. In the signal chain bar, click the SLICE tab.
  3. Find the PITCH parameter in the Time/Pitch module. Drag its value up to +5.

The parameter label highlights — that means the slice has a locked override on PITCH. Right-click the value (or click the highlighted label) to clear the lock and inherit the global default again.

This is INTERSECT’s core idea: edit defaults in GLOBAL, then lock per-slice overrides where you want them to differ.

5. Chop the sample into even pieces

Manual slicing is fine for a kit, but for a loop you usually want even subdivisions.

  1. Click anywhere on your existing slice to select it.
  2. Press Shift + C (or click AUTO). The Auto Chop panel appears at the bottom.
  3. Set DIV to 8 and click SPLIT EQUAL.

You now have 8 slices, each assigned to successive MIDI notes starting at C2.

For transient-based slicing instead, raise SENS until the dashed preview markers line up with the onsets in your waveform, then click SPLIT TRANSIENTS.

6. Resequence MIDI notes by position

If you’ve been moving slices around, their MIDI notes may no longer match their order on the timeline. Click RESEQ in the action bar and pick BY POSITION to reassign notes left-to-right.

7. Play it from a clip

Back in your DAW, create a MIDI clip on the track and drop a few notes starting at C2. Hit play — each note triggers a slice.

To audition slices while editing, click FM (Follow MIDI). The played slice auto-selects in the editor, so the signal chain bar always shows the right slice.

Next steps

  • Concepts — sample sessions, inheritance, the three time/pitch engines, mute groups.
  • Interface — every panel and area of the editor.
  • Controls and shortcuts — the full reference, with keyboard shortcuts.
  • Stem separation — split a sample into drums, bass, vocals, etc. for layered slicing.