How to use Granulator

Dive into Granulator, Ableton Live's granular synthesizer, to transform and reimagine any audio sample into unique textures and evolving soundscapes.

MIDI & Instruments · intermediate level

Steps

  1. Load Granulator onto a Track

    Drag 'Granulator III' from the 'Instruments' category in the Browser onto a MIDI track. This will open the device in the Device View.

  2. Load a Sample

    Drag an audio sample from your Browser directly into Granulator's waveform display. Granulator will then analyze the sample and prepare it for granular playback.

  3. Adjust Granular Parameters

    Experiment with 'Grain Size' to change the length of the individual sonic grains, and 'Density' to control how frequently new grains are spawned. Modify 'Spray' to introduce randomness to grain playback position and 'Flux' for pitch variation.

  4. Modulate with Envelopes and LFOs

    Utilize Granulator's ADSR envelope for dynamic control over grain amplitude. Assign the two integrated LFOs to parameters like 'Playhead Position', 'Grain Size', or 'Pitch' to create evolving textures.

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