Clouds

Mutable Instruments 18HP
fw 1.2
GRANULAR EFFECTS SAMPLER DELAY

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Granular texture synthesizer. Captures stereo audio into a buffer and generates overlapping grains with variable pitch, position, size, density. Four alternate modes accessed via hidden combos.

Patch Ideas · 8

★ Frozen ambient pad
Capture a phrase, freeze the buffer, and drown it in reverb for an instant evolving pad.
Walkthrough
  1. Start in Granular mode (default on power-up — LED is green).
  2. Short-press the small Quality/blend-select button until the Blend LED is yellow (Reverb slot).
  3. Turn the Blend knob to ~3 o'clock (heavy reverb tail).
  4. POSITION at noon, SIZE at ~2 o'clock (large grains), DENSITY at ~2 o'clock (thick synchronous cloud), TEXTURE at noon.
  5. Patch your source → IN L (IN R is normalized from L for mono).
  6. Patch OUT L → output L, OUT R → output R.
  7. Play a few seconds of source, then press FREEZE — the button lights, buffer stops recording.
  8. Unpatch the source or leave it — you're now hearing only the frozen buffer reverberated.
Signal out OUT L / OUT R — stereo reverberated grain cloud, ±8V, continues forever until you un-freeze.
Listen for A motionless lush pad that shimmers and breathes as grains re-scan the frozen snippet. Nudge POSITION by hand to scrub into different parts of the capture.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 3 modules and 3 connections. Modules: Clouds, Source, Output. Signals: 3 audio.CloudsSourceOutputMode: Granular (green)Freeze: ON (after capture)Blend slot: Reverb (yellow), ~3 o'clockSize: ~2 o'clock · Density: ~2 o'clockIN LaudioOUT LaudioOUT RaudioOutaudioLaudioRaudioaudio
★ Pitch-shifted looping delay
Switch to Looping Delay mode so SIZE becomes delay time and PITCH CV detunes each repeat.
Walkthrough
  1. Hold FREEZE and short-press the Quality/blend-select button repeatedly until the Blend LED turns red — that's Looping Delay mode. Release FREEZE.
  2. Short-press the Quality button until the Blend LED is orange (Feedback slot), then set the Blend knob to ~2 o'clock for 3–4 audible repeats.
  3. SIZE sets delay time — start at noon (~1s). DENSITY at noon. TEXTURE at noon.
  4. Patch your drum loop → IN L.
  5. Patch a sequencer CV → V/OCT — each clock step transposes the repeats by that interval.
  6. Patch OUT L → output L, OUT R → output R.
  7. Turn SIZE live to slide the delay tape-style.
Signal out OUT L / OUT R — dry+delayed drum loop ±8V, each repeat transposed by the V/OCT step.
Listen for A dub-style delay where the echoes climb the sequence. Short SIZE gives tight slapback; long SIZE gives tape scrubbing when you turn it live.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Clouds, Drum Loop, Sequencer, Output. Signals: 3 audio, 1 pitch.CloudsDrum LoopSequencerOutputMode: Looping Delay (red) // hold FREEZE + tap Quality until redBlend slot: Feedback (orange), ~2 o'clockSize: noon (~1s)IN LaudioV/OCT1v/octOUT LaudioOUT RaudioOutaudioPitch1v/octLaudioRaudioaudiopitch
Audio-rate SIZE FM
Modulate grain size at audio rate with a VCO to get bell-like sidebands on a frozen chord.
Walkthrough
  1. Confirm Granular mode (green Blend LED — power-cycle if unsure).
  2. Short-press the Quality button until the Blend LED is green (Dry/Wet slot), set Blend knob fully CW (all wet).
  3. POSITION at noon, SIZE at ~11 o'clock, DENSITY at ~2 o'clock (thick cloud), TEXTURE at noon.
  4. Patch a held chord or sustained pad → IN L.
  5. Press FREEZE to lock the buffer on the chord.
  6. Patch a VCO square wave (50–500Hz) → SIZE CV, attenuverter at ~2 o'clock.
  7. Patch a slow LFO (cycle ~20s) → POSITION CV, attenuverter at ~1 o'clock.
  8. Patch OUT L → mixer L, OUT R → mixer R.
