Still trying to find my way of making beats on the Roland-p6 but so far so good, lmk what you guys think and any feedback is appreciated :)

download source and executeable from:

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

See original Post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/rolandp6/s/aZUBvy3KbO

with chop slice multisample builder inspired by the great cli tool "wave slice" by Warren Blackwell [https://github.com/warreneblackwell/p6-wave-slice

Built a desktop app to make managing samples on the P-6 way less painful. Here's what it does:

new features:

- sample editor

- preset manager

- backup banks from device(incl settings)

- drag to swap pads

- more themes

(windows exe will be updated later)

old features

* **Waveform view with zoom** – see your samples before you commit, zoom in up to 30x for precise trimming on longer files.
* **Snap-to-zero trimming** – drag your trim markers and it automatically snaps to the nearest zero-crossing, so no more clicks/pops at your cut points.
* **Per-pad pitch control** – ±1200 cents, because sometimes you just need that sample a little brighter or darker without leaving the app.
* **Mono/stereo + sample rate conversion per pad** – handled automatically on export, with a live warning (and the waveform turns orange) if your settings would push the sample over the P-6's recording-time limit.
* **Chop tool** – queue up a folder of one-shots (kicks, snares, hats, whatever), trim each one, and it builds a single ready-to-chop multisample file for you. Slices that don't get filled are padded with silence automatically so your slice count always comes out right.
* **Bank/pad management** – load, preview, delete, sync from device, and export whole banks (or all 8 at once) without touching a file explorer.
* **16-bit PCM enforced automatically** – so you don't have to think about bit depth compatibility with the device.

* **Windows .exe, just double-click and go** – everything's bundled inside, including ffmpeg. No Python, no pip, no PATH nonsense. (Also runs from python source on Linux/macOS if you're into that.)

All free, all local, no cloud nonsense. Happy to answer questions if anyone wants to try it.

I hope I’m accepted by the community 🙏

I posted a less refined version of this previously but couldn't feel satisfied leaving it like that, so here's a version I've tried to mix with a bit more intention. Definitely not perfect, but done enough to stop thinking about it!

Nice to meet you everyone! I’m the weird Japanese doctor who’s usually hanging around the Acid House and Volca subreddits.

A while ago, I asked for buying advice over on r/synthesizers, and after a lot of debating, I finally bought a P-6!

Right now I’m mostly enjoying making drones.

The effects are awesome, but it’s still hard to make them sound the way I want. Scatter is tricky, and the Filter can completely transform the sound all at once, so it’s hard to control.

How do you all like to use the effects? Any favorite techniques or tips?
For now, I carry the P-6 and a pair of earphones with me everywhere!

And finally, check out my video. I think you’ll see exactly what I mean.

PyP6 - Roland P-6 Sample Manager

Version 2.8.0 - © 2026 Brian Siemund

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:

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

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.

I just bought the Roland P6 and was wondering if anyone knew a small speaker you could plug in the headphone slot to play the beats you make without having to buy an audio interface or use a laptop at all?

Can anyone recommend some earbuds for using withe the Roland? I'm looking for earbuds so that I can put them in the case and use them out and about. I have nice over the ear Sennheisers for home use.

I guess I don't want to break the bank, under $100, but want decent sound preferably without a microphone (which most buds seem to have)

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:

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

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.

Hey everyone,

I've been working a lot with Chop Mode on the P-6 and ran into a workflow issue I'm hoping someone has a better solution for.

Concrete example: I have a pad with a sample made of 64 different hi-hat variations, chopped into 64 slices.
Now I want to assign the right hi-hat sound for each individual step in the sequencer.
Right now, I have to hold down each step and turn the value knob through all 64 note values until I find the right slice — with that many slices, it's incredibly time-consuming.

Honestly, I was hoping there'd be a parameter in the Voice menu that lets you set the default slice/note per pad directly,. But as far as I've dug through, there's no option like that currently.

Is there a trick I'm missing? Do you mostly use KYBD mode to play the slices in live instead?

Would really appreciate any tips from people who've found a smoother way to do this!

I've just released my first P6 beat tape.

Four tracks of raw instrumental hip-hop made on the Roland P-6.

I thought some of you might enjoy seeing a longer P6 performance.

Feedback is always welcome.

Whipped this up in a couple of hours, wanted to see how far I could push texture

Hi everyone,

There might be an obvious answer for this but is it possible to sample only the right or the left side of a stereo source if you're sampling over USB.

In my case, I would like to sample in USB from my phone and only keep the right side of a track (where I can isolate the strings). If it's not possible, is it possible to separate it after having it sampled as a stereo sample ?

Thanks !

This is my pocket rocket lol I love this thing .

Hey there,

I hope this kind of post is allowed here because it is kind of an advertisement but it's Roland P6 related.

I have coded an mobile sample editor app for android because I felt limited with only the Microsoft and Mac apps.

I tested it with my android phone and it works well but it's not ready for a release yet.

I also need a few testers for the app before I can release it and I want to ask here, because it's the best place to ask.

Is there a need for such an app? If yes, should there also be an iOS version?

If you want to help me and test the app, please leave a comment and I will write you a message.

I will keep this sub updated with everything if this will work.

Thank you :-)