GRAINFORGE

The running plugin -- every tab is a story below.

The WAVE tab: frame strip on top (click to select, the bright bar tracks the morph LFO), drawable canvas, generator + params, and the ops grid (GEN/GEN ALL/EVOLVE/LERP/MUTATE/FOLD/QUANT/RESAMPLE...).

Hit RND on the WAVE tab -- RND FLAVOR picks an archetype (GLASS BELLS, METAL DRONE, CHAOS MUTATION...) and generates a full 16-frame stack in that style, then rebakes + republishes the morph source.

AUTO EVO mutates a random frame on a timer (EVO RATE/AMT, AMP/SPECTRAL/BOTH modes) -- the source keeps evolving even while you play other tabs.

The CLOUD tab: POSITION scans the morph sweep, SCAN RATE auto-morphs, SPRAY jitters per grain. The grain-cloud display visualizes live spawns.

Raise DENSITY and LAYERS -- each spawn tick fires up to 4 pitch/morph-offset sub-grains, so one key clouds four points of the wavetable at once.

The STORM tab retitles the cloud display GRAIN STORM: PITCH QNT snaps grains to semitones, GLISS slides them, JITTER/SKIP/CLUSTER/PAN WALK/OCT JUMP/BURST scatter the spawns.

Turn LIGHTNING up -- fractal bolts crawl down the field and each strike fires a crack volley plus a low rumble grain while folding pitch -12 st. Branches crackle as they grow.

WIND and RAIN add weather beds -- wind gusts drag the morph position and brighten the filter, rain drops are granulated plucks inside the source.

The CONVOLVE tab: IR display, generator type + knobs, and the ops row (GEN IR / RND IR / CAPTURE / MUTATE / REVERSE / INVERT / NORM / AUTO EVO).

RND IR re-rolls the generator and republishes over a queued crossfade -- click-free even mid-note. Recorded as rnd-*-ir history.

Frame strip -- the 16 wavetable frames. Click selects the frame the canvas edits; the moving highlight tracks the morph LFO.

Canvas -- draw the selected frame. TIME mode draws samples (PEN/SPRAY/SMEAR brushes); HARM mode draws the 32-harmonic spectrum.

TIME/HARM -- toggles the canvas between time-domain drawing and harmonic editing.

BRUSH -- PEN (draws the trace), SPRAY (randomized spray), SMEAR (blurs existing samples).

GEN -- 16 generator types: SINE/TRI/SAW/SQUARE/PULSE/HARM/FM/FORMANT/NOISE/FRACT/CHAOS/STEPS and PINK/BROWN/BLUE/VIOLET noise.

SHAPE -- generator shape; also drives FOLD/QUANT/SHIFT/WARP/MUTATE/S.TILT/RESAMPLE amounts.

BRIGHT -- generator brightness / partial rolloff.

SCATTER -- per-partial frequency scatter.

WIDTH -- inharmonic partial stretch (chorus/bell shimmer on additive types).

ASYM -- even-harmonic warp applied to any generator, noise included.

CONTRAST -- normalized tanh curve: below 0.5 softens sine-ward, above hard-clips.

RND FLAVOR -- the archetype the WAVE-tab RND uses: RANDOM rolls a new one each click, or pin GLASS BELLS / METAL DRONE / NOISE WASH / DIGITAL GRIT / ORGANIC EVO / FM ALIEN / HARM SWEEP / CHAOS MUTATION.

EVO MODE -- AUTO EVO mutates amplitude (AMP), the spectrum (SPECTRAL) or BOTH.

EVO RATE -- how often AUTO EVO mutates a frame.

EVO AMT -- AUTO EVO mutation depth.

GEN -- regenerate the selected frame with the generator + knobs.

GEN ALL -- regenerate all 16 frames, ramping BRIGHT across the stack.

EVOLVE -- two random keyframes, then spectral-LERP the middle frames.

LERP -- linear interpolation across the stack.

S-LERP -- spectral interpolation of magnitude + phase (48 harmonics, no midpoint dip).

BLEND -- blend neighbouring frames together.

MUT ALL -- mutate every frame.

MUTATE -- small random walk on the selected frame.

SMOOTH -- smooth the selected frame.

INVERT -- polarity-invert the frame.

