Breakbeat Lab + Pit Lab support — Performance Percussion

What it is

Breakbeat Lab and Pit Lab are the content-capture workbench for building kits used by Breakbeat and Pit. Breakbeat Lab organizes loose sample libraries (or captures velocity layers and round-robins automatically from a hosted VST instrument) into .bkbt kit files with real provenance — canonical instrument IDs, velocity ranges, and drum specs. Pit Lab is the pitched-instrument wizard built on the same engine. Both live inside one shared app shell with a home screen for switching between modules.

Requirements

macOS
For VST-based capture: a compatible VST3/AU plugin instrument installed on your Mac
Sufficient disk space for sample libraries being organized or captured (large libraries can be tens of gigabytes)

Install & first run

Download Breakbeat Lab / Pit Lab from the Mac App Store, then open the app.
From the home screen, choose a module: Breakbeat Ripper (sample/library capture) or Pit Lab (pitched-instrument wizard).
In Breakbeat Ripper: point it at a sample library or host a VST instrument, run capture/mapping, and export a .bkbt kit.
In Pit Lab: follow the guided card-based wizard to build a pitched-instrument kit.
Use the back button to return to the home screen and switch modules — only one module runs at a time.

Common questions

What file format do exported kits use?

.bkbt — a zip containing a manifest and the samples, usable directly in Breakbeat and Pit.

Can I capture sounds from a VST instrument instead of using existing samples?

Yes — Breakbeat Lab can host a VST and automatically capture velocity layers and round-robins.

What's the difference between Breakbeat Lab and Pit Lab?

Breakbeat Lab targets drum/percussion kit capture; Pit Lab is a simplified wizard for pitched instruments (marimba, vibes, etc.), on the same underlying engine.

Can I run both modules at once?

No — the shell is designed to run one module at a time. Closing a module fully releases its audio device before you can open the other.

Troubleshooting

A capture session doesn't produce a kit that loads correctly in Breakbeat. Try a smaller test capture first to confirm your VST and settings work, then run the full library. If the exported .bkbt still won't load, note which plugin and library you used when contacting support.

The app seems to be running an old version. Check for updates in the Mac App Store and install the latest version from there.

Velocity layers or trim points seem off. This math is currently verified primarily through manual testing rather than automated checks — if you see a specific mis-trimmed sample or wrong velocity layer, report the library and instrument so it can be checked.

Switching modules leaves audio device settings in a bad state. Fully close the current module (use the back button) before opening the other — the two modules do not share a live audio session.

Known limitations

The full capture-to-kit pipeline is beta: a complete end-to-end verification (rip a full kit, load and play it in Breakbeat) is something to confirm on your own setup before relying on it for a show.
The numeric core of the capture engine (velocity/trim math) has limited automated test coverage; capture results should be spot-checked.
Product naming for this workbench has been in transition; you may see it referred to by different internal names in older materials.
A large legacy-format sample migration path exists but is not part of the standard workflow.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected] with "Breakbeat Lab" or "Pit Lab" and your app version.