Fluss - Granular Playground 4+

Very interactive granular playground

Really like the playability of this and the simple user interface. Can easily get some unique soundscapes. It’s also very relaxing to play with!
One issue I have is since you changed the colours, the cyan play head is now the same colour as the waveform, and when the wave you load has the same height (compressed, normalised audio) as the play head it is difficult to spot where it is.
I was thinking it would might be good to have snapshots that you can switch between so you can create different chords in the pitch section.

Limitless sonic possibilities

This is the latest app from Bram Bos and Hainbach, whose previous release Gauss was a very interesting piece of work. This time they've released a granular synthesiser and it's wonderful! I've spent several hours diving in and messing around, manipulating sounds with the controls within the app, and it works as a live processor too, a little bit like a very powerful delay. Please ignore the one star review from someone called MrGroozy. He's completely misunderstood the app, hasn't really tried it out, and totally doesn't understand the nature of granular synthesis. Yes, there are loads of built-in presets that you can play with, but you can record or import literally any sounds - some muesli being poured into a bowl, the wind in the trees, an elephant doing a plop, whatever you like, and the app will create something new from it that no one on the planet has ever heard. Would have been five stars for sure but the user manual is really disappointing. It's just one page long. It could have been SO much more and could have given a lot more insights into how to get the best out of the app. As it stands, it really only skims the surface and tells you what each button/control does. Anyway, it's a great piece of work and Fluss itself is absolutely brilliant. A must-buy for sure! You can lose yourself for hours, days even, in the limitless sonic possibilities that it offers.

Developer Response ,

Thanks for the review! I'm already working on a slightly more extended user guide which will go into some of the more frequently asked questions we've received these past few weeks. I will upload it when the next update goes live. Have a great day!

A rather strange concept

It appears quite apparent to myself at least, that this was very much the vision of a musician that wishes to create a particular “sound” and the issue I have is not with the idea itself, it is the distribution of the idea to others as “one’s own” That is to say, what this is capable of was not my idea and I find it extremely difficult to escape the limitations of the very specific “sound” as a result. It’s a bit like being offered someone else’s imagination but the price to pay for such an offer is that one simply cannot escape the boundaries of said imagination. This, I believe is where one might suggest the argument that it is in fact an “instrument” but I think this is to miss the point I’m making - I am suggesting that the most significant accomplishment in terms of creativity has been accomplished, not by myself, but by the creator. I simply can’t escape the feeling that I’m “playing” someone else’s imagination and not my own…………….OK, I’ll make this as simple as possible, the app has no syncing options and without it, it is purely an ambient sample machine, it makes little difference what samples are used.

Developer Response ,

Hi, thanks for the review. Indeed, the presets are all the signature sound design of Hainbach, but you can easily import your own sounds, or load the plugin as an effect processor to make it very much “your own”.

Giving it one star means it has no redeeming qualities and doesn’t function properly. That seems very harsh and unreasonable. But I guess that’s the world we live in today. Happy holidays.