Chop Sampler

User Guide / Flatten and Resources

Flatten and Resources

Effects and synths use your phone's processing power (DSP), and samples use memory. This page shows how to watch those numbers and how to free them up by flattening sounds into plain samples.

The status bar meters

The status bar
CPU, MEM and DSP
Where the status bar sits

The status bar shows CPU, MEM and DSP:

MeterMeaning
CPUHow much of the phone's processor Chop is using (100% = the whole phone).
MEMHow much of Chop's sample memory is in use.
DSPHow much of the audio engine's time is used for each slice of audio. Near 100% means crackles and dropouts.

Green is fine, orange (60% and up) means take care, red (80% and up) means it's time to free something. A dot beside the meters turns red when the phone is running hot.

The Resources window

Tap the CPU / MEM / DSP numbers to open RESOURCES. Tap again (or X) to close it.

Animation coming

The floating RESOURCES window on the SYS tab with CPU / DSP graphs, MEM, CHIP TEMP, BATTERY, and the FLUSH / FREE MEM / DIAGNOSE / REPORT buttons at the bottom.

resources-window.mp4

It floats over the app, so you can keep playing. Drag it anywhere and resize it from the corner. It only measures while open.

TabShows
SYSCPU and DSP with history graphs, memory, chip temperature, thermal state, battery and time.
AUDIOAudio path, latency, sample rate, buffer size and more.
I/OMIDI devices, sync status and audio outputs.
MIDILive monitors of MIDI coming in and going out.
BEATSong, sequence, tempo, length, position and time signature.
FILESSample memory, project size, app data and free storage.

Every Resources tab

SYS
SYS
AUDIO
AUDIO
I/O
I/O
MIDI
MIDI
BEAT
BEAT
FILES
FILES

The buttons at the bottom:

Flatten a pad

Tap the flatten button Flatten in the middle strip, or reach it from the Chop menu Chop logo.

Flattening records a pad's sound, effects included, into a new sample. It sounds the same but no longer runs the effects (or the synth), so it frees their DSP.

Flatten dialog
  1. Select the pad.
  2. Tap the flatten button in the middle strip (pad icon with a dot).
  3. Choose FLATTEN PAD and set the options:
  1. Tap APPLY.
  2. In SEND TO PAD, pick a bank and a pad for the result.
  3. If that pad already has a sound, PAD OCCUPIED asks to overwrite it. If it has notes in the sequencer, choose KEEP NOTES or CLEAR NOTES. Tap APPLY.

To actually free the DSP, play the new pad and switch off the original's effects, or delete the original. Flattening onto the same pad replaces it in one step.

Flatten a sequence

Flatten a sequence

Bounce a whole beat, effects and all, into one sample.

  1. Tap the flatten button and choose FLATTEN SEQUENCE.
  2. Choose TAIL: LEAVE TAIL lets reverbs and delays ring past the loop; CUT AT LOOP trims to exactly one loop.
  3. Set EFFECTS, MASTER FX and MUTED PADS as above, then APPLY.
  4. Pick the destination pad.

One pad now plays the whole beat, so you can delete the original pads and free their DSP.

Flatten can be undone.

FLUSH: clear what you're not using

  1. Tap FLUSH (Resources window, or BROWSE > MEMORY).
  2. Choose what to clear:
  1. Read the WARNING (how many items will go) and tap APPLY.

Treat FLUSH as permanent.

FREE MEM: clear undo history

FREE MEM clears the undo/redo history and the copy/paste clipboard to reclaim memory. Your pads, samples and sequences are never touched; you just can't undo past this point. Tap FREE to confirm.

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