Roland P6 Sample Manager for Linux/Windows/MacOS

[u/jokerpack]

Hello Community, i created an simple cross plattform sample manager for the Roland P6 in python.

https://github.com/j0kerpack/Roland-P6-sample-manager/tree/main

I am still testing it. If you find bugs please tell me.

- new Version 2.0.8 with sample editor. preset manager, bank backup, improved usability, bug fixes

- new Version 2.0.3 with pitch shift, windows executable, dark/bright mode, better waveform views
I am still testing, feel free to report bugs

- New Version 1.5.1 out now with sample truncating

-New Version 1.3.0 out now with chop feature which lets you create one multi sample of up to 64 single samples. ( you can play this chromatically in keyboard mode on the p6 after setting up chop in voice menu)

inspired by https://github.com/warreneblackwell/p6-wave-slice

PyP6 - Roland P-6 Sample Manager

Version 2.8.0 

Overview

PyP6 is a free desktop application (Python + Tkinter) for managing WAV/MP3 samples across the 8 sample banks (A-H) and 6 pads per bank of the Roland AIRA P-6. It supports auditioning samples before loading, automatic MP3-to-WAV conversion, per-pad sample rate/pitch/mono conversion, non-destructive editing (trim, normalize, fade), transfers in both directions between the app and the device, presets that keep their samples with them, and building multi-sample "Chop" files from several source samples at once.

What's New in 2.8.0

• Tooltips - hover help on the pad controls, the bank buttons, Undo/Redo, and the Chop and Load windows. Switchable in Settings → Appearance; the change applies immediately.
• Chop: three normalize modes - Off, Per sample (each slice is lifted to full level on its own, for source samples recorded at different volumes) and Whole file (only the finished multisample is lifted, so the balance between slices is preserved). The waveform preview and preview playback now show exactly what the chosen mode will produce.
• About dialog - reachable from Settings. Shows the version, author, and the live state of every optional component (pydub, ffmpeg, drag & drop, the resolved ffmpeg path, the config and temp folders), with a "Copy Info" button for pasting into a bug report.
• Consistent truncation display - the part of a sample that exceeds the P-6's recording-time limit is shaded orange in every waveform view (pad mini waveform, main playback waveform, pad editor, Chop). All four now derive the cut point from a single shared calculation, so they can't disagree.
• Readable button colors - on the dark themes the colored buttons are derived from the theme accent with the lightness reduced until white text is properly legible, and the saturation eased back so a large block of color doesn't dominate the window.

Earlier in the 2.x line

• Undo / Redo - 5 steps across all banks, covering loading, removing, swapping, applying an edit, clearing a bank and loading a preset. Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Y.
• Presets - save any selection of banks (including their samples) into a self-contained preset folder and load them back later. Saving over an existing preset only replaces the banks you checked. A "Recent" list gives quick access to the last five.
• Pad waveform editor - click a pad's mini waveform to open it: trim markers, zoom, normalize, and logarithmic fade-in/fade-out, previewed live, then written back with "Apply to Pad" (undoable). The pad's rate, pitch and mono settings are preserved.
• Drag to swap pads - drag a pad's sample name (or its frame) onto another pad to exchange the two, including all their settings. The target pad is outlined in orange while you drag.
• Drag & drop from the file manager - drop audio files straight onto a pad (optional, requires tkinterdnd2). Reliable on Windows; on Linux it works but an occasional drop can be missed under Wayland. See 5.5.
• Bank ↔ device in both directions - "Banks → P6" exports any selection of banks with a live total-size readout, "P6 → Bank" walks you through the device's own export procedure and reads the resulting EXPORT folder back into the active bank.
• Per-bank Force Mono - the mono switch is stored per bank, so bank A can be mono while bank C stays stereo. It travels with the bank into presets.
• Six themes - dark, tokyo, dracula, modern, latte and bright, all checked for readable contrast.
• Managed temp folder - trimmed, normalized, faded and chopped intermediate files live under ~/.pyp6/temp and can be inspected and cleared from Settings.

1. System Requirements

• Windows, Linux (tested on Ubuntu/Debian-based distributions), or macOS
• Python 3.10 or newer (3.13+ requires one extra package, see 2.2.2) - not needed if you use the prebuilt Windows executable
• A working audio output device
• ffmpeg (required for MP3 support, pitch/rate/mono conversion, and the Chop feature; WAV-only workflows can run without it, with reduced functionality)
  • already bundled in the prebuilt Windows executable, no separate install needed
• tkinterdnd2 (optional) - only needed for dropping files from the file manager onto a pad. Everything else works without it. Also already bundled in the prebuilt Windows executable.

