Your pad layout sets the mix for each kit, for example 2 kick pads, 2 snare pads and so on. Kit Maker builds kits one at a time, taking samples from each category to match that mix.

With Fill All Pads on (the default), every kit comes out full, with all 16 pads filled. If the pack is short on one category, that shortage is spread across the kits instead of leaving the last few kits thin. That means:

• The number of kits depends on how many usable samples the pack has. Filtered files don’t count.
• Samples that can’t make a full kit at the end are left out. Turn on Create Extra Kit with Overfill Samples in Preferences to get them as one extra kit, with some empty pads.
• A pad can get a sample from a different category when its own category has run out for that kit. Right-click a pad to choose which category it falls back to (see Edit the Category of a Pad).

With Fill All Pads off, a pad only gets a sample from its own category. Pads stay empty once a category runs out, and Kit Maker keeps making kits until nothing is left, so you get more kits but the later ones are sparse.

Balance Categories goes a step further and adjusts the layout to the pack. A pack that’s a quarter kicks gets kits that are a quarter kicks. See Balance Categories.

Maschine Expansions, kit folders and MPC Expansions keep their original kits, so none of this applies to them.

Common questions #

• Why fewer kits than I expected? Every kit needs 16 usable samples, and loops and large files are filtered out first. The Summary Page shows how many samples were usable.
• Why is a sample in the wrong category, or in Misc? Its folder and filename didn’t match the category’s keywords. Add the keyword in Edit Categories/Keywords.
• Why did a kick pad get a snare? That kit had no kick left, so the pad used its fallback category. Turn Fill All Pads off if you’d rather leave it empty.