How to separate stems from a sample or from single chops

S9 Sampler separates vocals, drums, bass and instruments on your computer, with no upload. Separate the whole sample with Separate Stems, or select chops, right-click and choose Separate Chop Stems to split only those chops. Pick Fast, Balanced or Best Quality, choose the stems, layer them or play them back to back, and decide where the results go.

Updated 19 October 2026 · S9 Audio

Separate stems, step by step

1. Choose what to separate

   For the whole sample, choose Separate Stems, just left of + Add Audio above the waveform. For single chops, select them with Shift-click or Multi-Edit (non-adjacent chops and branches work too), right-click a selected chop and choose Separate Chop Stems.

2. Pick a quality

   Fast is the quickest and lightest, with more bleed. Balanced is the recommended default. Best Quality is the most detailed and takes longer. Nothing starts until you choose Separate.

3. Pick the stems

   Use Quick Select: Vocals only, Drums only, Drums & Bass, Instruments & Bass, Instrumental or All stems. Or tick stems one by one and set each stem’s level. Original stays available for comparison.

4. Audition

   Play each stem, or the combination you built. With several chops, review one chop at a time and use Hear this Chop.

5. Layer or sequence

   Choose Layer Together to mix the chosen stems into one result, or Place Back-to-Back to play them in a row. Drag the numbered items to change the order.

6. Place the result

   For the whole sample: Replace Sample, Add After Sample or Insert After Chop. For selected chops: Replace each selected Chop, Insert after each selected Chop (the default) or Add all results at the end. Then choose Apply and confirm. One Undo restores everything.

Why separate single chops?

A chop often holds more than you want: a vocal over drums, a bass note under a chord. Separating only that chop keeps the rest of your chop map, MIDI keys and edits as they are. Replacing a chop keeps its place, playback trim, Warp and local edits on the first result. New chops follow the whole-sample processing, and effects are not baked in during separation.

What does each quality do?

All three run inside S9 Sampler on your computer’s processor. There is nothing extra to install, and your audio is never uploaded. Only sample music you have the right to use.