diff --git a/inputsource.cpp b/inputsource.cpp
index a2f15d4..899a474 100644
--- a/inputsource.cpp
+++ b/inputsource.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ InputSource::InputSource(const char *filename, int fft_size) {
     if (fstat(fileno(m_file), &sb) != 0)
         throw std::runtime_error("Error fstating file");
     m_file_size = sb.st_size;
+    sampleCount = m_file_size / sizeof(fftwf_complex);
 
     m_data = (fftwf_complex*)mmap(NULL, m_file_size, PROT_READ, MAP_SHARED, fileno(m_file), 0);
     if (m_data == 0)
@@ -37,6 +38,15 @@ void InputSource::cleanupFFTW() {
     if (m_fftw_out != nullptr) fftwf_free(m_fftw_out);
 }
 
+bool InputSource::getSamples(fftwf_complex *dest, int start, int length)
+{
+    if (start + length >= sampleCount)
+        return false;
+
+    memcpy(dest, &m_data[start], length * sizeof(fftwf_complex));
+    return true;
+}
+
 void InputSource::getViewport(float *dest, int x, int y, int width, int height, int zoom) {
 
     fftwf_complex *sample_ptr = &m_data[y * getFFTStride()];
diff --git a/inputsource.h b/inputsource.h
index 4588fd1..45bd189 100644
--- a/inputsource.h
+++ b/inputsource.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ class InputSource
 private:
     FILE *m_file;
     off_t m_file_size;
+    off_t sampleCount;
     fftwf_complex *m_data;
     int m_fft_size;
 
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ public:
     InputSource(const char *filename, int fft_size);
     ~InputSource();
 
+    bool getSamples(fftwf_complex *dest, int start, int length);
     void getViewport(float *dest, int x, int y, int width, int height, int zoom);
     int getHeight();
     int getWidth();