Grainferno: Granular Synth Plugin by Baby Audio Free Download

Grainferno can generate grains at rates high enough to cross into the audio range. At those speeds, the grains act as oscillators, so any audio file becomes a playable synth voice. The developer notes that traces of the original sound remain at these rates, which gives each voice the spectral character of its source.

Modulation and grain-level shaping let you build granular tones that stay in tune with a song, the way a conventional synth does. Two independent source files can be used, and seven morph modes move between them in real time. Per-grain effects shape each grain at the point it is generated, which suits hybrid instruments and drones.

Nearly every parameter can be modulated. Grainferno provides three envelopes, three LFOs and three random generators, and a drag-and-drop workflow connects any source to any destination. Modulators can also modulate each other, and you can stack as many assignments as you need.

The onboard effects include ambient delay and reverb, analog-inspired modulation and multimode saturation. The signal chain can be reordered, and most effect parameters are also available for modulation, so the effects work as part of the instrument.