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Building instruments

Grid effect modules

Reference for the Grid’s dynamics, distortion, delay, stereo and tone modules.

The Grid has small effect modules you can cable inside an instrument. They are useful when the effect is part of the sound itself: a filter feeding distortion, two parallel delays, or an envelope controlling a VCA before a reverb. Open them through the Module browser.

This reference covers the modules with names such as Compressor, Delay and FDN Reverb. The browser also contains a larger set of effect devices, described under effects. Their search names and controls differ.

Reading the controls

Select a module to see every control in its inspector. Labels below are written exactly as they appear. mix, where present, runs from 0 for dry audio to 1 for processed audio. feedback recirculates some output; more feedback makes a longer, more resonant tail. Times ending in ms are milliseconds; frequencies are Hz; levels ending in db are decibels.

Most modules have one mono input and output. Modules with separate left and right ports need both channels connected to preserve stereo. Use Stereo Output to send a stereo result out of the patch.

Dynamics

Module Use and connections Controls
Compressor Reduce peaks above a threshold. in → out. threshold_db: -60–0 dB; ratio: 1–20; attack_ms: 0.1–1000 ms; release_ms: 1–5000 ms; knee_db: 0–24 dB; mix: 0–1 ratio
Limiter Limit sample peaks with a short lookahead. in → out. ceiling_db: -24–0 dB; release_ms: 1–5000 ms; mix: 0–1 ratio
Noise Gate Close on quiet signals, with hold and hysteresis to reduce chatter. in → out. threshold_db: -80–0 dB; hysteresis_db: 0–24 dB; attack_ms: 0.1–100 ms; release_ms: 1–5000 ms; hold_ms: 0–1000 ms; mix: 0–1 ratio
Expander Turn down material below threshold. in → out. threshold_db: -80–0 dB; ratio: 1–10; attack_ms: 0.1–100 ms; release_ms: 1–5000 ms; mix: 0–1 ratio
Transient Shaper Emphasise or soften attacks and tails. in → out. attack: -1–1; sustain: -1–1; mix: 0–1 ratio

Lower threshold_db to make compression, gating or expansion act sooner. Compressor ratio increases the amount of reduction; knee_db softens its transition. Gate hysteresis_db separates opening and closing levels, and hold_ms keeps it open briefly after the sound falls. Transient Shaper uses negative values to soften and positive values to emphasise attacks or sustain.

Distortion

Module Use and connections Controls
Hard Clip Cut off peaks at a fixed ceiling. in → out. ceiling: 0.001–2; mix: 0–1 ratio
Soft Clip Round peaks with a smooth clipping curve. in → out. drive: 0.01–20 ratio; mix: 0–1 ratio
Waveshaper Change the wave’s shape with a cubic curve. in → out. amount: 0–1; mix: 0–1 ratio
Saturation Add saturation; the visible tone control currently has no audible effect. in → out. drive: 1–20 ratio; tone: 0–1; mix: 0–1 ratio
Wave Folder Fold larger waves back on themselves. in → out. gain: 0.01–8 ratio; folds: 1–8; mix: 0–1 ratio

Drive and gain controls increase how strongly the wave is changed. Begin with a low level and compare the result with dry audio. Hard Clip uses an amplitude ceiling rather than a decibel ceiling. folds is a whole-number control.

Delays and movement

Module Use and connections Controls
Delay Mono echo with feedback. in → out. delay_ms: 0–2000 ms; feedback: 0–0.98 ratio; mix: 0–1 ratio
Ping-Pong Delay Cross-fed stereo echoes. in_l, in_r → out_l, out_r. delay_ms: 0–2000 ms; feedback: 0–0.98 ratio; mix: 0–1 ratio
Multi-Tap Delay Three mono echoes with independent times and gains. in → out. t1_ms: 0–2000 ms; t2_ms: 0–2000 ms; t3_ms: 0–2000 ms; g1: 0–1; g2: 0–1; g3: 0–1; feedback: 0–0.98 ratio; mix: 0–1 ratio
Chorus Moving short delay for doubling. in → out. rate_hz: 0.01–20 Hz; depth_ms: 0–60 ms; mix: 0–1 ratio
Flanger A short moving delay with feedback. in → out. rate_hz: 0.01–20 Hz; depth_ms: 0–20 ms; feedback: 0–0.98 ratio; mix: 0–1 ratio
Phaser A sweeping four-stage phase effect. in → out. rate_hz: 0.01–20 Hz; depth: 0–1; feedback: 0–0.98 ratio; mix: 0–1 ratio
Tremolo Repeating changes in loudness. in → out. rate_hz: 0.01–20 Hz; depth: 0–1; shape: sine; mix: 0–1 ratio
Vibrato Repeating pitch movement. in → out. rate_hz: 0.01–20 Hz; depth_ms: 0–15 ms

Multi-Tap Delay pairs t1_ms, t2_ms, t3_ms with g1, g2, g3. rate_hz is the speed of repeated movement; depth_ms is the delay movement, while depth is a normalised amount. Vibrato has no mix control.

Space and stereo

Module Use and connections Controls
FDN Reverb A stereo reverberant tail. in → out_l, out_r. room: 0–1; damping: 0–0.99; mix: 0–1 ratio
Stereo Width Change the balance of middle and side information. in_l, in_r → out_l, out_r. width: 0–2
M/S Encode Convert left/right audio into middle/side. in_l, in_r → mid, side. No parameter controls.
M/S Decode Convert middle/side back into left/right. mid, side → out_l, out_r. No parameter controls.
Panner Place mono audio between two output channels. in → out_l, out_r. pan: -1–1
Auto-Pan Move mono audio between left and right. in → out_l, out_r. rate_hz: 0.01–20 Hz; depth: 0–1

For Stereo Width, 0 is mono and 1 keeps the original width. For Panner, -1 is left, 0 is centre and 1 is right. Process mid and side independently between M/S Encode and M/S Decode to change centre and width separately. The mono Output duplicates its result to both channels; connect stereo signals to Stereo Output instead.

Tone and resonance

Module Use and connections Controls
Peaking EQ Boost or cut a frequency band. in → out. freq_hz: 20–20000 Hz; gain_db: -24–24 dB; q: 0.1–10 ratio; mix: 0–1 ratio
Low Shelf EQ Boost or cut lows. in → out. freq_hz: 20–2000 Hz; gain_db: -24–24 dB; mix: 0–1 ratio
High Shelf EQ Boost or cut highs. in → out. freq_hz: 1000–20000 Hz; gain_db: -24–24 dB; mix: 0–1 ratio
Tilt EQ Brighten one side of a pivot while darkening the other. in → out. tilt_db: -12–12 dB; pivot_hz: 200–5000 Hz; mix: 0–1 ratio
Resonator Turn incoming sound into a damped pitched resonance. in → out. freq_hz: 20–20000 Hz; decay_ms: 1–500 ms; mix: 0–1 ratio
Exciter Add harmonic brightness above a chosen frequency. in → out. freq_hz: 1000–16000 Hz; amount: 0–1; mix: 0–1 ratio

Larger effect devices

For the additional modules whose browser names include tone-trio, easy-compressor or fx-c-delay, use the dedicated references: EQ and filters, dynamics, distortion, delay, reverb, modulation, and pitch and spectral effects.