Product Design & Development
Break Lab
A drum break sampler I built because the existing tools were too complicated for how I actually work.
The Problem
Chopping breaks shouldn't be this hard
I've been making beats since undergrad. House music, mostly — the kind built on chopped-up drum breaks. The Amen break is the most sampled break in history, and I've probably chopped it a hundred different ways.
The problem is the tools. Most DAW plugins for slicing breaks are overly complicated. FL Studio's slicer works, but it's buried in menus. And I wanted something I could use on my phone — something quick and portable where I could sketch out ideas and export them.
So I built it.
"I'm a producer. Chopping breaks in FL Studio is a pain. So I built my own tool to do it faster."
Design Decisions
What I built and why
I outlined everything I needed from the app — what it should do, how it should feel — and built it with Claude handling the code while I directed the UX.
16 slices as default. That's enough to alter a beat so it doesn't sound like a stock loop, but not so many that it becomes overwhelming.
Trigger vs. Gate modes. Different textures for different vibes. Trigger plays the full slice, Gate plays only while you hold — essential for creating rhythmic variation.
All data stays local. Producers don't like their stuff getting leaked. Everything processes in-browser, exports to your device. No server, no risk.
Upload any loop. The classic breaks are preloaded, but the best part is being able to drop in whatever you want and start chopping immediately.
Try It
The live tool
It works on desktop and mobile. Load a break, hit the pads, sequence a pattern, export what you make.
Open Full ScreenWhat I'd change
If I rebuilt it, I'd make it simpler. The live looper should be right above the pads — that's the core interaction, making patterns with your fingers. Right now the UI buries it at the bottom, separated by effects and the step sequencer. The hierarchy is wrong. I shipped it, used it, and now I know what actually matters.
Takeaway
Build for yourself first
This wasn't a case study project. I didn't make it to impress anyone. I made it because I needed it. That's the best way to learn what actually matters in a product — use it yourself, feel the friction, then fix it.
Music technology is a growing field, and this project taught me how to think about tools for creators: keep it fast, keep it focused, and respect that people's work is sensitive.