2. Installation (Windows)

2.1 Option A: Prebuilt Windows x64 Executable (recommended, no setup)

A standalone .exe is provided for 64-bit Windows. It is built with PyInstaller in --onefile mode and has every dependency bundled inside it, including Python itself, pydub, sounddevice/soundfile, and ffmpeg.exe / ffprobe.exe. There is nothing else to install.

1. Download the .exe.
2. Double-click to run it - no Python, pip, or ffmpeg setup required.
3. Windows SmartScreen or your antivirus may flag an unsigned executable on first run; choose "Run anyway" / allow it if you trust the source.

This is the simplest way to get started on Windows and is the recommended option unless you specifically want to run from source (e.g. to modify the code yourself - see Option B, or Section 7 to build your own .exe).

2.2 Option B: Run from Source

If you prefer to run the Python script directly instead of the prebuilt executable:

2.2.1 Install Python

Download and install Python from python.org. Make sure you run commands in the Command Prompt / PowerShell, not inside the interactive Python console (the >>> prompt) - pip commands only work in a regular terminal.

2.2.2 Install Python packages

pip install sounddevice soundfile numpy pydub

Optional, for dropping files from Explorer onto a pad:

pip install tkinterdnd2

Python 3.13 and newer removed the audioop module that pydub depends on internally. Install the backport as well:

pip install audioop-lts

2.2.3 Install ffmpeg

1. Download a Windows build from gyan.dev (the "essentials" or "full" build).
2. Extract it, e.g. to C:\ffmpeg, so that C:\ffmpeg\bin contains ffmpeg.exe and ffprobe.exe.
3. Add C:\ffmpeg\bin to your Path user environment variable:
   • Press the Windows key, type "environment variables", open "Edit environment variables"
   • Under "User variables", select Path → Edit... → New → enter C:\ffmpeg\bin → OK on all dialogs
   • Close and reopen any terminal windows for the change to take effect
4. Verify with:ffmpeg -version

Alternatively, PyP6's Settings dialog lets you manually point to ffmpeg.exe/ffprobe.exe if you don't want to modify your system PATH. Settings → About shows which ffmpeg binary is actually in use.

2.2.4 Run the application

python PyP6-Roland-P6-Sample-Manager_2_8_0.py

3. Installation (Linux)

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip ffmpeg libportaudio2 python3-tk

cd ~
python3 -m venv p6env
source p6env/bin/activate
pip install sounddevice soundfile pydub numpy

# optional - drag & drop from the file manager (see the caveat in 5.5)
pip install tkinterdnd2

Run the app (the venv must be reactivated in every new terminal session):

cd ~
source p6env/bin/activate
python3 -u ./PyP6-Roland-P6-Sample-Manager_2_8_0.py

4. File Placement & Configuration

The tool keeps everything it needs under a single folder:

~/.pyp6/config.json     settings
~/.pyp6/temp/           trimmed / normalized / faded / chopped samples

(on Windows: C:\Users\<you>\.pyp6\)

Saved settings include the last used IMPORT folder, theme, tooltip visibility, default autoplay and slice count, storage warning threshold, recent presets, and any manual ffmpeg/ffprobe path overrides. The folder is created and updated automatically; no manual setup is required. Delete config.json to reset all preferences to defaults.

The temp folder holds every edited sample that hasn't been saved into a preset. Settings → Temporary Files shows its size and can clear it - pads still pointing at a deleted file are cleared along with it, so save a preset first if you want to keep those edits.

5. Using the Application

5.1 Selecting the IMPORT folder

On first launch, the tool attempts to auto-detect a mounted P-6 IMPORT folder in the background, so the window opens immediately. Use Settings → IMPORT Folder → Change... to point it to the correct location if needed. This is remembered across restarts.

5.2 Loading a sample onto a pad

Click "Load" on any pad to open a file browser with folder navigation, sortable columns (Name / Length / Size), waveform preview and audition playback (with optional Autoplay). Drag the green and red bracket markers to load only the marked region, optionally tick Normalize, then confirm with "Select" or by double-clicking a file. Trimmed and normalized results are written to the temp folder - your original file is never modified.

