Create “magical textures” using Soundghost’s Scatter grain cloud generator plugin
Control the size, shape and pitch of up to 64 grains in a simple interface
Soundghost has launched a granular cloud generator effects plugin called Scatter.
The plugin creates a beautiful effect and, as put by the brand, promises to “Scatter your sound”, achieving “magical textures” and “scattered soundscapes”.
As you insert audio into the Scatter plugin, it creates individual recorded loops, referred to as grains, which, as you can hear in the video above, fill the space and float around the original audio. Scatter then offers in-depth control over the size, pitch and shape of these grains in an easy-to-use interface.
When it comes to adjusting the size of the grains, you can use the plugin in different ways: take it to the max and take advantage of the randomised 64 grains available, resulting in a vast, shimmering reverb effect. Or if you go for a smaller number of grains, this will create sporadic, jittery patterns.
You can also control the shape of the grains in a number of ways. For example, you can shape the scattered grains by adjusting the size of each loop in milliseconds using the Size knob. The Shape knob lets you change the sharpness of the grain’s waveform. You can create a soft sound with an equal attack and decay, or apply a short attack with a longer slope or vice versa.
Pitch transposition plays a key role in Scatter. You can set the grains to go up and down in pitch simultaneously, or you can have them stay at the same pitch as the original sample, or simply go up or down exclusively. A drop-down menu provides options to move the pitch in octaves, chromatic, fifths or in minor or major notches.
You can create a particular space for the sound using the Space knob. It’s an additional reverb best applied towards the end of your grain sound design to send your sound into the void if you so wish.
Plus, the Scatter plugin comes with a handy visualiser displaying 64 possible grains in pastel-coloured dots. These colours and the brightness of each dot will change to reflect the amplitude of your grains and the size of your grain cloud.
Scatter is available right now for an intro price of £39 – 20% less than the original listed £49.
Find out more and download Scatter at soundghost.net.
