Whether you’re more into Xenakis or Arca, granular synthesis has helped a plethora of artists express themselves in unconventional ways. Wanna join them? That’s where microGranny comes into play.
This monophonic granular sampler packs grand lo-fi sound into a small body. The 2nd generation of Bastl's instant classic reads wav samples from a microSD card and applies granular algorithms to them. With a vast collection of samples at your hands, you can do much more than simply trigger each one in turn. You can adjust start, end, sample rate (tuned or free run), crush, and envelope (attack release).
Don’t fear pushing microGranny’s buttons
The minimal interface keeps things simple while offering many possible styles of playing. The microGranny complements your musical gear with no fuss – with MIDI Input, you can take complete external control of all parameters and transposition of the samples or play individual grains by different keys. You can play and hack the settings as much as you like, since over the past few years, we’ve majorly improved stability and so that it’s impossible to get the device stuck in any mode.
The Bastl microGranny has received raving reviews from the likes of Andrew Huang and many others. Sound on Sound's Paul Nagle says in his review that: "Maybe, like me, you've never anticipated the pleasures of a portable 8-bit sampler, but a brief exposure to Bastl Instruments' mini-marvel should sort that out."
Features
- monophonic mono sampler
- microSD card (storing + recording samples, storing presets)
- 6 sounds with full adjustments storable in a preset at once
- 60 presets in 10 banks (6 preset per bank), stored as .txt files on the microSD card
- wav sample playback from microSD card (mono, 22050 Hz, 8 or 16 bit, two letter file name)
- 8-bit 22050Hz wav recording via line input or onboard microphone
- hold button
- sample rate (tuned or free run)
- crush
- start, end position with repeat, instant loop
- granular settings: grain size and shift speed (positive or negative)
- amplitude envelope attack and release
- MIDI Input – responds to note, cc, and clock (synchronize loop and grains)
- MIDI side chain envelope restart
- copy, paste
- input & output volume knob
- power switch – plug/battery
- hackable – arduino based
Technical details
- dimensions: 140 x 75 x 55 mm
- powered by 9V battery, 9V DC center positive power supply or side pins