Granite

User Manual
GRANITE USER MANUAL INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

1. Introduction and Overview

1.1. Introduction

Granite is a granular synthesizer which is particularly suited at generating evolving,

organic textures, atmospheres and soundscapes.

The finely tuned grain engine offers a vast range of sample transformation possibilities for
any sample material.

The best way to get acquainted with the Granites unique sound transformation abilities is
to browse through the Factory Library and compare the presets to the original sample via
the Sample Compare button.

1.2. User Interface Overview

The interface is arranged in 3 main areas: Header, Waveform and Parameter Pages.

1.2.1. The Header

The leftmost control on the Header is the Main Menu pull-down, which offers access to
standard file operations (Open, Save etc.) plus the Setup Dialog (see Chapter 4).

The Header also features the Preset Menu for quick browsing of presets (see Chapter 2).

The rightmost button enables in-application Info. When Info is enabled, hovering the
mouse over most controls in the interface reveals a text box.

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GRANITE USER MANUAL INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

1.2.2. The Waveform

This large display shows the current loaded sample, as well as the play cursor and loop
markers.

When the mouse cursor is placed over the waveform, the Sample Compare button is
revealed in the bottom-left (as shown above). Clicking this will play the original sample
unprocessed by the grain engine.

Click and drag on the Zoombar beneath the waveform to zoom and scroll the waveform.

1.2.3. Parameter Pages

The lower section of the interface features 4 pages, each with a number of grain engine
parameters.

There are 3 main groups of controls:

Parameters (buttons and dials, most of which support recordable modulation)

Recordable Modulation transport controls

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GRANITE USER MANUAL INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

Cycle Modulator controls

The Gate button at the top right of this section enables the master envelope.

When disabled the grain engine is constantly audible

When enabled the grain engine will only be heard while midi notes are depressed

See Chapter 3 for more details on editing the grain engine.

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GRANITE USER MANUAL WORKING WITH PRESETS AND SAMPLES

2. Working with Presets and Samples

2.1. Browsing Presets

2.1.1. The Preset Menu

The Preset Menu allows provides fast access to the presets inside a designated folder.

The default folder is the Factory Library folder, which contains a selection of
demonstration presets.

This folder can be changed by opening the sub-menu and selecting a different one.

How To#

Load A Preset Open the Preset menu (click the preset name on the header)

Click a preset to load

Cycle through Presets Press the < or > buttons on the header
in the Current Folder
Alternatively, press the Up or Down arrow keys on the computer keyboard

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GRANITE USER MANUAL WORKING WITH PRESETS AND SAMPLES

Change the Preset Open the Preset menu (click the preset name on the header)
Folder
Open the folder name submenu

Select a folder from the list, or click Browse to select another folder

Note that folder list can be customised in the Setup

Save a Preset Click the floppy disk icon to overwrite the current preset

Click the plus icon to save to a different filename (a number will be

automatically appended to the current preset name)

2.2.2. Additional Preset File Operations

The Main Menu at the top-left on the Header offers standard operations for. grn files
(Open, Save and Save As).

The Main Menu also features a New command, which resets all parameters to default.

It is also possible to load .grn files by dragging and dropping into the application window.

2.2. Loading Samples

Granite supports samples in the .wav and .aiff file formats.

How To#

Load a Sample Choose Select Sample from the main menu, or double click on the
waveform display

Alternatively drag and drop a sample onto the waveform

Cycle through Samples Press Ctrl (Windows) / Cmd (OSX) plus Up or Down on the computer
in the Current Folder keyboard

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GRANITE USER MANUAL EDITING

3. Editing

3.1. Grain Engine Overview

The grain engine features 16 independent grains.

At any point in time, each grain will be playing an area of the sample at a given amplitude
and pitch.

3.1.1. Waveform Traversal

Unlike a traditional sampler, the play position this does not necessarily proceed linearly,
as the modulation features allow the play position to vary dynamically.

The yellow Play Cursor in the Waveform shows the position of the most recently triggered grain.

The blue Loop Markers set the loop area for the Play Cursor.

Note that it is possible to record loop position movements by dragging the red arrow on the left loop
marker

The playback speed is controlled by the Speed parameter

100% is similar to a traditional sampler, but in Granite speed ranges from -800% to 800%.

The Speed knob can be modulated resulting in non-linear traversal (see 3.3. Recordable Modulation and
3.4. Cycle Modulators, for more details).

3.1.2. Grain Trigger Frequency and Length

The Space parameter determines how frequently grains are triggered, ranging from a few
milliseconds to a couple of seconds.

The grain length is a factor of both the Space and Density parameters.

A Density of 0% results in a Grain length equal to the trigger frequency.

With higher Density settings, the grain length exceeds the retrigger frequency which
results in more simultaneous, overlapping grains, and a thus a denser sound.

The current number of active grains is visualized on the Header by a graph which plots
the amplitude of each of the 16 grains.

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GRANITE USER MANUAL EDITING

Grain Activity Display

3.1.3. Grain Pitch

The tune knob controls the base tuning of all grains in semitones.

Grains are additionally transposed by MIDI notes played on the keyboard (see Chapter 4
for setup of MIDI devices)

In the case of playing chords, the grain engine rotates through each note in the chord
every time a new grain is triggered. With low Space settings, this results in the sonic
effect of the chord being printed onto the sample.

