The term "One Shot" has evolved to be all-encompassing for any sound format that plays a single time.

Commonly an "instrument one shot" is a .wav file of a sound recorded as a single note that can be loaded up into your DAW sampler and played (or clicked in) as an instrument.

"Accents" are often a multi-layered, melodic flourish that can add interest and can be chopped and flipped just as easily as a full melody sample.

Other terms you may see include "chord shot" (being a single chord rather than note) and "texture" (sometimes short, sometimes long piece of audio leaning towards a more tactile tone).

Once the (instrument) One Shot is loaded in your sampler, you can play or click-in MIDI to write your own melodic parts. Chords, lead lines, arpeggios ... literally anything!

Many samplers have built in controls to further sculpt the sound, or you can add external effects such as delay, reverb, chorus, or some of our favorites Portal and Thermal.

Starters come in different formats, but most commonly they are a .wav file of an instrument or vocal loop recorded within 4 or 8 bars. Essentially they are stripped down sample, often composed of a single melodic layer rather than a composition.

Phrases are a hybrid between a loop and one shot, being a single lick or adlib that again adds interest or can be manipulated further.

Nothing is preventing you from dragging in a Starter or Phrase and using 'as-is' to add a specific element to your project (such as a piano or a guitar).

You can also 'flip' a them by reversing it, chopping it, or adding external effects such as delay, reverb, chorus, or some of our favorites Portal and Thermal.

MIDI (.mid) is a file format that stores data rather than audio. The advantages of MIDI include a small file size, ease of modification, and a wide choice of assigned instruments or sampled sounds. Think of it like editable sheet of music!

A MIDI recording of a keyboard performance could sound like a piano or other keyboard instrument; however, since MIDI records the information of played notes and not the specific sounds, this recording could be changed to any other sound, such as a soft synth, sampled guitar, flute, or even a full orchestra.

Drag a MIDI file into your DAW timeline (playlist) or sequencer. Once loaded, assign a VST instrument or sampler to the same channel. The instrument can now be used to play the notes in the MIDI file!

From there, you can do anything you want. All DAWs allow you to transpose the MIDI notes, adjust the BPM of the project, add or remove notes, or rearrange the composition entirely. Many DAWs even include MIDI effects can do all sorts of things!