FOLD -- wavefold the frame (SHAPE sets drive).

QUANT -- bit-quantize the frame.

SHIFT -- pitch-shift the frame content.

WARP -- warp the frame's phase axis.

NORM -- normalize the frame.

INIT -- reset the stack.

RND -- generate the whole 16-frame stack in the RND FLAVOR archetype, then rebake + republish.

ROTATE -- rotate the frame's samples.

REVERSE -- reverse the frame.

S.SHIFT -- shift the magnitude spectrum.

S.SMEAR -- smear spectral energy across neighbouring harmonics.

S.TILT -- tilt the spectrum bright/dark.

S.FREEZE -- zero all phases: robotic, formant-snapped frame.

RESAMPLE -- bake in lo-fi decimation hold.

AUTO EVO -- mutate a random frame on a timer even while the tab is hidden.

POSITION -- scan position in the morph sweep.

SCAN RATE (-4..4) -- auto-morph speed through the sweep.

FREEZE -- hold the scan position.

MORPH RATE -- free-running wavetable rotation LFO speed (0 = off). Keeps the source moving even at SCAN RATE 0.

MORPH DEPTH -- rotation LFO range.

MORPH SHAPE -- TRI / SINE / RANDOM / STEP / EXPO / BOUNCE / DRIFT / PULSE.

GRAIN SIZE (5--500 ms) -- grain duration.

DENSITY (1--200/s) -- grain spawn rate.

SPRAY -- per-grain morph-position jitter.

ENV SHAPE -- grain window: GAUSS / TRI / TRAPZ / EXPO / REV EXPO.

ENV SKEW -- shifts the window peak early/late in the grain.

PITCH (+-24 st) -- grain playback pitch.

PITCH SPRY -- per-grain pitch scatter in cents.

PAN SPREAD -- per-grain stereo scatter.

REVERSE AMT -- probability a grain reads backwards.

REV ALL -- reverse every grain.

LAYERS (1--4) -- sub-grains per spawn tick, pitch/morph-offset.

LAYER PTCH -- semitone offset between layers ({0, +p, -p, +2p}).

LAYER SPRD -- morph-position offset between layers.

FEEDBACK -- grain output feeds back into the spawn path.

FLT TYPE -- OFF / LP / BP / HP.

CUTOFF (20--20k) -- filter cutoff.

RESO -- filter resonance.

FLT ENV (+-48) -- filter envelope depth, bipolar.

F ATT -- filter envelope attack.

F DEC -- filter envelope decay.

F SUS -- filter envelope sustain.

F REL -- filter envelope release.

ATTACK -- amp attack.

DECAY -- amp decay.

SUSTAIN -- amp sustain.

RELEASE -- amp release.

VEL SENS -- velocity sensitivity.

WIDTH -- stereo width.

LEVEL -- synth bus level.

MASTER -- output trim in dB.

The GRAIN STORM display -- live grain scatter; lightning bolts render here and drive audio when they land.

PITCH QNT -- snap per-grain pitch to semitones.

GLISS (+-12 st) -- exponential slide across each grain's life.

JITTER -- randomize spawn gaps both ways.

SKIP -- stochastic spawn dropout.

CLUSTER -- tighten spawns into a triangular cluster around the scan point.

PAN WALK -- Brownian pan drift per voice.

OCT JUMP -- random +-octave leaps.

BURST -- a tick can fire 1..4 extra grains at 3--11 ms gaps.

BOLT -- gates new bolt spawning (>=0.5 on); in-flight bolts always finish.

LIGHTNING -- how often storms fire.

BOLTS (1..6) -- bolts per event; each lands and strikes independently.

SPEED -- bolt descent time; also the fold-envelope decay.

FORCE -- strike power: volley size + envelope peak.

BRANCHES -- forking sub-channels; each tip fires its own crack grain.

JAGGED -- bolt jaggedness; scales the pitch/wavefold drive.

BLT WIDTH -- stereo pan spread of the strike volley.

BLT SPREAD -- source-position scatter around the bolt.

FOLD AMT -- sinusoidal wavefold depth while a strike is hot.

PTCH FOLD -- triangle pitch-fold depth (+-12 st) while hot.

CRAWL -- storm-field depth: live bolts drag morph position and smolder the fold envelopes.

