00:00Vector Grain is a granular looper
and polyphonic sampler with a unique modulation system
00:05controlled by a 2D particle simulation.
00:07In this video we'll explore how to make sounds
with Vector Grain
00:10and how to use the particle simulation
to control elements within the sound.
00:15On the left of the device is the 2D particle system.
00:18This displays particles that are used
to affect elements of our sound.
00:22On the right-hand side of the device are additional controls
and four tabs we'll use to adjust parameters of the sampler
00:29as well as parameters that control
the behavior of particles within the 2D simulation.
00:34We start by dragging a sample into the 2D display.
00:46This opens the Sample Parameters tab.
When the device is in MIDI Mode, playing a note or notes
00:52will trigger a looping section of the loaded sample.
00:59In the Sample Playback tab, we can adjust some
parameters that control the playback of the sample.
01:04Start controls where in the sample playback starts from,
01:07and Size controls the size of the looped section
of the sample.
01:12Size can be set in milliseconds or synced Note Lengths.
01:27The Fade controls apply a fade
to the beginning or end of the loop.
01:32When Fade's center is all the way to the left,
the loop will fade out.
01:39When it's all the way to the right, the loop will fade in.
01:48The sample can also be played in reverse
and there is a multimode Filter to process the sound.
01:53At the bottom of the Sample Playback tab
are the particle attribute controls.
01:58These let you map particle attributes
to control elements of the sound.
02:02Each of the five controls represents
a different attribute of the particles within a simulation.
02:07The leftmost control represents
a particle's horizontal position.
02:11Let's map this to affect the Panning of the sound.
02:25Note that each particle within the system
represents an independent playback of the sample.
02:30And when in MIDI Mode,
each note played will create a new particle.
02:34I'll play a chord and notice how
the panning of each individual note
02:37is affected by the corresponding particle's
horizontal position.
02:52The second attribute control
represents a particle's vertical position.
02:56Let's map this to control the Filter.
03:01Again, notice how the Filter setting
of each particle is independent.
03:14The middle controller represents a particle's distance
from the center. Let's map this to Pitch.
03:28When a control is affecting the Pitch,
we can click the S button
03:31to quantize the Pitch to a number of preset scales.
Let's go with Octave.
03:46The fourth controller represents the particle Speed.
03:49Let's map this to Size, so the size of the looping section
will increase and decrease
03:54as the particle speeds up or slows down.
04:06The fifth control represents the Mass of the particle.
We'll map this to the Gain for now.
04:13But you might have noticed that the Mass of the particles,
represented in this simulation by the Size of each particle,
04:19doesn't really change much.
04:21Let's head over to the Particle System tab
where we can adjust some behaviors of the particle system.
04:27For now, we're just concerned with the Mass control.
04:29You can use this to set a Mass
that each new particle will be created at.
04:34We can also define an Amount that the Mass
of each particle will be randomized.
04:38Let's set this to the maximum and play some notes.
04:54We'll come back to these controls again later, but for now,
let's head over to the third tab,
04:58which controls the forces applied to the particles
that affect how they move.
05:03In the center of the display is a white square.
This is called the Attractor.
05:07Strength affects how strongly
the particles are attracted to or repelled from the Attractor.
05:13At positive values the particles are attracted
and at negative values the particles are repelled.
05:40Looking at the particles, we can see that some particles
are blue and some are yellow.
05:44These colors represent a particle's charge:
blue for positive or yellow for negative.
05:50You can set whether the Attractor attracts or repels only positive particles,
05:57only negative particles,
06:05Magnetism determines whether oppositely
charged particles attract or repel one another.
06:10When Magnetism is in the middle, it has no effect.
06:33Because the particles exist within this dynamic 2D system,
each control affects how the others behave.
06:39And tiny adjustments on one can have a drastic effects
on another element of the system.
06:44So be sure to play around with these making small
adjustments and noticing how the particles are affected.
06:52Vector Grain can also function as a granular looper,
06:54which is great for creating evolving pads,
atmospheres and textures.
06:59If we adjust the Grains control, the device
is no longer triggered by MIDI
07:02but will generate grains
based on the number set on the control.
07:10With Lock off, the grains will play constantly.
07:13If we enable Lock, grains will only play
when Live's Transport is running.
07:21By default, once grains are created,
they will exist indefinitely.
07:25Let's head back to the Particle Systems tab
where we can enable the Emitter.
07:33The Emitter creates and destroys particles
at regular intervals.
07:38Rate defines the rate at which new grains are created,
07:41and Life defines for how long these grains will exist
before they're destroyed.
07:54The total number of grains that can exist simultaneously
is always defined by the Grains control.
07:59So the Grains, Rate and Life controls work together
to determine how many grains will exist at any given time.
08:12Remember that because Vector Grain works with samples,
08:15the kinds of sounds you can achieve vary greatly
depending on the source material you use.
08:20Be sure to explore different sounds as your source material
to see what kinds of results you can get.
08:58There are also many other controls we haven't discussed,
09:01but remember that you can use Live's Info View
to discover more about the controls in Vector Grain.
09:06Click the toggle in the bottom-left of Live's window
to open the Info View,
09:10then hover over any parameter within Vector Grain
to learn more about that control.
09:19Also be sure to explore some of
the included Vector Grain presets
09:23to get an idea of the range of sounds possible
with Vector Grain.
