soft.systems
Cumulus, Main view: Heads on the waveform, the head inspector, the grain masters and the effect rack.

Heads on the waveform, the head inspector, the grain masters and the effect rack.

granular instrument beta 1.0

Cumulus

A polyphonic granular instrument: up to 16 voices of 8 playheads drifting over one sample, with a drawable modulation matrix and a deep effect rack.

$49
BuyManual
formats
VST3 · CLAP
runs on
macOS · Windows
licence
3 computers, works offline

Every note casts up to eight playheads across one sample. Spread and variate turn one gesture into a cloud.

Drag a numbered head across the waveform to move it through the sample, up and down for its level. Each head throws its own grains, and the grain masters set the whole cloud at once.

A drawable modulation matrix and an eight-slot effect rack shape it from there. Feedback effects are allowed to sing: the slot warns you as it crosses into self-oscillation.

on the faceplate

19 controls in 4 groups, named as the plugin labels them.

01Head inspector

Positionwhere the head reads in the sample; drag its square on the waveform
Pitchthe head's transposition in semitones
Sizegrain length, from 2 ms grit to a 10 s smear
Speedhow fast the head travels through the sample, forwards or back
Overlaphow densely the grains pile up
Jitterrandom scatter around the head's position

02Voices and grains

Voicesup to 16, played POLY or as a unison stack
Headsup to 8 per voice, each with its own grains
Grainsup to 16 per head, 128 streams per voice
VARIATE!rolls a bounded random variation of the patch; RESET brings it back
Tiemaster values, with each head trimming around them

03Motion

LFOfour of them, seven shapes plus a curve you draw
MSEGtwo drawn envelopes as mod sources, up to 64 points each
Matrix12 sources onto 79 targets, bipolar depths
Env followturns any input, sidechain included, into modulation

04Colour

FX rackeight serial slots, sixteen effect kinds
Feedbackfeedback that is allowed to self-oscillate
ADSRthe amp envelope, or a drawn MSEG in its place
Poolup to 64 samples; the selection is a modulation target
05every control, in the manual→
01

A cloud from one gesture

Spread and variate fan a single head move out across every grain it throws.

02

No allocation on the audio thread

All 2048 grain streams are allocated up front, so dense patches stay glitch-free.

03

Made for touch too

On iPad it's a multitouch AUv3 and stand-alone app with its own layout.

the manual

16 chapters, control by control, in the order you'd build a sound.

Read the manual
  1. 01overview
  2. 02installation
  3. 03activation
  4. 04signal flow
  5. 05the wave display
  6. 06playheads
  7. 07grains, spread and variate
  8. 08modulation
  9. 09the fx rack
  10. and 7 more

One sample, pulled apart into a cloud.

  • Cumulus VST3 and CLAP, macOS and Windows
  • a 20-patch factory bank and demo pool
  • the full manual
  • free updates within version 1
$49
BuyManual
formats
VST3 · CLAP
runs on
macOS · Windows
licence
3 computers, works offline

before you buy

How many computers can I use it on?

Three at a time. Sign in once from the plugin and it checks its licence on that computer without going online again. Deactivating a computer, from the plugin's settings or from your account page, frees its slot.

My studio computer is offline. Can I still activate?

Yes. The plugin shows a machine ID; paste it on your account page and download a licence file for that computer. It counts as one of your three.

Do updates cost anything?

Not within the version you bought. Download them from your account page.

Is the iPad version included?

No, the iPad version is sold separately on the App Store, and Apple handles that licence. A desktop licence covers macOS and Windows.