3.1.4. Additional FX

For a extended range of sonic possibilities, the grains are additionally processed via a
chain of FX.

The controls for the FX are found on the FX1 and FX2 tabs.

3.2. Parameters

The 4 pages (Master, Grain, FX1 and FX2) feature a range of parameters for controlling
the Grain engine.

The Master tab provides access to the master envelope (GATE must be enabled) and grain retriggering
behavior

The Grain tab provides access to the main grain engine parameters (related to tuning, retrigger frequency
and grain length)

The FX1 tab provides access to a range of Granular FX

The FX2 tab provides access to the master Reverb FX

For further details on each specific parameter, see the in-application hints (1.2.1).

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GRANITE USER MANUAL EDITING

How To#

Reset a dial to the Right click on the dial

default value

3.3. Recordable Modulation

Dial with Modulation

With the exception of the Master page parameters, all of Granites continuous parameters
can be modulated via Recordable Modulation.

This can quickly add a dynamic, evolving element to the sound.

The playback behavior of all modulation is affected by the Retrigger parameter on the
Master page.

When enabled, all playback positions are reset when a MIDI note is pressed

When disabled, playback positions operate independent of MIDI notes

How To#

Record Modulation Click and drag in the outer ring of a dial

The play position bar will turn red indicating recording is in progress

Note that the Master page parameters can not be recorded

Clear a recording Right click on the outer ring

Pause/Resume Click the play icon beneath the dial

playback

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GRANITE USER MANUAL EDITING

3.4. Waveform Loop Position Modulation

The sample loop position can also be recorded.

To record sample loop position movements, click and drag horizontally on the red arrows
located at the top of the sample loop start marker.

To clear the recording, right-click on the red arrows.

3.5. Cycle Modulators

Cycle Modulator

In addition to the recordable modulation system, many parameters also have a

corresponding Cycle Modulator.

Cycle Modulators are somewhat similar to a traditional LFO.

Every time a new grain is triggered, each Cycle Modulator will proceed to the next value in the selected
shape

Depending on the Amount slider, this value is added to the dial position

A good way to illustrate the effect of the Cycle Modulators is with the Pan parameter

With the Bi shape selected, the Pan position will alternate from left and right on each successive grain

How To#

Select a Cycle shape Click the main cycle icon and select one of the 4 shapes from the menu

Set the Modulation Drag the upper slider to the left (less) or right (more)
Amount

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GRANITE USER MANUAL EDITING

Adjust the Cycle read Drag the lower slider to the right
speed
This results in interpolation between values in the cycle shape

Reset a slider to default Right click on the slider

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GRANITE USER MANUAL SETUP

4. Setup

4.1. Overview

As the standalone version requires a soundcard, and optionally one or more MIDI devices,
the Setup dialog is shown automatically on first start.

The plugin does not require any configuration to run.

The Setup dialog also provides options to assign MIDI CCs to grain engine parameters,
as well as configuring the list of preset folders shown in the Preset Menu.

The Setup dialog can be accessed via the Main Menu, or by pressing F9.

Setup Dialog

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GRANITE USER MANUAL SETUP

4.2. Audio Device Configuration

The first page in the Setup dialog is for selecting and configuring an audio device for use
with Granite (ASIO on Windows, Core Audio on OSX).

Audio Device Dialog Reference

Device The upper menu shows a list of all audio devices in the system

One must be selected for Granite to run

Sample Rate Sample Rate selector

44100 khz is selected by default, but noticeably better sound can be

achieved by running at 88200 khz

Latency Lower latencies result in faster response, but can cause higher cpu usage
and/or crackles with certain soundcards

With decent sound cards, 512 samples generally offers a good trade-off
between response and performance

Outputs As Granite outputs a stereo signal, two outputs should be selected.

In the case that more are selected, only the first 2 will be used

4.3. MIDI Device Selection

Use this page to enable the various midi ports detected on the system.

Select the port to which your MIDI keyboard is connected to allow playing of Granite via
MIDI notes.

4.4. MIDI Remote Configuration

This dialog enables MIDI CCs to be mapped to Granite parameters.

This allows real-time control of Granite via a MIDI controller.

The 4 pages are listed in the first menu.

The controls on the pages are then listed in the Controls section beneath.

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GRANITE USER MANUAL SETUP

How To#

Assign a CC to a Select the Page from the upper menu, and then click on the desired
Granite Parameter parameter in the list

Adjust the Assign controls at the bottom of the dialog to the correct MIDI
Channel and CC number

Use the Learn function Click Learn at the bottom of the dialog

While Learn is active (flashing) any touched MIDI CC will be automatically

assigned to the selected Granite parameter

4.5. Folders Configuration

This dialog allows customization of the folder list in the Preset Menu.

These folders are also searched in the case of loading a .grn patch with a missing sample
reference.

How To#

Add a folder to the list Click Add at the bottom of the dialog

Remove a folder Click the entry in the list

Click Remove at the bottom of the dialog

Change the path of an Double-click the entry in the list

existing entry in the list
Select the new path from the folder select dialog

4.6. Graphics Configuration (Windows only)

For an enhanced visual experience, Granite takes advantage of OpenGL accelerated

graphics cards.

In case of host incompatibility / driver issues, the option to disable OpenGL is provided.

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GRANITE USER MANUAL SETUP

5. Acknowledgements

New Sonic Arts wishes to thankI

Proofreading & Editing

Northern Writes (northernwrites@q.com)

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