— Interactive guide · Koala 2.0

Koala Sampler

The sampler in your pocket, explained properly — recording, chopping, sequencing, the live effects, the mixer and every hidden gesture and setting, searchable in a keystroke, with elf audio’s videos and the community’s best tutorials beside the topics they explain.

chapters: 16
topics: 110
gestures & keys: 149
videos: 60

— Where to start

Your first hour

Learn the three screens, get a sound in, and make your first beat.

0/6

Sampling and chopping

Bring in audio, trim it, chop it, and lock it to your tempo.

0/6

Making beats

Record, tidy the timing, add melodies, and edit to the note.

0/6

Finishing songs

Perform with live effects, mix, resample and export.

0/6

— Explore the screens

What does this do?

Pick a control to see what it does.

All 78 controls across Koala’s screens, with the gestures that aren’t labelled in the app.

Our own schematic of the phone layout · not to scale · tablets and desktop arrange things differently

— Contents

16 chapters, start anywhere

Start here

What Koala is, what you get on each platform, how it’s organised, and your first beat.

What Koala is · What you get on each platform · Samurai, Mixer and sample packs · How Koala is organised · Your first beat in ten minutes · Specifications at a glance

0/6

Find your way around

Every control on every screen, and the gestures that Koala doesn’t label.

Explore every screen · The gestures Koala doesn’t label · Change several pads at once · Undo and redo

0/4

Get sound in

Record, import, pull audio from video, browse the library and resample yourself.

Record from the mic · Lock, chain and loop your recordings · Add effects while you record · Record from an audio interface · Hear your input before you record · Import audio files · Browse samples and your own folders · Sample packs and kits · Sample Koala’s toys · Reuse sounds from your other songs · Pull the audio from a video · Resample Koala itself · Turn a sequence or selection into a pad

0/13

Shape a sample

Trim, loop, envelope, EQ and colour your pads, then keep them tidy.

Set a pad’s volume, pitch and pan · Open the sample editor and choose what plays · Make a pad play through, play while held or play backwards · Loop a sample · Shape a pad with attack, release and tone · Let one sound cut off another · Everything in the TOOLS menu · Colour your pads and sequences · See everything Koala knows about a sample · Edit the audio in the wave editor · Give a pad its own EQ · Copy, swap and combine pads · Delete samples from pads · Mute and solo pads while a sequence plays

0/14

Chop, split and stretch

Cut samples into slices, pull stems apart, and lock anything to your tempo.

Chop a sample across your pads · Play slices from one pad with Chopper · Pull a sample apart into stems · Lock a sample to your tempo

0/4

Instruments on pads

Pads don’t have to hold samples: the Quokka synth, MIDI out and plugins.

Put the Quokka synth on a pad · Play external gear from a pad · Load plugin instruments onto pads

0/3

Build sequences

Record, set the tempo and feel, control how sequences change, and arrange them.

Record and play a sequence · Set the tempo and time signature · Tighten the timing and add swing · Decide when sequences change · Change a sequence’s length · Copy, combine and colour sequences · Clear a sequence

0/7

Play melodies and rhythms

Keyboard modes, scales, note repeat, velocity, the arpeggiator and pitch bend.

Play a pad like an instrument · Play in key on the grid · Play on a piano keyboard · Control loudness with velocity mode · Roll rhythms with note repeat · Arpeggiate the notes you hold · Bend notes with the BEND strip

0/7

Edit your notes

The note grid, piano roll, velocity and chance, and automation.

Edit notes on the grid · Edit pitch in the piano roll · Change several notes at once · Choose a tool in the grid · Record and edit automation

0/5

Perform

Sixteen live effects under your fingers, and how to record the result.

Play your song live · How the live effects respond · The 16 live effects, one by one · Record your performance

0/4

Mix

Route pads to buses, build effect chains and host plugins.

What the mixer gives you · Send pads to the buses · Set levels, names, mute and solo · Add and arrange effects on a channel · Use third-party plugins as effects

0/5

Mixer effects, one by one

Every mixer effect, grouped by what it does, with every setting and range.

Control level and punch · Shape tone with filters and EQ · Add echoes and space · Add movement and change pitch · Add grit, wobble and voices · Measure, tune and fix

0/6

Songs and export

Save and share songs, tidy them up, and get your work out of Koala.

Start, find and manage songs · Save your work · Slim down a song and set its options · Start every song from your own template · Get your work out of Koala · Choose the format of an export · Take your work into Ableton Live · Bring in MIDI, songs, packs and maps

0/8

Settings

Every option in GENERAL, AUDIO and EXTRAS, plus background images and effects.

Find your way around the settings · Set how pads and recording behave · Set up audio input and output · Extra controls, downloads and backups · Give Koala a background image and effect

0/5

MIDI, sync, plugins and desktop

Controllers and clock, Ableton Link, running Koala as an AUv3, and the desktop app.

Connect a MIDI controller · Map controls with MIDI learn · Sync to MIDI clock · Sync with Ableton Link · Connect a Bluetooth MIDI device · Sync a Pocket Operator · Play Koala from a computer keyboard · Run Koala inside another app · Get more from Koala as a plugin · Install and update Koala on a computer · Use the menu bar, shortcuts and mouse · Drag files in and out, and connect your gear

0/12

Recipes

Whole workflows built from the pieces in the other chapters.

Flip a sample into a beat · Turn a drum break into a kit · Make a synth from a tiny piece of a sample · Make an instrumental or an a cappella · Build a mastering chain · Make room for the kick with sidechain · Print live effects by resampling

0/7

— Muscle memory

The gestures you’ll use every day

Koala hides a lot behind holds, drags and double taps. The full cheat sheet has all 149 gestures and keyboard shortcuts, filterable and printable.

Open the cheat sheet

Hold PAD: Records onto the pad until you let go, while the input source is the mic or an audio interface.On an empty pad
Hold EDIT + PAD: Selects several pads, so your changes apply to all of them.
Hold DELETE + PAD: Deletes those pads without asking.
Drag PAD onto PAD: Copies to a free pad, or offers to merge, swap or add to the end if the target is taken.
Double-tap VOL: Resets to the sample’s original volume.
Double-tap TEMPO: Opens the tempo menu.
Double-tap SLOT: Opens the note grid for that sequence.
Hold CLEAR + KEYBOARD: Clears only the current pad’s notes from the sequence.

— Watch

Learn it from elf audio and the community

All videos & links

Koala Sampler Basic Tutorial
elf audio
The developer’s own 12-minute start on the app. It dates from 2019, so the add-ons and the Mixer came later, and you should expect some differences on screen.

The Best App For Beatmakers (Koala Beginner's Tutorial)
TAETRO
A 32-minute tour with chapters, from mic sampling and editing to sequences, the Perform page, resampling and the Mixer. Sponsored by Synido, and filmed before Koala 2.0.

My 2026 Koala Sampler Workflow: 3 Features That Changed How I Make Beats
sunwarper
A beat from scratch on the current app, using Chopper, the improved stem splitter, an AUv3 synth, resampled bass, bus effects and arranging. Sponsored by Synido.

An independent guide by boog.ie, not affiliated with or endorsed by elf audio. Koala Sampler is a product of elf audio, a trading name of Mazbox Limited. Content is written in our own words from the Koala manual (October 2026) and Koala’s store listing (Koala 2.0); community material is credited and linked. The screen explorer is our own schematic. When in doubt, the official manual wins, and the store listing is the last word on what each platform has. The Koala manual