
Grain Delay
The Grain Delay it's a delay granular, the signal is broken into small fragments (grains) each grain can be modified (tempo, pitch, direction)
Characteristics:
- Delay non-linear and creative
- Advanced pitch shifting
- Glitch / ambient / cinematic effects
It's closer to a synth than a delay
SOUND CHARACTER
- Fragmented textures
- Glitch/reverse/shimmer effects
- Cinematic atmospheres
- Continuous movement
Can be: Subtle (pad) Extreme (glitch chaos)
Control Parameters
- Y → synchronized to BPM
- N → free
Time before the grains leave:
- Low → immediate
- High → delay before effect
Separate dry and effect
Feedback loop time:
- Low → dense repetitions
- High → spaced repetitions
Amount of repetitions:
- Low → few
- High → continuous loop
With grain = infinite texture
Grain generation rate:
- Low → few grains
- High → many grains
Taller = denser
Grain life:
- Short → glitch
- Long → pad
Transition between grains:
- Low → clean cuts
- High → smooth
Fundamental for sound quality
Temporal Randomization:
- Low → precise
- High → chaotic
Spreads over time
Stereo distribution:
- 0% → center
- 100% → wide stereo
Grain direction:
- Forward → normal
- Reverse → on the contrary
- Random → mixed
Super creative
Transposition:
- 0 → original
- +12 → octave
- +7 → fifth
- 12 → octave lower
Random pitch:
- Low → stable
- High → unstable
Quantization:
- Off → free
- 1 seed / 2 seeds → step
- Major / Minor → musical
- Fifth / Oct → harmonic
Very important to avoid chaos
Sound Color:
- Neutral → clean
- High Cut 8k → hot
- High Cut 4k → very dark
Effect Quantity:
- Low → light
- High → dominant
Lock buffer:
- Y → infinite loop
- N → normal
Infinite pad effect
- Y → continue
- N → stop
Pro Tips
- You want ambient → length high + smooth high
- You want glitch → short length + tall spray
- Want musical → use pitch mode
- You want huge → high spread
Universal setup:
- Grain Length: 150 ms
- Smooth: 60%
- Pitch: +7
- Pitch Mode: Minor
- Feedback: 40%
- Mix: 30%
Creative but musical
For “infinite shimmer”:
- Pitch: +12
- Feedback: High
- Freeze: ON
kinematic pad
Quick Reference
- Delay Sync: Sync tempo
- PreDelay: Initial delay
- Fdbk Delay: Feedback time
- Grain Rate: Density
- Grain Length: Duration
- Grain Smooth: Fluidity
- Grain Spray: Random time
- Grain Spreads: Stereo
- Grain Direction: Direction
- Grain Pitch: Transposition
- Pitch Mode: Stairs
- Feedback: Repetitions
- Character: Tone
- Mixes: Amount
- Freeze: Infinite loop
- Tails: Tail
Setup Examples
Ambient shimmer
Ethereal sound
Infinite pad
Continuous drone
Glitch FX
Glitch effect
Musical texture
Musical but creative