WIND -- enable the wind bed.

WIND DIR -- pan bias AND a spectral shift: low moan to high whistle.

WIND FRC -- level, brightness, gustiness -- and how hard gusts drag morph position + filter.

RAIN -- enable the rain bed.

RAIN AMT -- drop density (Karplus-Strong plucks on a pentatonic field).

RAIN SIZE -- drop ring length; darkens the bed.

SRC MIX -- how much rain is granulated inside the source buffer.

PLCK PTCH -- pluck pitch spread.

PLCK DAMP -- pluck damping.

The IR display -- the generated impulse the synth bus is convolved by.

IR GEN -- material type (noises, sweeps, FM BELL, METALLIC, FORMANT, COMB, STEPS, CHAOS...).

LENGTH -- IR duration.

DECAY -- tail decay curve.

BRIGHT -- high-frequency damping in the tail.

DENSITY -- reflection density.

PITCH -- spectral tilt.

SWEEP -- frequency sweep depth.

FM IDX -- FM index for chaotic types.

AM RATE -- amplitude modulation.

SCATTER -- per-reflection scatter.

IR WIDTH -- stereo decorrelation.

PRE-DLY -- gap before the IR.

ATTACK -- onset ramp.

DRY/WET -- convolver mix.

EVO RATE -- AUTO EVO interval.

EVO AMT -- AUTO EVO depth.

GEN IR -- regenerate from type + knobs.

RND IR -- random type + values, queued click-free crossfade. Saved as rnd-*-ir history.

CAPTURE -- freeze the synth's own recent output into the IR.

MUTATE -- random-walk the IR.

REVERSE -- reverse the IR.

INVERT -- polarity-invert.

NORM -- normalize level.

AUTO EVO -- mutate on a timer; the space evolves forever.

The orbit view -- taps on a rotating beam; drag it too: X = time/mod, Y = feedback.

AMT -- wet mix.

TIME (40--2000 ms) -- orbit period.

FDBK -- network feedback.

TAPS -- active wet taps.

DARK -- feedback damping.

WIDE -- tap stereo spread.

MOD -- beam modulation depth.

MOOD -- modulation rate.

DIFF -- tap diffusion.

SPRAY -- per-tap time scatter.

DUCK -- ducking under dry signal.

FRZ -- freeze the wet buffer.

AIR -- high-frequency shimmer.

ST.OFF -- L/R phase offset.

REV -- reversed-tap mix.

PDLY -- pre-delay.

GLIDE -- time-change smoothing.

SHIFT -- pitch-shifted feedback: OFF / +-7 / +-12 / +19 / +24.

SYNC -- FREE or beat divisions.

Hit RND -- parameters, the 16-frame stack and the convolution IR all regenerate at once.

Every RND lands in the preset list as an rnd-* entry -- double-click to recall, R renames, X deletes, SAVE pins the current patch.

FX slots with per-slot RDM, reorder/remove and ADD browser; RND CHAIN/RND FX/RND PRM below.

LFO LINK then click any knob on any tab -- the mod ring animates the parameter live.

Left column: master bus + presets. ? opens this manual. THEME re-skins, AUD fires a phrase.

REGISTER (top strip) opens the activation dialog -- enter your purchase email and licence key; activation is verified online. The unregistered demo caps the rack at 3 free-tier FX slots, LAYERS at 2, IR types below SINE SWP, IR length around 0.63 s, and locks CAPTURE plus both AUTO EVO modes. ABOUT shows credits.

VU meter -- stereo output level with peak hold, sitting under the visualizer. It mirrors what leaves the plugin after the master chain -- keep peaks out of the red.

I/O panel -- GAIN input trim and VOLUME master out bracket the post chain: multimode MODE / CUTOFF / RESO filter, LOW / MID / HIGH EQ, comp THRESH / RATIO / KNEE and limiter THRESH / RELEASE. The preset browser below has search, SAVE, theme cycling and ? (this manual).

FX rack -- serial effect slots on the summed output. + ADD opens the effect menu, CLEAR empties the chain, ^ / v reorders slots; each slot has BYPASS, RDM (random params) and X. Rack randomizers: RND CHAIN builds a fresh chain, RND FX appends one effect, RND PRM re-rolls every slot's parameters.