Signal out OUT L / OUT R — frozen chord mangled into FM-metallic tones ±8V, sidebands tracking the VCO.
Listen for The static chord turns into bell-like, clangy partials that shimmer as the VCO pitch changes. Slow POSITION drift keeps the texture from locking — each octave of the modulating VCO is a different bell.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 5 modules and 5 connections. Modules: Clouds, Held Chord, VCO, LFO, Mixer. Signals: 3 audio, 2 cv.CloudsHeld ChordVCOLFOMixerMode: GranularFreeze: ONBlend slot: Dry/Wet (green), full CWIN LaudioSIZE CVcvPOSITION CVcvOUT LaudioOUT RaudioOutaudioSquarecvSlowcvLaudioRaudio11. audio-rateaudiocv
Stretch-drone from a field recording
Pitch-Shifter / Time-Stretcher mode slows a field recording to a crawl while you pitch it down an octave.
Walkthrough
  1. Hold FREEZE and short-press the Quality button until the Blend LED turns yellow (Pitch-Shifter/Time-Stretcher mode). Release FREEZE.
  2. Short-press Quality until the Blend LED is yellow in the Reverb slot, Blend knob to ~2 o'clock for a wet tail.
  3. DENSITY full CCW — in this mode DENSITY is the playback-speed control, so CCW means very slow.
  4. SIZE at ~3 o'clock (huge stretch window), TEXTURE at noon.
  5. PITCH knob CCW one octave (−12 semitones) — in this mode PITCH is decoupled from time.
  6. Patch your field recording → IN L.
  7. Patch OUT L → output L, OUT R → output R.
Signal out OUT L / OUT R — time-stretched field recording ±8V, pitched down an octave, with reverb.
Listen for A recognizable source — traffic, wind, voices — slowed to a glacial pad, an octave lower, drowning in its own reverb. Turn DENSITY live to speed the scrub up and down like a tape head.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 3 modules and 3 connections. Modules: Clouds, Field Rec, Output. Signals: 3 audio.CloudsField RecOutputMode: Pitch-Shifter / Time-Stretcher (yellow) // hold FREEZE + tap Quality until yellowPitch: -1 octDensity: full CCW // playback speedSize: ~3 o'clockBlend slot: Reverb, ~2 o'clockIN LaudioOUT LaudioOUT RaudioOutaudioLaudioRaudioaudio
★ Spectral phaser
Spectral mode + two slow LFOs on TEXTURE and POSITION turn any sustained source into paul-stretch phaser.
Walkthrough
  1. Hold FREEZE and short-press the Quality button until the Blend LED turns pink — that's Spectral Madness. Release FREEZE.
  2. Short-press Quality until Blend LED is green (Dry/Wet), Blend knob full CW (all wet).
  3. POSITION noon, SIZE ~1 o'clock, DENSITY noon, TEXTURE noon as a starting point.
  4. Patch a synth pad → IN L (something sustained — this mode needs steady input).
  5. Patch LFO 1 (cycle ~15s) → TEXTURE CV, attenuverter ~2 o'clock — animates phase randomization.
  6. Patch LFO 2 (cycle ~40s) → POSITION CV, attenuverter ~2 o'clock — sweeps frequency bins.
  7. Patch OUT L → mixer L, OUT R → mixer R.
Signal out OUT L / OUT R — spectrally-phased pad ±8V, bins drifting with POSITION, phases smearing with TEXTURE.
Listen for A slow whooshing phaser laid over your pad — not the LFO-on-filter kind, the paul-stretch kind where partials seem to un-glue and float independently. SIZE past 2 o'clock turns it into smeared granular ice.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 5 modules and 5 connections. Modules: Clouds, Pad, LFO 1, LFO 2, Mixer. Signals: 3 audio, 2 cv.CloudsPadLFO 1LFO 2MixerMode: Spectral Madness (pink) // hold FREEZE + tap Quality until pinkBlend slot: Dry/Wet, full CWIN LaudioTEXTURE CVcvPOSITION CVcvOUT LaudioOUT RaudioOutaudioSlowcvSlowercvLaudioRaudioaudiocv
Trigger-sprayed shimmer grains
One grain per trigger, pitched up a perfect fifth, drowned in reverb — a classic shimmer sprayer.
Walkthrough
  1. Confirm Granular mode (green Blend LED).
