# Create a sampler bank > Create keyboard instruments and drum kits in Studio, then export their sounds and mappings as MAS or ZIP banks. Canonical: https://maru.audio/docs/sampler-banks Documentation index: https://maru.audio/llms.txt A sampler bank combines audio files with a configuration that tells the sampler which sound to play for each note and velocity. It can be a melodic instrument, a drum kit, or a set containing both. You can build one without writing DSP or a custom interface: the generic sampler presents a piano keyboard or drum pads from the mapping, with a view toggle for auditioning. > **In the Help Center:** [Create a sampler bank](https://maru.audio/help/create-a-sampler-bank.md) for the short version. Open [Studio](https://maru.audio/studio), choose **New project → Sampler bank**, and describe the instrument you want. For example: > Build a soft piano bank from my uploaded notes. Map each recording around its > root pitch, keep the original files, and make a second positioning with a > narrower keyboard range. Add a quiet preset for practice. ## Add sounds and shape the mapping To edit a catalog bank you are playing in the [Maru Sampler](https://maru.audio/modules/sampler), choose **Edit bank in Studio** in the page menu, then **Open bank in Studio**. Studio copies the selected bank's samples, mappings and presets into a sampler bank project. The original catalog bank stays unchanged. The copy opens an empty chat attached to its project. Studio shows your newest empty chat in the sidebar so you can return before sending a message or editing the bank. Older copies remain available in **Creations**. Reopen a copy to continue its existing chat; **Edit bank in Studio** on the catalog page creates another copy. Review any import notes before opening the copy. A bank's custom interface may not survive editing even when its audio files copy successfully. Keep the original download when working with a bank that has a custom interface. Use **Sources** to drop audio, choose files, or import an existing bank. Files named with their root notes and velocity layers help the filename mapper; inspect its result before saving. Upload errors and conversion warnings explain which sounds or features could not be used. Sample count and size limits apply. The agent can inspect the attached bank and sound inventory, help map those sounds, adjust zone and group settings, and save supported edits as a revision. Ask it to read the current configuration before proposing changes. You can also attach a WAV and ask for silence-separated one-shots, or assemble suitable sounds through the available sound tools. In **Sources**, describe a sound or kit, generate a take, preview its clips and choose what to add to the current bank. The selected sounds become bank sources; review their mappings, audition, then save. Generation requires a configured provider and storage. The local development mock returns audible fixture audio for testing this journey; it is not a real inference model or evidence of generated sound quality. Use **Mapping** to inspect key and velocity ranges, root pitch, tuning, gain, loops and group settings. Select a zone to edit its details. Play the result in **Preview** using the keys or pads. The shared playback bar provides sound, computer keyboard, MIDI, output and stop controls, as it does for other instruments. Text fields do not trigger computer keyboard notes. Supported browsers offer MIDI input through the shared device settings. Keep an eye on load errors and unsupported-feature notices. Some imported settings can be retained as data even when the reader cannot reproduce them; the import report identifies settings the editor cannot retain. ## Positionings and presets A **positioning** is one mapping of the bank's shared audio pool. Make another positioning when the notes, velocity splits or drum layout should differ. The same sample can appear in several positionings without another copy of its audio being added to the bank export. A **preset** selects a positioning and stores sound settings, such as level, attack or release. Create a preset under the positioning it should play. A different mapping belongs in another positioning, with its own preset if useful. The **Presets** tab also gives access to the existing bank metadata and artwork controls. The stock sampler uses shared instrument parameters across banks. A preset can store level, transpose and the instrument's attack, decay, sustain and release. The amplitude envelope applies to every voice; Attack and Release are absolute times rather than additions to each zone's authored envelope. Per-pad treatments, such as tuning, trim, pan, filter and reverse, are separate saved settings tied to the zone they affect. Resetting a treatment restores the bank's authored behavior. These pad settings are not separate DAW automation parameters. MIDI CC mapping to a global control is also different from expressive performance. The browser player supports pitch bend, mod wheel, aftertouch and sustain pedal; independent per-note MPE expression is not supported. Native builds may differ. Round-robin takes alternate recordings of the same sound across repeated strikes. Velocity layers choose recordings by how hard a note is played; choke groups let one sound stop another, such as a closed hi-hat stopping an open one. These are sampler settings, not reasons to create another playback engine. Support for imported selection modes and other advanced settings varies by runtime; audition and check the reported limitations before distributing a bank. ## Save and inspect **Save bank** creates a new revision. **Versions** lists those saved revisions; **Files** shows the bank configuration and selected instrument mapping alongside the source inventory. A bank contains configuration and audio and uses the regular sampler module. An expansion can add an optional interface without adding its own playback engine. Editing and preserving custom bank interfaces in Studio is still in progress. If an agent saves while you have unsaved edits, Studio keeps your local work and reports the newer revision. Reload the latest bank and reapply the changes you want to retain; a stale save is refused. In **Info & export**, choose Public or Unlisted link and publish the **current saved revision**. Saving later edits leaves the public instrument on its published revision until you update the publication. Unpublish withdraws the public viewer and its hosted bank files. Public instruments appear in Community and on the creator's profile; an unlisted instrument opens through its direct link and stays out of visitor listings. The same published page uses the generic [Maru Sampler](https://maru.audio/modules/sampler) reader for keys or pads and authored presets. On an official or published bank page, choose a preset, adjust the sound and use **Share → Copy URL** to copy a link to those settings on that bank's page. Shared community sound links name the active publication version. If the owner replaces that publication, an older version link reports that it is unavailable; it does not silently play the replacement. Sharing a sound does not save a new Studio revision or publish your unsaved edits. ## Export and reopen Open **Info & export → Export bank** and choose **Download MAS** or **Download ZIP**. Both contain `bank.json`, instrument mapping documents, presets, referenced artwork and audio. `.mas` packages this content as one Maru Sampler bank file; ZIP provides the same content as an extractable archive. MAS uses a versioned container around the ZIP data, not encryption. These files are content for the [Maru Sampler](https://maru.audio/modules/sampler), not a newly compiled VST3, AU or CLAP plugin. The native player is a separate release; see [Maru Sampler](https://maru.audio/help/maru-sampler.md#native-app-and-daw-plug-in) for current app and plug-in availability. In **Sources**, use **Import bank ZIP or MAS…** to reopen either Studio export, or **Import bank folder…** to choose a folder containing `bank.json`. Compressed ZIPs from other tools need to be extracted first. Imports copy audio into the destination project, preserve the supported mappings and report conversion losses. Review the import report and audition the result. Keep the original download: supported global parameters, per-zone preset treatments and voice limits can round-trip through Studio, but optional custom interfaces are not yet retained. Treatments that name missing or invalid zones are reported rather than attached to another sound. Playing a bank in the sampler and importing it for editing have different coverage. Keep the manifest and its relative audio paths together when moving a bank folder. `bank.json` by itself does not contain the sample bytes. Use a `.mas` or ZIP export when you need one file containing the complete bank. Saving, exporting and publishing are separate actions. A private Studio revision or owner download does not make a bank publicly available. A published bank offers a public bank archive download only when every sample has explicit redistribution permission; other published banks can still be played in the browser. Publicly playable browser audio can be retrieved even when its URL uses an opaque ID. Downloaded bank archives can be reopened through **Sources**; an import may not retain the original provenance. Verify each sound's source and redistribution rights before publishing or sharing a reopened bank. See [Studio workflow](https://maru.audio/docs/studio-workflow.md) and [Publishing](https://maru.audio/docs/publishing.md) for the wider authoring and release process.