Samplers

Samplers play recorded audio. The common path is a sample pattern like s"bd sd hh sd", which triggers events from the loaded sample bank. nkido ships with a default 808 drum kit so common drum names work out of the box. For trigger-driven one-shots — e.g. firing a kick on a button press — sample() accepts the same names as patterns. sample_loop() plays a sample looped while a gate is held.

Beyond the default kit, the 70+ vintage drum machines of geikha/tidal-drum-machines are a built-in, auto-resolving catalog — name a machine with .bank() and its samples stream from GitHub on demand (s"bd sd hh".bank("RolandTR808").out()), no samples() directive needed. See URI Schemes — Built-in drum machines for the full reference.

sample

One-shot sampler - Trigger a sample on every rising edge.

Param	Type	Default	Description
trig	signal	-	Trigger signal (rising edge plays sample)
pitch	signal / number	-	Playback rate (1.0 = original, 2.0 = octave up, 0.5 = octave down)
id	string / number	-	Sample name (recommended) or numeric sample-bank ID

The third argument accepts either a sample-name string (preferred) or a numeric sample-bank ID:

"bd" — load and play the default kit’s bass drum
"bd:3" — variant 3 of bd (i.e. bd3 from the kit)
"Dirt-Samples/amencutup:0" — sample from a named bank loaded via samples("...")

When you pass a string, the compiler registers the name in the required-samples ledger so the host loads it before playback; the bank-assigned numeric ID is patched into the bytecode at load time.

The numeric form is reserved for advanced use where you already know the bank’s internal ID. Most patches should use the string form.

// Fire the default kit's kick on a button press
hit = button("Hit!")
sample(hit, 1.0, "bd") |> out(@)

// Pitch-shifted snare on a clock pulse
sample(beat(1), 0.5, "sd") |> out(@)

// Variant from a named external bank
samples("github:tidalcycles/Dirt-Samples")
sample(beat(2), 1.0, "Dirt-Samples/amencutup:0") |> out(@)

For sequenced playback (different sample on each step), use the mini-notation pattern form s"bd sd hh" instead — it drives the same opcode but lets you express a pattern.

sample_loop

Looping sampler - Loop a sample while the gate is held.

Param	Type	Default	Description
trig	signal	-	Gate signal (>0 plays, 0 stops)
pitch	signal / number	-	Playback rate
id	string / number	-	Sample name (recommended) or numeric sample-bank ID

Plays the sample looped. Useful for sustained material like chords or pads recorded as samples. Same name/ID semantics as sample().

// Looped pad sample on a slow clock
sample_loop(beat(0.25), 1.0, "pad") |> out(@)

bd

The bass drum. Default kit slot for bd patterns; variants bd2 through bd16 cover different kicks from the 808 bank.

// Four-on-the-floor kick
s"bd bd bd bd" |> out(@)

sd

The snare drum. Default kit slot for sd; variants sd2–sd8 give alternate snares.

// Backbeat
s"~ sd ~ sd" |> out(@)

hh

The hi-hat closed. Variants like oh (open hat), cp (clap), rim (rimshot) round out the percussion set.

// 16th-note hats
s"hh*16" |> out(@)

oh

The open hi-hat. Use it to vary the closed-hat pattern; typical syncopation drops an oh on the off-beat.

// Closed/open hat variation
s"hh hh oh hh" |> out(@)

cp

The clap. Layered on the backbeat for a snare reinforcement.

// Snare + clap layered
s"~ [sd cp] ~ [sd cp]" |> out(@)