Propellerhead gritz User manual

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FritzGranularEngine
OperationManual
Version1.0.0
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  
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1

TableofContents
TableofContents
Introduction
RandomPatchGeneration
Grains
ParameterModulation
StereoHandling
BypassandMeterSection
EmitSection
Rate
RateLengthLink
Length
Gate
Jitter
Trigger
InputSection
MainAudioInput
Freeze
GrainsDelaySection
Delay
Scale
Spray
GrainsPitchSection
PitchProbability
Reverse
GrainsEnvelopeSection
Shape
Skew
GrainsOutputSection
Level
Pan
GrainsModulationSection
ModulationFrequency
ModulationFMAmount
ModulationAM/RingAmount
GrainsDisplay
OutputSection
MainAudioOutput
NormalizeGrainLevels
InsertEffects
Diffuse
Feedback
Spread
Dry/Wet
Level
2

PatchSection
ModulationLFOSection
Reset
Rate
Phase
PhaseStereo
Waveform
Lag
Output
ModulationCVSection
ModulationNoiseSection
PhaseStereo
Output
SystemDiagrams
SystemSignalPath
GrainPath
RemoteItems
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3

Introduction
Fritzisagranulareffectsdevice.Incomingaudioissampledandplayedbackinsmallsegmentscalledgrains.
Manygrainscanplaybackatthesametime,eachwithitsownsnapshotofparameters.Thissimple
mechanismcancreatecomplexandpsychedeliceffectsincludingpitchshifting,dronesynthesis,stutters,
glitches,reverbs,pitchsmearing,timesmearing,chordgeneration,textureclouds,sonicbursting,andmany
effectsthataretoostrangetobenamed.
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FrontPanel
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BackPanel
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4

RandomPatchGeneration
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QuitepossiblythemostimportantbuttononFritzistherandompatchgenerator.Itistheiconofadienextto
thepatchloadingandsaving.InsertFritzintoyoureffectschainandkeepclickingthedietocomeupwith
endlesspermutationsofgranulareffects.
Grains
Manygrainscanbeactiveandoverlappingatthesametime.Whenagrainiscreated,itsparametersare
lockedinplace.Sowhiletherecanbeconstantparametermodulation,asinglegrainplaysbackwiththe
snapshotofthoseparametersfromwhenitwascreated.
ParameterModulation
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ModulationAmountKnob.
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ModulationSourceSelection.
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Almosteveryparametercanbemodulated.Eachmodulationknob( )issharedbythefivemodulation
sources. 
Theactivemodulationsourceisselectedviathebuttons( )intheMODsection.Themodulationknobwill
showtheactivemodulationsources’respectivecolorunderneaththeknob.
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Thecurrentamountofmodulationforeachsourceisshowninthedisplaynexttotheknob( ).
StereoHandling
Fritzhastwoseparategranularsystemsrunninginparallel,oneforeachstereochannel.Almostallparameter
modulationisalsoinstereoandcanbeadjustedwithLRPhaseStereocontrols.Grainscanfadeovertothe
otherchannelusingtheirPanparameter.TheStereoSpreadparameteradjuststheoutputstereofieldwidth.
AudioandCVInputsonthebackarenormalizedtofunctionasmonowhenonlytheleftisconnected.
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5

BypassandMeterSection
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BypassandMeterFrontPanel
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InBypassmode,theinputsignalpassesthrough,unaffected,tothemainoutputsofthedevice.InOnmode,
thedeviceoutputstheprocessedsignal.Offmodemutestheinputsandoutputs.
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Theleftstereometershowstheinputsignallevel. 
Therightstereometershowstheoutputsignallevel.
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6