  2. Short-press Quality until Blend LED is yellow (Reverb slot), Blend knob full CW.
  3. DENSITY full CCW — at this extreme new grains only spawn on an external TRIG pulse.
  4. SIZE at ~1 o'clock (medium-long grains), TEXTURE at noon.
  5. PITCH knob CW to +7 semitones (reads on the display as +7) for a fifth shimmer.
  6. Patch your source (pad, vocal, guitar) → IN L.
  7. Patch a rhythmic clock or gate → TRIG — each pulse fires one pitched grain.
  8. Patch OUT L → output L, OUT R → output R.
Signal out OUT L / OUT R — one pitched grain per trigger ±8V, drenched in reverb, dry source still audible via the wet/dry mix.
Listen for Each trigger sprays a bright fifth up into a cathedral. At faster clocks it becomes a shimmering harp; at 1/4-note clocks it sits like a glassy counter-melody.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Clouds, Source, Clock, Output. Signals: 3 audio, 1 trigger.CloudsSourceClockOutputMode: Granular (green)Density: full CCW // 1 grain per TRIGPitch: +7 semitonesBlend slot: Reverb (yellow), full CWIN LaudioTRIGtrigOUT LaudioOUT RaudioOutaudioOuttrigLaudioRaudioaudiotrigger
Feedback runaway drone
Crank the Feedback blend slot near runaway and let a short capture regenerate itself into an infinite drone.
Walkthrough
  1. Granular mode (green).
  2. Short-press Quality until the Blend LED is orange (Feedback slot), Blend knob at ~3 o'clock — just shy of runaway.
  3. POSITION noon, SIZE ~1 o'clock, DENSITY ~2 o'clock, TEXTURE ~1 o'clock.
  4. Patch a source → IN L, play a few seconds of interesting material.
  5. Press FREEZE — the buffer locks.
  6. Unpatch IN L. The output now feeds itself through the feedback path.
  7. Patch OUT L → mixer L, OUT R → mixer R.
  8. Nudge Blend CCW if it screams; nudge CW to revive it.
Signal out OUT L / OUT R — self-regenerating grain drone ±8V, slowly mutating from the original capture.
Listen for A drone that started as your source but gradually smears into harmonic mush, then back into something vocal, then metallic — a slow hallucination. Texture and Size sculpt its character live.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 3 modules and 3 connections. Modules: Clouds, Source, Mixer. Signals: 3 audio.CloudsSourceMixerMode: GranularFreeze: ONBlend slot: Feedback (orange), ~3 o'clockIN LaudioOUT LaudioOUT RaudioOutaudioLaudioRaudio11. briefly, then unpatchaudio
Reverse-scrub tape effect
Capture a melodic phrase, freeze it, then drive POSITION with a ramp-down LFO to scrub backwards.
Walkthrough
  1. Granular mode (green).
  2. Short-press Quality until Blend LED is green (Dry/Wet), Blend knob full CW (all wet — we only want the reversed grains).
  3. Patch a melodic source → IN L. Play the phrase.
  4. Press FREEZE the moment the phrase ends — buffer holds.
  5. SIZE at ~11 o'clock (small-medium grains), DENSITY at ~3 o'clock (dense overlap), TEXTURE at ~1 o'clock.
  6. Patch a slow ramp-DOWN LFO (cycle ~6s) → POSITION CV, turn the POSITION attenuverter full CW to maximum positive.
  7. A descending ramp across the buffer plays it backwards.
  8. Patch OUT L → output L, OUT R → output R.
Signal out OUT L / OUT R — reversed rendition of the captured phrase ±8V, looping with the LFO.
Listen for Your phrase plays backwards, like a reversed tape — swells into notes instead of out of them. Speed up the LFO to chop it into glitchy reverse-stutters; slow it down for ambient backwards swell.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Clouds, Source, LFO, Output. Signals: 3 audio, 1 cv.CloudsSourceLFOOutputMode: GranularFreeze: ON (after capture)Blend slot: Dry/Wet, full CWIN LaudioPOSITION CVcvOUT LaudioOUT RaudioPhraseaudioRamp DowncvLaudioRaudio121. capture then freeze2. attenuverter max CWaudiocv

