Pitch¶
Field has two pitch controls that do different jobs. The Pitch ribbon transposes every grain together. Pitch probability transposes grains at random, one by one, for a shimmering or chordal texture. Both share one scale setting.
The Pitch ribbon¶
The Pitch ribbon runs down the right edge of the waveform. Drag it up or down to transpose the grains. The center is unison (no transposition), and the ends reach two octaves up and two octaves down.
While you drag, the ribbon shows a continuous value. When you let go, it snaps to the nearest pitch the current ribbon mode allows, and it jumps to exactly the pitch the engine plays. In Free mode there is no snap.
Set the ribbon mode in Settings, under Pitch. The modes:
| Mode | On release the ribbon snaps to |
|---|---|
| Octaves | Whole octaves only. |
| Oct+5ths | Octaves and fifths. |
| Scale | Notes of the chosen scale. |
| Free | Nothing. The pitch stays exactly where you left it. |
| Chromatic | The nearest semitone. |
The ribbon mode defaults to Chromatic.
When the app is in Instrument play mode, the ribbon is labeled TRANSPOSE and offsets the notes you play in. See MIDI and controllers.
Pitch probability¶
Pitch probability gives each grain its own chance of being transposed away from the ribbon pitch. Set the chance with the X axis of the Texture pad (see The XY pads). At the far left every grain plays at the ribbon pitch; move right and more grains get transposed. This is a per-grain random process, so a cloud of grains spreads into an interval or a chord instead of moving as one.
How far a transposed grain can move, and to what notes, is set in Settings under Pitch:
| Control | What it sets | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Probability | The intervals a transposed grain can jump to. | Octaves, Oct+5ths, Scale, Free, Chromatic | Octaves |
| Probability Range | How many octaves the jump can span. | 1, 2, or 3 octaves | 1 octave |
| Probability Direction | Which way grains transpose. | Both, Up, Down | Both |
With the defaults, a transposed grain moves up or down by a whole octave.
The scale¶
The Scale setting in Settings under Pitch is shared. It feeds both the ribbon's Scale mode and the Scale probability mode, so the ribbon and the random grains stay in the same key. The scales:
Major, Minor, Pent Maj, Pent Min, Dorian, Mixolydian, Harm Minor, Phrygian, Lydian, Locrian, Whole Tone, Chromatic.
Scale defaults to Major.
The pitch modes, scales, and the snapping math are the same code the desktop Grainsmith uses, so a patch pitches the same way on both.