EmitSection
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EmitSectionFrontPanel 
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EmitSectionBackPanel 
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Rate
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Setsthefrequencyatwhichgrainsarecreated.Whentemposyncisdisabled,therangeisfrom0Hz(Off)to
500Hz.Whentemposyncisenabled,theavailableratesare:32/4,28/4,24/4,20/4,16/4,12/4,8/4,7/4,6/4,
5/4,4/4,7/8,3/4,5/8,2/4,7/16,5/8T,3/8,4/8T,5/16,1/4,3/16,2/8T,1/8,1/8T,1/16,1/16T,1/32,1/32T,1/64,
1/128. 
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RateLengthLink
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EnablingtheRateLengthLinkwillcausetheLengthofgrainstobeinverselyproportionaltotheemitRate.If
theemitRategoesup,theLengthofthegrainsdecreases.IftheemitRategoesdown,thegrainLength
increases.Thishelpscreateasteadynumberofactivegrainswhentheratefluctuates.
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RatechangewithLinkenabled.Rateincreasescauselengthdecreases.
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RatechangewithLinkdisabled.Rateincreasesdoesnotaffectlength.
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7

Length
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Setsthedurationoftheemittedgrain.IfRateLengthLinkisdisabled,theLengthrangeis0msto1sec.If
RateLengthLinkenabled,thentheLengthrangeisfrom0%to1000%.Whenitissetto100%,theaudio
willbesmoothandcontinuousaslongasallotherparametersareattheirdefaultstate.
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Linkenabled.200%
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Linkenabled.100%
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Linkenabled.50%
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Linkenabled.25%
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Noisemodulatedlength
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8

Gate
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Gatedetermineswhethertheemitterisactiveornot.IfGateisoff,nograinswillbeemitted.TurningtheGate
offandthenaddingmodulationcancreaterhythmicgrainemissions.ThereisanadditionalCVinputonthe
backforcontrollingthegate.
Jitter
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Jitterisrandomnoiseaddedtotheemitterclocktiming.IftheemitRateissetat10Hz,agrainwillbeemitted
every100ms.AJitterof100%wouldcauseeachgrain’sstarttorandomlybeshifted0msto100ms.Jitter
doesnotaffectLength,onlyemissiontime.
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Jitter0%
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Jitter50%
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Jitter100%
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Trigger
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TriggerCVInputwillcauseasinglegraintobeemitted.ThisoverridesanycurrentGatevalue.
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9

InputSection
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InputSectionFrontPanel
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InputSectionBackPanel
MainAudioInput
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Mainstereoinput.Asinglemonoinputontheleftchanneliscopiedtotherightchannel.
Freeze
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Freezewillstoprecordingaudiodataintotheinputbuffer,causingtheaudiodatatobefixedandthegrainsto
playfrompastcapturedaudio.
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10

GrainsDelaySection
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GrainDelaySection 
Delay
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Delaydeterminesthegrainplaybackstartpositionintheinputbuffer.Iftemposyncisdisabled,thevalues
rangefrom10msto4sec.Iftemposyncisenabled,theavailableratesare:4/4,7/8,3/4,5/8,2/4,7/16,5/8T,
3/8,4/8T,5/16,1/4,3/16,2/8T,1/8,1/8T,1/16,1/16T,1/32,1/32T,1/64,1/128. 
Scale
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ScaleisamultiplieroftheDelayparameter.Thiscanalsobethoughtofasatypeofswing/shuffle.
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BaseDelay
Scale
FinalDelay
100ms
50%
50ms
1sec
200%
2sec
1/4
50%
1/8
1/4
125%
5/16
200ms
0%
0ms
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11

Spray
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Sprayaddsarandomamountoftimetothedelayofeachgrain.Atlowvaluesitcancausesubtletime
smearingofaudio,athighvaluesitcancreateerraticchoppingandjumping.
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ThefullrangeofthesprayistwicetheDelay.SoforaDelayof100ms,therandomtimeaddedcanrange
from100msto+100ms. 
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SprayisappliedasanoffsetafterDelayandScale.
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BaseDelay
Scale
Spray
FinalDelayRange
100ms
100%
100%
0ms200ms
100ms
200%
100%
100ms300ms
100ms
0%
100%
0ms100ms(~50%ofgrains@0ms)
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12

