Quick Tip: Granular Synthesis On A Volca Sample Patch Tutorial

Published on Aug 19, 2019 Perfect Circuit

"This quick tip is about how to make a granular sample sound on a Korg Volca Sample.

You will need:
- A Volca Sample (you could try this on other samplers as well)

Instructions:
- Pick your sample (this works better on a longer sample)
- Set the tempo to max (240BPM)
- Go into step mode and put triggers on all 16 steps of the sequence
- Push play to start the sequence
- Adjust “Start” to change which part of the sample you hear
- Adjust “Length” to change how big the grains are
- Adjust “Speed” to change the pitch
- Add some attack to make the sound less clicks and glitchy
- Add reverb to smooth the sound out more

This trick adds something almost like granular synthesis to a sampler that doesn’t have a granular mode. In granular synthesis playback speed, direction and pitch are all independent of one another.

Every time the sample is triggered a "grain" is heard. The start setting sets where in the sample the grain is from, the length adjusts how big the grains are and speed adjusts the pitch. The envelopes adjust the grain window shape.

Volca Sample available here: https://www.perfectcircuit.com/korg-v..."