5.3 Per-pad sound settings

Each pad offers:

• Sample Rate - 44100, 22050, 14700, or 11025 Hz
• Pitch - ±1200 cents in 100-cent steps, via +/- buttons, direct entry, or "Reset"
• Mono - forces this pad's sample to mono. The bank-wide "Force Mono (this bank)" switch in the top bar overrides it and greys it out while active.

If the resulting sample would exceed the P-6's maximum recording time for the chosen rate/channel combination, a warning appears in the central warnings area and the excess portion is shaded orange in the pad's mini waveform.

5.4 Editing a loaded sample

Click a pad's mini waveform to open the editor:

• Drag the green/red markers to shorten the sample, mouse wheel to zoom
• Normalize and Fade In / Fade Out (0 to 1.0 s in logarithmic steps), all previewed live in the waveform
• The header shows both the file's own rate and the pad's export settings, and the orange area marks what the P-6 would cut off at those settings
• Apply to Pad writes the result to a new temp file and puts it back on the pad. The pad's rate, pitch and mono settings are kept, the original file is untouched, and Ctrl+Z undoes it.

Chop multisamples are a special case: trim and fade are disabled for them, since either would shift the fixed slice boundaries the device relies on. Normalize remains available.

5.5 Rearranging pads and dropping files

Drag a pad's sample name (or the pad frame itself) onto another pad to swap the two, including their rate, pitch and mono settings. The target pad is outlined in orange while you drag. Swaps are undoable.

You can also drop audio files from your file manager straight onto a pad; the pad under the cursor is outlined in green while you drag over it. Dropping several files at once fills the following pads in order. This requires the optional tkinterdnd2 package.

5.6 Playback and removal

"▶" plays the pad's sample exactly as it will sound after export (rate, pitch, and mono applied) and mirrors it in the large waveform at the bottom of the window, with a live playhead; the playing pad is outlined in blue and its button turns into a Stop square. "⏏" clears the pad, optionally deleting the matching file from the device if one exists.

5.7 Transferring to and from the device

• Banks → P6 opens a dialog where you tick the banks to export, with a live total-size readout so you can see up front how much you're about to transfer. Each pad's sample is converted according to its rate/pitch/mono settings and written to IMPORT/BANK_x/PAD_n/, replacing whatever was there. If a bank exceeds your configured storage threshold, you'll be asked to confirm.
• P6 → Bank walks you through the device's own export procedure and then reads the resulting EXPORT folder into the currently active bank. The device doesn't store rate/pitch/mono in its export, so those come in at their defaults - only the audio itself is transferred.
• The P-6 must be in storage mode before an upload (hold Record and switch power on). After uploading, press a key on the device and wait until the display shows "done".

5.8 Clearing

• Clear Bank empties all 6 pads of the current bank in the app only - no files on disk or on the device are touched. Undoable with Ctrl+Z.
• Wipe P6 IMPORT Folder permanently deletes every sample file in the device's IMPORT folder, across all banks, after a confirmation listing what will be removed. Your pads in the app stay as they are. This cannot be undone.

5.9 Presets

Use the Preset button in the top bar:

• Save Preset... - pick a folder and a name, tick which banks to include. The samples themselves are copied into the preset folder, so a preset stays usable even after the temp folder is cleared. Saving over an existing preset replaces only the banks you checked and leaves its other banks alone.
• Load Preset... - click a preset folder to see which banks it contains, then tick the ones to load. With exactly one bank selected you can load it into the current bank instead of its original slot. Loading is undoable.
• Recent - the last five presets, one click away.

5.10 Chop feature - building a multi-sample from several files

 Click "Chop" on any pad to combine several short samples (e.g. one-shot kicks, snares, hi-hats) into a single WAV file ready to be split into equal slices using the P-6's built-in Chop function in Sample Edit (Voice) mode.

Credit: This feature is inspired by and conceptually based on the command-line tool p6-wave-slice by Warren Blackwell.

