Drift Audio vs GrainHeads

Record any sound, then play it back by dragging across a living terrain. Your recording becomes the landscape — loud moments rise into ridges, quiet moments stay flat. Touch the surface and it transforms your sound into something new. HOW IT WORKS Record from the microphone — voice, instruments, ambient noise, anything up to 10 seconds. Drift listens and names your recording automatically. Each sample appears with a miniature terrain preview showing its unique shape. Tap a recording to enter the canvas: a reactive surface that deforms under your touch. Drag horizontally to move through your sample. Drag vertically to shift pitch — high at the top, slow and deep at the bottom. Press harder for a thick, layered wash. Press lighter for delicate, scattered fragments. The surface responds like a physical material. Your finger pushes into it, surrounding lines ripple outward and spring back. A trail follows your gesture and fades. When you're not playing, the terrain breathes — peaks sway, flat areas drift — so it always feels alive. Put down a second finger and a second voice appears. Hold a sustained tone with one hand while exploring with the other. Each finger has its own position, pitch, and intensity. FEATURES · Record up to 10 seconds from the microphone · Play back by touch — position, pitch, and intensity all respond to your finger · Two fingers, two independent voices · Terrain shaped by your recording — every sample looks different · The surface ripples, breathes, and springs back · Automatic naming using on-device sound recognition · Built-in reverb and delay · No account, no internet, everything stays on your device

GrainHeads is a granular synthesizer that turns any sound into something entirely new. Built for sound designers, musicians, and experimental producers who want deep, hands-on control over texture and motion. Multi-source granular engine Load material into four sample slots and deploy independent playheads — each targeting its own source. Blend, crossfade, or dynamically switch between samples using modulation. The result: rich, multi-layered textures that evolve continuously without repetition. Shape every grain Each playhead carries a full set of granular parameters — position, scan speed, grain size, pitch, chance — plus a drawable grain envelope. Sculpt transient character using splinter or Bézier curves for anything from soft clouds to sharp, percussive fragments. Modulate everything, from everywhere A summing modulation matrix lets multiple sources target the same parameter simultaneously. Assign LFOs, envelopes, and sequencer lanes to virtually any control — including sample slot selection, filter cutoff, and even other LFOs. Filter envelopes add per-step timbral motion in Sequencer mode. Sequencer with parameter lanes Go beyond note patterns. The step sequencer locks any parameter per step — pitch, position, filter, grain size — with polyrhythmic lengths and clock divisions. Each playhead runs its own sequence independently. Macros for expressive control Four macro axes map multiple parameters to simple X/Y gestures — Time Smear, Spatial Bloom, Degradation, Complexity. Combined with the 4-finger 2D touch pad controlling up to 8 parameters, GrainHeads becomes a performance instrument. Effects that reshape the signal A re-routable effects chain includes delay, reverb, lo-fi degradation, and filtering — with adjustable signal flow so effects interact in the order you choose. Key Features • AUv3 instrument and effect plugins — use standalone or inside your DAW • Up to 8 independent granular playheads • 4 sample slots with per-playhead source selection • Drawable grain envelope (splinter / Bézier curves) • Summing modulation matrix — multiple LFOs, envelopes, and sequencer lanes per target • LFO-on-LFO modulation for deeply nested movement • Step sequencer with parameter locking and polyrhythmic clock divisions • Filter envelope per step (Sequencer mode) • Per-playhead dual Moog-style ladder filter (self-oscillating, with overdrive) with link and mirror modes • 4 macro axes (X/Y pads) for multi-parameter gestures • Re-routable effects section (delay, reverb, lo-fi, noise, limiter) • Scale quantization — chromatic, major, minor, and exotic modes • Dice — one-tap randomization for instant inspiration • Ableton Link • Import/export presets • Customizable look and feel PRO version unlocks loading external samples and microphone recording. GrainHeads turns granular synthesis into a hands-on instrument — not a menu-diving exercise.