Reference

Troubleshooting

What to check when Chop does not open, play, find a plugin or answer a controller.

macOS does not open Chop

The beta is not notarised by Apple yet. After the first try, open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to the message about Chop and click Open Anyway. See Open it the first time.

Chop needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 11.5 or later. It does not run on Intel Macs.

There is no sound

• Open the settings (Cmd+,) and check the output device.
• Look at the master meter in the Mixer. If it moves, Chop is playing and the problem is after it: the device, its volume, the cables.
• On the Multitrack and the Mixer: check mute and solo (a soloed track silences the others), the faders and the master fader. A track is silent where it has no part. If R or W is on, a volume automation may hold the track down: turn both off to hear the Mixer's value.
• On the Sample screen: you hear only the selected track. Check that it has a sample, and that the block or slice is not muted or silenced (hatched in the waveform).

The sound crackles or stutters

Choose a larger buffer size in the settings. Heavy plugins need more. If it started with one plugin, bypassing does not free the processor: remove the plugin to check.

Space or Return does not play what I expect

• On the Sample screen Space plays only the selected slice. Tap it twice quickly, or press Return, for the whole pattern.
• The track plays once and stops: the toolbar's Loop is off. Press L.
• One slice repeats without end: the Loop key of the Playback group is on. Turn it off.
• The song starts in the middle: the cursor is not at bar 1. Press Home.
• The song repeats only a few bars: a loop range is drawn. Double-click the strip above the Multitrack ruler.

All the cases are in Play and listen.

The keys do nothing

A page is open (settings, MIDI Mappings, VST3 Plugins, import, record). The editing keys are off while a page covers the screen. Press Esc to close it.

A sample file does not load

• Chop reads WAV, AIFF, FLAC and MP3, mono or stereo.
• Files longer than 10 minutes, with more than two channels, or with a sample rate outside 8 to 384 kHz are refused.
• A file over 10 seconds opens the import page instead of loading: choose the piece to keep and click Import.

See Files Chop refuses.

Chop says samples are missing

• When you open a project: the files are not where the project expects them, and those tracks stay empty. The message lists the places it looked in. Put the files back there and open the project again.
• While you work: a file was moved or deleted. Its track keeps playing it from memory until you close the project, but the project still points to the old place. Put the file back before you close.

To avoid both, collect the samples and keep the project's folder together.

The loop is not in time

• Set Bars to the real length of the loop, then choose Fit sample to N bars in the same menu. See Make a loop exactly N bars long.
• Check that Fit is on and that Timing is not Original.
• If the file has silence before the first hit, or does not end exactly at the end of the loop, trim it in an audio editor (Chop reloads it by itself) and fit it again.

The grid cuts do not land on the hits

The loop does not fill its bars exactly, so the steps are counted wrong. Fit the sample to its bars first (above), then Clear slices and chop again. Or use Chop transients, which follows the hits instead of the grid.

I cannot make a block longer

With Timing on Beats or Original, or with Fit off, a block can only get shorter. Use Stretch or Varispeed, or turn the block into a roll.

Blocks disappeared after I changed Bars

Choosing fewer bars removes the blocks past the new end, and more bars do not bring them back. Press Cmd+Z.

A knob in the top panel is dimmed

The track's Envelope and Filter are used only while the track has no slices. After chopping, each slice has its own: select a slice and use the Slices group at the bottom.

The waveform is partly shaded

The project comes from an early version of Chop and uses only a region of the sample. Right-click the waveform > Reset region (the whole sample).

A part cannot go where I drag it

Parts of one track cannot overlap, and cannot go past the end of the project. Make the project longer with the length in the toolbar, or move the neighbouring part first.

The automation lane does not let me draw

Turn on W on the track's row and click inside a part. See When the lane does not let you draw.

I drew automation but do not hear it

• R or W must be on for the track.
• Automation plays only in the song (Multitrack, Mixer, export), not on the Sample screen.

A plugin is not in the slot menu

See When a plugin is not in the list.

A project opens with an effect missing

The plugin is not installed, could not load, or is disabled on the VST3 Plugins page. See A project that uses a plugin you do not have.

The MIDI controller does nothing

• Switch it on under MIDI inputs in the settings.
• Check that it sends CC messages. Notes and pads do nothing in Chop.
• Map it first: right-click a control > MIDI Learn, then move the controller.
• For a mapping to "the selected slice", select a slice.
• If an endless encoder jumps or moves in one direction only, change its Mode on the MIDI Mappings page.

Recording does not start, or records silence

• Choose an input device in the settings and switch on its channels.
• Allow Chop to use the microphone in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone, then start Chop again.
• You do not hear the input through Chop: watch the level meter on the record page instead.

Resample or Import says there is no free track

All eight tracks have a sample. Empty one with the bin in the tool row, then try again. A recording you made stays on the record page meanwhile.

Collect Samples does nothing

The project was never saved. Save it first (Cmd+S), then collect.

Chop asks to recover changes at start

Chop did not close normally last time. Recover opens the autosaved copy as unsaved changes; Discard deletes it. See Autosave and recovery.

The window does not fit my screen, or everything is too small

Use Cmd+- and Cmd+= to make the whole interface smaller or bigger. See Make the interface bigger or smaller.

Still stuck?

Write to feedback@chopdaw.app with the version from Chop > About Chop, what you did and what happened.