This post is intended mainly for @encephalitislethargi, but I hope others may find it helpful or interesting. By request, here are demos of several of LD3’s discrete granular effects.
I had no luck recording tarantula silk in my last attempt, so I dug up a moderately successful contact-mic recording from several years ago. The sound is of a thick net of tarantula silk (no longer required by the spider) being stretched across a stereo pair. I narrowed the stereo field, reduced the dynamics and sent it directly into the LD3 and back out again into the DAW, where I compressed and boosted slightly the final signal.
In each example I either adjust parameters manually, use internal modulation (but nothing more elaborate than ordinary LFOs), or both. Having a groovebox sort of structure, it lends itself very well to rhythmic modulation matrices, but this is something not demonstrated at all here.
Effect name: Variator
Effect description: Records grains of the input signal and ‘creates variations’ (user manual) according to the configured parameters.
Parameters: variation pattern, RAM buffer size, single-grain size, feedback level, pitch-shift amount
Notes: the dry signal loops a couple of times before I mix in the wet; several internal LFOs are used to modulate parameters. Internal modulation (let alone external) is a joy with this device.
Effect name: Stretcher
Effect description: Stretches grains of the input; attempts simultaneously to keep up with the input
Parameters: stretch amount, stretch sensitivity, stretch octave range, feedback
Effect name: Pitch shifter
Effect description: Detects the pitch of the incoming signal and shifts it by a set value using a granular buffer
Parameters: pitch, pitch-detection sensitivity, buffer size, octave range, feedback
Effect name: Time stretcher
Effect description: Attempts to change the length of the input signal without changing the pitch; capable of either stretching or shortening
Parameters: Buffer size, stretch amount, trigger (the effect can be triggered by internal or external events), coarse pitch, feedback
Effect name: Xfade granulator
Effect description: Granular buffer that cross-fades between grains in an order determined by step-sequencer values
Parameters: number of steps, feedback, grain number, buffer size, step-sequencer assignment, pitch
Effect name: Reverb
Effect description: Granular reverb effect
Parameters: Feedback loop, taps feedback decrease amount, intermodulation, reverb time, taps time decrease amount
Notes: weird effect unlike any other reverb I know.
I hope these give a reasonable overview of how the LD3 granulators sound with external audio, and that they were enjoyable in some way. There are numerous other granular effects on the LD3 - one of my favourites is called pitchshaper - but I ran out of energy.
