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granular audio effect plugin VST3/AU · By
Hi Daniel and thanks for your amazing plugin, it became one of my favorite granulation tools.
Some of the things that I would like to see in future updates are:
1.More lfo shapes
2.Lfo synchronization
3.Lfo reset with option to modulate it with other modulators
4.Option to reset the playback position or when a new grain starts, with ability to modulate the reset.
5.Grain size synchronization to beat divisions
6.Option to set a Loop range in the buffer with modulation for start/end points
7.More grain envelope shapes
8.A filter would be an amazing addition for shaping the sound, some routing options to set it before or after the feedback would be very welcome as well :)
9.Midi support to play the audio with midi notes and to reset the playback position or the modulators.
10.Another mode for increment parameter, so we can scrub the start position through the buffer manually with the mouse.
11.Option to quantize the time in the buffer. (This would be useful with the above mode, so that the start position "jumps" on time divisions, which is nice to be used somehow like a slicer. Or to set the Loop start/end points on time)
Keep up the amazing work!!!
Hi! Thanks for the feedback, some interesting ideas in there!
Tempo sync with the host for all time-based parameters is pretty high on my list (that includes #2 and #5)
Many of these would be interesting and probably not too difficult to do (like more LFO shapes and grain envelopes). Others (like midi support or effects in the feedback path) would require more thought but not at all impossible.
Another often-requested feature is multi-out: each stream having it’s own independent stereo output. This is likely coming in the near future. Along with proper installers on mac because that process is not really user-friendly at the moment.
Very happy to hear, looking very forward to multi-out too!
Please consider also a loop function in the future with start/end points, it will be very useful to select a range on the buffer to playback the grains. Modulating start/end points through the buffer would be also very nice , I think I never saw a real-time granulator having this and it's one of the things I 've always wanted :)
Anyway thanks for replying and I'll be waiting the updates, cheers!
Hi Daniel!
Love the plugin I was just wondering, as I am new to granular synthesis I was wondering if you could make a tutorial explaining how to get certain sounds. Maybe some presets or something could be cool too. This is genuinely one of the most useful plugins I have gotten and for only 5$, thank you for this :)
Hi!
Thanks for donating!
I guess shipping some nice presets would be the best way to get people started with the plugin. This is something I would like to add in some future update.
As a general guideline: use longer Buffer size, Time and grain Length values for smooth pad-like sounds. Simple harmonic inputs and a nice long reverb after the plugin are great for this kind of sound. At the lower end of the Time and Length parameters things can get more glitchy and harsh if that’s what you are going for.
Experiment and check out this video for a quick explanation of the controls and some examples of different sounds:
If you have questions about any parameter or feature feel free to ask :)
Amazing plugin!!! My go too for granular stuff. One feature I would like is to have feedback on the pitch so grains can endlessly be repitched creating a complex sound. Think "Crystallizer" by Soundtoys. Gating would be nice too as well as some ADSR features on the grains so you can shape them grains
Pitched grain feedback would be interesting! I don't have any short-term plans to do this, but it might happen in the future
ADSR is probably the most often requested feature so I think it would be a very welcome addition.
I already did some work on the granular processing that allows ADSR envelopes (and pitch modulation) on grains. Needs some more work (optimization, UI, etc.) before I can release it but this is very likely to be added in a future update!
My favorite granulator. Not too simple, not too complex. Well done, thank you.
Only one thing i would like to have is more randomizers. Granular synth is all about randomness. I always need a few more of them. Always :) Please, add some more. To have 8 would be perfect, but 4 is ok too.
And it would be nice to be able to bypass/unbypass randomizers on each parameter independently with one click. Let it be little knobs near the param's handles.
All the best.
Hey
Thanks for the feedback!
Adding more of anything that is already in the plugin (randomizers, grain streams, etc.) is mostly limited by UI screen space. 8 randomizers can be great in some cases but take up a lot of space when not used. I have some ideas for UI improvements, maybe letting you add more randomizers (up to a reasonable limit) and remove the things that are not in use would be a nice solution?
Bypassing modulations on each parameter is something I would also find useful, maybe I’ll add it some point
UI space is not about size but about combinatorics.
Oh yes, the idea that unused elements can be hidden was the first when I saw a plugin :)
Daniel, i like the plugin so much that I decided to help with the development of the interface. I hope you will like it. The design is not a pixel to pixel, I only had a screenshot. And this is not necessary, because you have a vector. I did not even adjust the font one to one. Did not spend time on that you will redo anyway. Just picked up a similar one. It is a scheme. And yes, i've added three more randomizers without increasing the size of the interface or reducing the size of the elements, sorry :) The plugin is the same body and element size fully open. And much smaller in minimal variant. And the plugin needed better color coding. Now it has.
Have a look
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xj29U0k_n5TV2wbWms5yMe3uzZ3PLTHE/view?usp=shari...
Nice! collapsing stream and modulation rows definitely makes sense. I also had requests for something like this before so I think this would be a nice addition.
Regarding the macro placement I want to keep these together with the rest of the modulation system (things with similar purpose and interaction) to make the UI easier to understand.
The color editor: I see your point but I prefer to keep things simple. Sure, a decent color scheme is important, maybe even light/dark versions but making this fully customizable is definitely not top priority at the moment
The modulator dots are not a bad idea but probably would not work too well with the modulation polarity buttons and I’m not sure how things would fit if you assign many modulators to one knob.
The +/- buttons and the lines for grouping in/out/adsr knobs are great Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Just made one more layout. I like this one much better.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G4RCS23SKWM3NM-CNWHzWXEJdr0MKd6x/view?usp=shari...
Hey!
Sure, the soundcloud demos are a bit old but I think these still do a good job at showcasing what kind of sounds are possible.
I’ll definitely post some fresh ones with the new features at some point, maybe when 1.0 is ready for release
And of course feel free to share any cool sounds you made with the plugin :)
I may be using Emergence outside of a DAW - in fact, most likely. I use plugins in batch-processing software. In the DAWs I use to compose music, I use their native tools. A rare occurrence, I guess :) So, yeah, in case I did want to use the plugin IN a DAW, it would be nice to transfer the preset to wherever I'd like to use it.
I see your point. Having the plugin load and save presets in a portable format would definitely help in cases like this.
I thought about adding this feature but at this point I’m still making changes that would break existing presets so I decided against it for now. Maybe once I have a stable 1.0 released with all the things I want in the plugin
Hi Daniel, thank you so much for your amazing work on this plugin!
I was wondering, is it possible for individual streams to have stereo playback (rather than just summing to mono)? I was trying to do this using two streams with the same params with the balance and pan set to left and right however this doesn't work as they go out of sync if any parameters are changed.
You can still get the same manual randomization. It does take a few more clicks to set it up but it also gives you more control
If you want to do this often then you can save this as a preset to use as a template
Hope this helps
Hi!
It is doable and I see how it would be useful but making such changes would break compatibility with projects and presets saved with the previous versions.
If I were to release a new major update (like a v2.0) at some point in the future then this could be a part of it, but currently I don't have any immediate plans for that
Hey! Are you expecting this to be a standalone program that shows up in your Applications directory?
This is a plugin that needs a host DAW application to run (like GarageBand, Logic, or Reaper).
If you cannot find it in your DAW, here are the most common causes:
https://danielgergely.net/troubleshooting#i-cannot-find-the-plugin-in-my-daw