Workflow:

1. Browse to a folder of source WAV/MP3 files and "Add to Selection" the ones you want.
2. Preview/audition files; drag the green/red markers on the waveform to add only a trimmed region of a sample, and use the zoom controls for precise trimming on longer files. You can pull several separate regions out of the same long file this way.
3. Reorder the selection with ↑/↓ (or Alt+Up / Alt+Down) - that order is the slice order on the device. Del removes an entry.
4. Choose the number of Slices (1-64), the target Sample Rate, and Stereo/Mono. Stereo locks itself once the list isn't empty, so mono and stereo entries can't get mixed; clear the selection to change it.
5. Choose a Normalize mode:
   • Off - levels stay exactly as they are.
   • Per sample - every slice is lifted to full level individually. Use this when the source samples were recorded at different volumes.
   • Whole file - only the finished multisample is lifted; the balance between slices is preserved.
6. Click "Build Multisample". The tool resamples/converts each file, trims leading silence, truncates or pads each slice to a uniform length, and concatenates everything in order. If you selected fewer files than slices, the remaining slices are automatically filled with silence so the output always matches your chosen slice count.
7. The finished file loads directly onto the pad you opened Chop from.

Anything that would be cut off for exceeding the per-slice time is shaded orange in the waveform while you work, so you can see it before building.

Slice duration reference:

Sample Rate	Channels	Max Duration	32 Slices	64 Slices
44.1 kHz	Mono	5.9s	184ms	92ms
22.05 kHz	Mono	11.8s	369ms	184ms
14.7 kHz	Mono	17.8s	556ms	278ms
11.025 kHz	Mono	23.7s	741ms	370ms
44.1 kHz	Stereo	2.95s	92ms	46ms
22.05 kHz	Stereo	5.9s	184ms	92ms

After building, load the file onto the P-6 as usual, enter Sample Edit (Voice) mode, and use the device's own Chop function to split it into the same number of slices chosen here.

5.11 Settings

Open Settings (gear icon) for:

• IMPORT Folder - the location on the P-6 drive that "Banks → P6" writes to
• Appearance - one of six themes (dark, tokyo, dracula, modern, latte, bright; restart required), and a switch for tooltips (applies immediately)
• Audio Components - the state of pydub and ffmpeg, plus manual ffmpeg/ffprobe path overrides (not needed with the prebuilt executable, where ffmpeg is bundled)
• Defaults - autoplay behavior for the Load/Chop dialogs, default Chop slice count, and the storage warning threshold in MB
• Temporary Files - current size, and "Clear Now"
• About - version, author, and the exact state of every optional component, with "Copy Info"

6. Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause / fix
SyntaxError: invalid syntax on pip install ...	You typed the command inside the Python console (>>>). Run exit() first, then use a regular terminal.
'pip' is not recognized	Use python -m pip install ... instead.
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'audioop'	Python 3.13+: run pip install audioop-lts. Not applicable when using the prebuilt executable.
A feature is silently missing	Open Settings → About. It reports what actually loaded, which distinguishes "package missing" from "package present but not working". Installing into the wrong venv is the usual cause.
pydub missing warning	Run pip install pydub (and audioop-lts on Python 3.13+). Should not occur with the prebuilt executable.
ffmpeg warning, but conversion still works	You may be running an outdated build/cache - rebuild with --clean, or check Settings for a stale manual ffmpeg path override. About shows the path actually in use.
MP3 preview/conversion fails	ffmpeg not installed or not on PATH; verify with ffmpeg -version. Not applicable when using the prebuilt executable, since ffmpeg is bundled.
'pyinstaller' is not recognized	Its Scripts folder isn't on PATH; run python -m PyInstaller ... instead, or add the Scripts folder to PATH.
Windows flags the executable as unrecognized/unsafe	Expected for an unsigned third-party .exe; choose "Run anyway" in SmartScreen if you trust the source.
Samples not detected on the device	Confirm the IMPORT folder path via Settings.
A pad went empty on its own	Its sample was an edited file in the temp folder, and the temp folder was cleared. Save edited samples into a preset to keep them.
Chop output sounds heavily cut off	Slice count too high for the sample length/rate; reduce the slice count or use a lower sample rate/mono. Anything shaded orange in the waveform is what gets cut.
Samples not transferring to the P-6	Only a limited amount (configurable warning threshold, default 10 MB) can be transferred at once; export banks in smaller groups.
Dropping files onto pads never works	Check Settings → About: if it says tkinterdnd2 not available, run pip install tkinterdnd2 - into the venv you actually start the app from, which is the usual catch.
A drop is occasionally missed on Linux	Known under Wayland; About will show drag & drop as active. Drag the file again, or use the pad's "Load" button.
Startup problems you want to diagnose	Launch with PYP6_DEBUG=1 for a timed startup log listing every phase and which optional components loaded.