Behaviors

Granular mode (default) default on power-up

Continuous stereo grain cloud reading from the rolling buffer. POSITION scans, SIZE sets grain length, DENSITY sets rate, PITCH transposes. Blend knob accesses dry/wet, spread, feedback, reverb.

Pitch-Shifter / Time-Stretcher mode hold FREEZE + short-press Quality button until Blend LED is yellow

Time-stretching / pitch-shifting algorithm. DENSITY becomes playback-speed control, SIZE becomes window/overlap. POSITION and PITCH decouple — you can hold pitch while stretching.

Looping Delay mode hold FREEZE + short-press Quality button until Blend LED is red

Classic pitch-shifting delay with feedback. SIZE sets delay time up to ~8s (mono) / ~4s (stereo). POSITION scans within the delay buffer to create tape-style scrubbing.

Spectral Madness mode hold FREEZE + short-press Quality button until Blend LED is pink

FFT-based spectral mangler. POSITION scans frequency bins, SIZE changes window length, DENSITY and TEXTURE perform magnitude clipping and phase randomization. Produces paul-stretch-like drones and phaser effects.

Freeze captures buffer button or FREEZE gate

Stops buffer recording. Grains continue from whatever material was in the buffer at the moment of freeze. Combined with slow POSITION scan, produces classic infinite-hold ambient effects.

Audio-rate SIZE modulation patch VCO into SIZE CV

Modulating grain size at audio rate produces FM-like sidebands and glitchy grain-interruption artifacts. A classic Clouds sound — pair with a slow buffer position for robotic textures.

In-gain clipping character IN GAIN past noon with hot source

The buffer stores at 16-bit 32kHz with a soft-clip limiter on input. Overdriving IN GAIN adds gentle saturation and lo-fi character that is part of the Clouds sound signature.

Frozen + reverse scrub Freeze on + slowly rotate POSITION CCW

With recording frozen, moving POSITION CCW scans backwards through the frozen material. Paired with low DENSITY it turns Clouds into a hand-scrubbable tape machine.

Parameter persistence across modes switching alternate modes

Each mode stores its own blend-knob assignments and settings. Returning to granular mode restores the granular-mode parameters — useful for A/B-ing modes live.

Controls

Global Freeze Freezes the audio buffer so new audio stops being written. All grains continue scrubbing the last-captured material.
Button lit = frozen · Gate input also triggers freeze
Global Position Playhead location within the buffer. CCW = newest audio, CW = oldest. Sweeping scrolls backwards through captured material.
Bipolar attenuverter for CV · 0–100% of buffer length
Global Size Grain duration. Small = percussive/metallic, large = time-stretched/blurred. Audio-rate modulation creates FM-like artifacts.
~1ms to ~1s · bipolar attenuverter · audio-rate CV allowed
Global Pitch Transposes grain playback ±2 octaves. CCW = down, noon = unity, CW = up. V/OCT tracked.
-24 to +24 semitones · 1V/Oct CV input
Global Density Grain rate. CCW from noon = rarer grains with space; CW from noon = overlapping cloud. Below 9 o'clock produces Poisson (random) triggering.
Below noon: random/Poisson · above noon: regular/synchronous · CV bipolar
Global Texture Grain envelope shape. CCW = boxcar/Tukey (crisp), CW = Gaussian (smooth). Also adjusts grain diffusion window in blend mode.
Bipolar attenuverter · interacts with blend parameters in alternate modes
Global Blend / Spread / Feedback / Reverb Single knob with four selectable functions chosen by short-pressing the small Quality button: dry/wet blend, stereo spread, feedback amount, reverb amount. The Blend LED color indicates the currently selected assignment.
Short-press Quality cycles slot: green=Dry/Wet · red=Spread · orange=Feedback · yellow=Reverb (holding FREEZE + short-pressing Quality instead cycles the four alternate algorithms)
Global In Gain Input trim for left/right audio inputs. Red LED on peak indicates clipping into the buffer.
Unity at noon · +24dB CW · peak LED ~0dBFS

I/O

IN · 9

  • FREEZE >1V gate GATE
    Gate input. High = buffer frozen, low = recording. Complements front panel button.
  • TRIG >1V trigger GATE
    Trigger input. In granular mode gates a single grain. In alternate modes doubles as clock/event input.
  • V/OCT -2V to +2V CV
    1V/oct pitch tracking for grain transposition.
  • POSITION CV ±5V CV
    CV for buffer position, scaled by attenuverter.
  • SIZE CV ±5V CV
    CV for grain size; accepts audio-rate input.
  • DENSITY CV ±5V CV
    CV for grain density/rate.
  • TEXTURE CV ±5V CV
    CV for grain window shape.
  • BLEND CV ±5V CV
    CV for whichever blend slot (dry/wet, spread, feedback, reverb) is currently selected.
  • IN L / IN R ±8V audio AUDIO
    Stereo audio inputs. Left normalized to right for mono operation.
    NORM → IN L feeds IN R when unpatched

OUT · 1

  • OUT L / OUT R ±8V AUDIO
    Stereo audio outputs of the granular engine (or selected alternate mode).