GrainsPitchSection
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GrainPitchSection
PitchProbability
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ThePitchProbabilitystripdeterminesthepitchofagrain.Eachboxrepresentsasemitonestepinpitch
shifting,0inthemiddle,+12semitonesatthetop,and12semitonesatthebottom.Whenagrainisemitted,a
pitchoffsetisselectedatrandomusingprobabilityweightingfromthestrip.
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100%+0Semitones
50%+12Semitones
50%12Semitones
33.3%+7Semitones
33.3%+5Semitones
33.3%+0Semitones
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50%+5Semitones
50%5Semitones
25%+5Semitones
12.5%+2Semitones
12.5%+0Semitones
25%5Semitones
25%12Semitones
ExamplesofPitchProbabilitiesforgivenweights.
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13

Semitone
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Semitoneadjuststhepitchupto+/24Semitones.ThisisappliedinadditiontothePitchProbability.
Reverse
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Reverseistheprobabilitythatagrainwillplaybackwards(negativepitch).At0%,allgrainsplayforward.At
100%,allgrainsplaybackwards.At50%reverseprobability,halfwillplayforwardsrandomly,theotherhalf
willplaybackwardsrandomly.
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 
14

GrainsEnvelopeSection
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GrainEnvelopeSection
Shape
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Shapedeterminestheamplitudeenvelopeshapeofagrain.AtaShapeof0%,theenvelopeisacosinecurve.
AtaShapeof50%,asmoothtrapezoid.AtaShapeof100%,arectangle.
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TheShapeatvalues0%,50%,100%.
Skew

SkewwillshifttheShapeoftheenvelopeineitherdirection.At100%,itcreatesasharpattacklikeapingor
plucksound.At100%,itcreatesareversesoundinggrain.


Skewvaluesat100%,0%,100%

 
15

GrainsOutputSection

GrainOutputSection
Level

Levelsetstheamplitudeofeachgrain.Modulatingthisparametercangiveinterestingpulsingeffects.


Grainswithnoisemodulationonlevel.

 
16

Pan

Fritzhastwoseparategranularsystemsrunninginparallel,oneforeachstereochannel.Grainsarealways
emittedfromasinglechannel’sinputbuffer.GrainscanfadeovertotheotherchannelusingtheirPan
parameter.AtaPanof0%,grainswillremainintheirchannel.AtaPanof50%,grainswillbemixedequally
intobothchannels.At100%,thegrainwillbewrittentotheotherchannel.ModulationofPanwillspraythe
grainsacrossthestereofield.


GrainPanat0%,MaintainChannel 


GrainPanat50%,MixChannels,Mono


GrainPanat100%,SwapChannel,(PingPongStyleDelays)


GrainPanat50%,ModulatedPan,StereoSpray

 
17

GrainsModulationSection

GrainModulationSection
ModulationFrequency

SetsthefrequencyforbothFMandAM.Therangeis0Hzto5000Hz.
ModulationFMAmount

Setstheamountoffrequencymodulationappliedtothegrain.









18

ModulationAM/RingAmount

Setstheamountofamplitudemodulation/ringmodulationappliedtothegrain.

Value
Effect
0
None
0.10.2
Vibrato

0.5
FullAM

1.0
FullRM



 
19

GrainsDisplay


Thegraindisplayshowseachactivegrainasadot.Grainsintheleftchannelareblue.Grainsintheright
channelarered. 

Thegrain’slocationcorrespondtoitsplaybackpositionintheinputbuffer.Eachmajorverticaltickmark
representsamultipleoftheDelaytime. 


Agrainatthe0%barisplayingtheinputbackinrealtime,asitcomesin.Agrainatthe100%barisplaying
theinputbackaftertheDelaytime.Agrainatthe200%barisplayingtheinputbackaftertwotimesthe
Delay.

Toseeaclearexampleofthis,rightclickontheFritzdeviceandissuea‘ResetDevice’togeteverythingtoits
defaultvalue.Now,changethegrainScaleamountfrom0%to200%,youwillseethegrainsonthedisplay
movebackandforthfromthe0%bartothe200%,correspondingtotheScale.Now,setScaleto200%and
setSprayto50%,observethegrainsrandomlyjumpingaroundthe200%bar.

 
20