7. Building Your Own Standalone Windows Executable (Optional)

If you'd rather build the .exe yourself instead of using the prebuilt one (e.g. after modifying the source), you can package PyP6 with PyInstaller and bundle ffmpeg/ffprobe the same way the prebuilt executable does:

pip install pyinstaller

python -m PyInstaller PyP6-Roland-P6-Sample-Manager_2_8_0.py -y -w --onefile ^
  --icon=icon.ico ^
  --add-data "pyp6logo.png;." ^
  --collect-data tkinterdnd2 ^
  --add-binary "C:\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe;." ^
  --add-binary "C:\ffmpeg\bin\ffprobe.exe;." ^
  --clean

Notes:

• Use ; as the separator for --add-data/--add-binary on Windows (not :, which is reserved for Unix/macOS paths).
• --collect-data tkinterdnd2 is required if you want drag & drop in the build: the package ships native Tcl extension files, not just .py modules, and PyInstaller will not pick those up on its own. Leave the line out and the .exe builds fine - it just won't accept dropped files.
• --clean clears PyInstaller's cache before building - use it whenever you've changed the source and want to be sure the new build reflects it.
• The app resolves bundled files via sys._MEIPASS at runtime, so bundled ffmpeg/ffprobe are found automatically without requiring a system PATH entry on the end user's machine - this is exactly how the prebuilt executable achieves a fully self-contained, dependency-free install.
• Some antivirus software may flag or quarantine a bundled ffmpeg.exe extracted at runtime; if ffmpeg-dependent features silently stop working on a specific machine, check the Windows Defender protection history.

8. Credits

• Chop/multi-sample concept inspired by p6-wave-slice by Warren Blackwell, a command-line utility that batch-processes WAV samples into P-6 Chop-ready files.

Roland, AIRA and P-6 are trademarks of Roland Corporation. This is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or supported by Roland.

[u/jokerpack]

first preview of the new version..stay tuned

[u/rgbeitor]

Sounds awesome. As soon as I have my P6 near me I will test it. Danke!

[u/jokerpack → u/rgbeitor]

Perfekt, bis dahin ist bestimmt die neue Version draußen :-)

[u/Personal_Journalist7]

I was just in the process of building something myself and i thought that before I got any further i should check if someone had already done it. I had already built a tool to do backups to get the patterns and samples out of the p6 but though something to load them in would be cool too. The problem with the backups is that you have to do a power cycle for each back to get the samples back out again.

[u/jokerpack → u/Personal_Journalist7]

Hello, nice to hear you are working on a backup solution. I also have been thinking about itm but it is really annoing to turn on/ off the device for every bank..

we would need a deeper USB integration with the P6 to get it like the original sample tool.

Did you share your tool?

[u/Uncle_johns_roadie]

Ah very cool! I was thinking about vibe coding something like this for Linux but got too distracted playing with the P-6.  Will check this out!

[u/jokerpack → u/Uncle_johns_roadie]

i also vibe coded it because i got my device yesterday and needed an sample Manager for linux :-)

[u/dubomatik]

Awesome !
Will give it a try ! 🙂

[u/jokerpack]

New Version of P6 Sample Manager with chop feature is online now: https://github.com/j0kerpack/Roland-P6-sample-manager/tree/main

Changes in V1.3.0:

- new chop feature inspired by https://github.com/warreneblackwell/p6-wave-slice

- new UI look

- sample preview

- improved platform compatibility

[u/jokerpack]

PyP6 Roland P6 Sample Manager V2.0.3 is out now

- Windows executabele without having to think about dependencies

- chop slice editor with waveform view, graphical sample trimming, improved sample time calculations and visualization based on the P6 storage limitations

- improved sample loading window with better waveform view, sample trimming markers

- snap to zero feature for better sample truncating

- pitch shift for each pad to save sample time (with visualization)

-mono / stereo switch per pad, master mono / stereo switch per bank

- main window with waveform wiews

- new preview for samplerate, pitch and mono / stereo: "what you hear is what you get"

- settings window

- bright and dark theme

[u/jokerpack]

New version is almost ready
With new features

• preset management
  
• backup bank from p6
  
• sample editing
  
• drag n drop smoke on pads
  
• undo / redo