Grain Delay

Overview

The Grain Delay repeats each grain as a series of delayed grains rather than echoing the whole signal. Every tap is its own grain, so you can sweep the delay time without pitch artifacts, and scale-locked shifting turns the repeats into shimmering, arpeggiated spaces that stay in key.

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1. Delay Mode

Ping Pong

Alternates delay taps between the left and right channels.

Feedback is cross-fed between channels, producing wide stereo echoes that continue bouncing across the stereo field.

Channel Swap

Swaps the left and right channels on alternating delay taps.

This creates rotating stereo movement, particularly when processing wide stereo sources. For even more spatial motion, combine it with the Grain Imager.

2. Filter Controls

Delay Sync

Synchronizes Delay Time to the host tempo.

When enabled, the Delay Time control snaps to musical note divisions. When disabled, delay time can be adjusted continuously for more organic rhythms and comb filtering effects.

Delay Time

Sets the time between successive grain delay taps.

Short delay times create dense grain clusters, while longer times produce rhythmic echoes. Since each tap is an independent grain, the delay time can be swept smoothly without affecting pitch.

Taps

Sets the number of delayed grain repeats.

Each tap is a complete copy of the original grain, spaced according to Delay Time and pitch shifted based on the selected Shift Pattern and Shift settings.

Increasing the number of taps creates longer and denser delay trails.

Shift Pattern

Determines how pitch changes are applied throughout the delay taps.

• Hold: Every tap is shifted by the same interval, creating parallel harmonies.

• Alternate: Successive taps alternate above and below the original pitch.

• Ramp: Each tap increases or decreases progressively, creating rising or falling arpeggios.

• Pulse: Pitch steps outward while returning to the original pitch between each step.

• Triangle: Pitch rises to a peak, falls through the original pitch to a lower point, then rises again.

• Diverge: Taps spread outward from the original pitch in both directions.

• Random: Each tap is assigned a random interval between the original pitch and the selected shift amount.

• Chaos: Every tap receives a completely random pitch within a two-octave range above or below the original.

Shift

Sets the pitch interval applied between delay taps.

The selected Shift Pattern determines how this interval is distributed across the delay sequence, allowing echoes to form harmonic progressions.

Feedback

Controls how much of the delay output is fed back into the delay line.

Higher values produce longer, gradually decaying echoes, while lower values create shorter delay tails.

Pitch shifting is applied only to the initial taps and is not reprocessed within the feedback loop, keeping repeated echoes harmonically stable.

Space

Adds a diffused reverb to the grain delay.

• 0%: Reverb is bypassed for traditional delay behavior.

• Higher values: Increase the amount of reverb until the dry delay signal is gradually replaced by a spacious, diffuse ambience.

Combine Space with the delay's pitch shifting to create shimmer-style reverbs that remain harmonically locked to your chosen key.

Lowpass

Applies a lowpass filter to the grain delay.

The filter is applied recursively to the feedback signal, causing each repeat to become progressively darker and smoother. This is useful for creating natural, warm delay tails.

Highpass

Applies a highpass filter to the grain delay.

The filter is applied recursively to the feedback signal, gradually reducing low frequencies with each repeat. This helps keep delay trails clear and prevents low-end buildup.

Mix

Blends the original grains with the grain delay output.

• 0%: Original grains only.

• 100%: Delay taps and feedback only.

Set Mix to 100% and Lucid's global Dry/Wet control to 50% to use Lucid as a dedicated grain delay effect.

Grain Delay Bypass

Enables or disables the entire Grain Delay section.