Soundscapes: Granular Synth Instrument by Cinesamples

The engine page centers on how grains are played back. MOTION sets how far the grains move forward or backward from the playhead, so lower values hold a steadier texture. DENSITY controls how many grains play each second, and higher values produce a smoother, fuller sound. RAND DENSITY adds timing randomness that Cinesamples describes as a humanized feel, which helps prevent phasing and comb filtering.

PITCH and JITTER add variation between grains. PITCH can be randomized or drift a few cents from grain to grain, producing a chorusing effect, and it can be widened up to one octave. JITTER controls how far grains are generated from the playhead. The FX page offers eight serial effect slots that can be bypassed individually.

Soundscapes includes a set of starter patches so you can hear the engine before changing anything. The developer suggests swapping in a different sample within a patch to create your own version. The TEMPO SYNC option locks grain density to your DAW tempo, with density then set as grains per bar.

CPU load is a practical consideration. Cinesamples warns that high values for some parameters, especially DENSITY and the ATTACK and DECAY settings, can heavily tax the processor, and that some patches may not perform well in a fully loaded template. Sample rate should match your session when you load your own WAV files.