Bastl Microgranny Monolith overview: Classic sampling grit in a conveyable bundle | Engadget

The one factor that hasn’t modified, that I actually want would have, is how you set batteries within the Microgranny. Bastl is a small firm that makes devices for weirdos, so I attempt to minimize it some slack. However changing the batteries on this factor is aggravating. You must unscrew the underside plate and take it off, which inevitably causes the perimeters of the instrument to additionally come off. Then, once you’re carried out shoving a 9v battery in there, you must rigorously realign all of the items and hope all the pieces stays in place whilst you screw it again collectively.

Combating with the battery is actually solely a difficulty if you wish to take the Microgranny out of the home with you. In any other case you should utilize a typical 9V AC adapter, just like the one most guitar pedals use. Fortunately, I occur to have loads of these laying round. Clearly, this considerably negates the portability issue, however as I’ll get to in a bit, that turned out to be much less of a lure to me than anticipated. It’s additionally value noting that the output is just a little noisy when turned all the way in which up, so positively cease at about 75 % in case you’re not into low fixed whines.

Granular

What units the Microgranny aside in a sea of moveable and inexpensive music gear is that it’s a granular sampler. Now, Bastl is cautious to not use the phrases “granular synthesizer” in most of its advertising and marketing supplies. And that’s good. As a result of in case you’re coming right here anticipating the plush, alien and infrequently ambient soundscapes often related to granular synthesis you can be sorely upset.

For one, as talked about earlier, the Microgranny is monophonic. Which means you’ll be able to’t play chords on it except you’re sampling one. And two, the sound engine can solely playback a single “grain” at a time. On one thing just like the 1010music Lemondrop, as an illustration, you’ll be able to stand up to 16 bits of an audio file working concurrently, creating advanced and infrequently unpredictable textures from the supply materials. The Microgranny, properly, is extra like a playable CD skip. However when you embrace that unabashed lofi nature, that’s when you’ll be able to actually join with it.

Utilizing the controls on the entrance, you’ll be able to change the dimensions of the grains, however you’ll by no means get easy single cycle waveforms even on the smallest finish. As an alternative the sound is damaged and glitchy, like a corrupted MP3 you downloaded from Kazaa in 2002. You may management the velocity and route the playhead travels by way of your pattern utilizing the shift velocity knob. It’s nearly like very rudimentary time stretching. It doesn’t change the pitch of the pattern you are taking part in again, however it could actually drag it out in an unnatural and artifact-riddled manner.

Then there may be pattern fee, which adjustments each the pitch and velocity of a sound, just like an old-fashioned sampler. And crush – a completely unforgiving bit-crusher — that takes the already crusty character of the Microgranny to full meltdown even at decrease settings. When cranked, crush turns any pattern into what can solely be described as an Atari 2600 attempting to approximate the thunderous method of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse.

There are additionally knobs for controlling the beginning and finish factors of a pattern, in addition to the assault and launch. They’re staple items that you simply’ll want, however don’t impart a lot character. The opposite essential controls are all shift features discovered below the massive buttons. Maintain down FN and press these to activate legato, set a pattern to repeat, sync grain playback to a MIDI clock sign and randomly shift the playback head.

Then there are two different choices – RNDMZR – which does what you’d count on: randomize all of the parameters for the final performed pattern. That is the quickest strategy to full aural chaos. And “tuned,” which has two totally different results. For one it locks the pattern fee choices to semitones, as a substitute of easy pitch shifting. And two, once you join a MIDI keyboard it would transpose the pattern for melodic playback. When that is inactive, a keyboard will play again particular person grains as a substitute. The latter sounds nice in principle, however I’ve actually had a tough time discovering a sensible use for it.

In use

Initially I used to be excited in regards to the thought of the Microgranny as a go-everywhere, granular noise maker. Clearly everybody’s tastes and use instances are totally different, however I’ve discovered that it’s simply not very best for me in that position. For one, the constraints of the monophonic granular engine imply that it’s type of onerous to create one thing full and musical by merely snatching samples round me.

There’s no sequencer, so I can’t save a enjoyable found-sound drum sample for later use again in my house studio. I’ve to recollect what I performed and depend on my admittedly lackluster sense of rhythm. And the microphone simply isn’t significantly delicate. Even with the enter cranked the supply must be very loud. I turned my telephone up all the way in which, positioned the speaker lower than half an inch away from the mic, and it was nonetheless fairly quiet. Your higher guess is utilizing the enter jack immediately related to a different audio supply, like a synth or exterior mic.

Whereas the granular engine is certainly enjoyable for getting glitchy stuttering sounds, I discover it’s greatest deployed moderately. Treating the Microgranny as a extra conventional (if exceptionally lofi) sampler, although, delivers extraordinarily satisfying outcomes. Since there’s no strategy to play a pattern chromatically in actual time on the gadget itself, that does imply you’d must pattern particular person notes or chords to create one thing melodic with out the help of a MIDI keyboard. Or, you would take one pattern, copy and paste it throughout the six huge buttons and alter the pattern fee of every to create a scale.

This isn’t to say that the Microgranny isn’t a enjoyable or melodic instrument. It’s simply that it feels extra helpful within the studio than out. I adore it for creating rhythmic loops that I can import into my DAW or processing samples to get a pleasant digital patina on them. And with a MIDI keyboard hooked up you will get that crispy pitched sound that makes the Casio SK sequence of keyboards so wanted (and insanely costly) even 28 years later.

It’s not the simplest factor to do, however you’ll be able to even chop up samples on the Microgranny by copying and pasting the identical sound throughout a number of buttons and altering the place to begin. It may be just a little fiddly because you’re coping with a extremely fundamental seven-segment LED show. However it may be carried out. This was actually a few of the most enjoyable I had jamming with the Microgranny by itself. Load up some disco or home tracks and you may simply flip them into some lofi Daft Punk-type beats. Max out that crush knob and properly, you’ve simply created the perfect soundtrack for a rave on the finish of the world.

Wrap-up

I feel I in all probability gave up on the Microgranny too rapidly the primary time, since I used to be too centered on the cellular and granular elements. After I couldn’t create otherworldly clouds of atmospherics or sketch out a tune with a number of tracks, I went straight again to my PO-33 with out digging any deeper. I failed to actually discover its potential as a extra studio-bound instrument.

At $246 it’s not costly, but it surely’s expensive and quirky sufficient that it’ll solely attraction to a specific area of interest that wishes probably the most genuine lofi sampling they’ll get. Clearly you’ll be able to change the pattern and bit fee of a file in your laptop. However – and that is my opinion – the Microgranny simply imparts extra character. And it’s the type of character that’s onerous to get with out springing for a classic sampler that may not be in excellent working order. So, in case your most well-liked taste of lofi grit is extra low cost 80s digital than ageing tape deck, the Bastl Devices Microgranny Monolith is certainly value trying out.