Sample Alchemy granular effect controls in MainStage

Granular synthesis is a technique used to create and manipulate sounds by breaking them down into small pieces, or “grains,” and manipulating these grains independently.

In granular synthesis, a sound is typically broken down into a series of short, overlapping grains, each of which is a few milliseconds in length. These grains are then played back in sequence, either as a continuous stream or in a randomized or more structured pattern.

You can create a wide range of sounds and timbres by manipulating various parameters of the grains, such as their pitch, duration, and position in the original sound waveform. Granular synthesis can be used to create everything from subtle changes in a sound to radical transformations, and it is often used to create unique and unconventional sounds that are difficult to achieve using other synthesis methods.

The parameters in this section are shown when Granular is selected in a synthesis module.

Click one of the handles labeled A/B/C/D to select the source you want to edit.

Granular module parameters

Size knob: Adjust the duration of each grain from 2 ms to 230 ms.
Density knob: Determine the number of potentially overlapping grains from 1 (no overlap) to 10.
The Size and Density parameters interact with each other. When the Density value is 1, a single grain is sent to the output stream. As soon as one grain finishes, the next one is sent. A Size value of 100 ms sends a new grain every 100 ms.
Increasing Density to 2 adds a second grain that is sent in between those of the first, resulting in a new grain every 50 ms, assuming a Size value of 100 ms. The first and second grains overlap each other. Higher Density values inject additional new grains into the output stream. These new grains occur more frequently and overlap more heavily.
Setting Size to around 100 ms and Density to around 5 grains is often suitable for smooth pad sounds with no sharp transients. Setting Size between 40 and 80 ms and Density to around 2 grains is useful for drums and other sounds featuring sharp transients. Small Size values tend to produce a buzz that masks the original pitch of the sample. Large Size values tend to break up the sound. You can counteract both tendencies by increasing the Density.
Random Time knob: Add a small random offset to grain extraction positions in the sample. The default value is 3% because a small amount of randomization helps to smooth the output of the granular element.
Random Pan knob: Add a random offset to the stereo position of each grain.

Download the guides:

MainStage User Guide: PDF

MainStage Instruments: PDF

MainStage Effects: PDF

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