GR-1 Granular Synthesizer Desktop Module

Tasty Chips GR-1

The Tasty Chips GR-1 offers perhaps the first truly intuitive, approachable interface for granular synthesis in hardware format. With dedicated controls for all common granular synthesis parameters and a crisp display with clever and clear visual feedback, the GR-1 makes in-depth granular synthesis easy.

Offering 16 voices of polyphony with a maximum of 128 grains per voice, the GR-1 is equally at home in context as a source of sonorous ambience, glitched-out gestural textures, cinematic sound design, and far more. Latching “play” buttons for four independent voices as well as MIDI input offer multiple modes of interaction, while built-in LFOs and control voltage inputs allow extensive automation of internal parameters. Dedicated controls for grain position, density, size, pitch, scan rate, window shape, position randomization, and panning randomization make deep granular manipulation easily accessible. A 7″ display makes the implications of all controls visible, making the otherwise obtuse methods of granular synthesis far more obvious than any previous hardware.

It seems strange to say that granular synthesis can be intuitive—but Tasty Chips Electronics has made it possible. The GR-1 might be the best hardware granular synthesizer to date.

GR-1 Features

• 16 voice granular synthesizer with max. 128 grains per voice
• Awesome giant slider for grain position selection
• Dedicated scan function for timestretching & time compression effects
• Dedicated controls for all typical granular parameters, including grain playback pitch (speed), window size, density, position
• Per-grain position randomization (spray) and panning randomization (pan spray)
• All primary parameters can be modulated via internal variable-shape LFOs or external control voltages
• Grain envelope shape with tilt, curve, and “sides” control
• ADSR envelope per voice
• Standalone and MIDI-capable
• 4 banks of 8 presets (patches) are part of each Performance
• 4GB internal memory for presets and performances
• 4 USB ports for sample transfer, audio interfaces, and more
• Configuration menus offer extended control beyond front-panel access