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Header Bar

The header bar runs across the top of the Grainulator window. It holds the preset browser, transport, host-sync toggle, and (in compact layouts) the layer selector and tab navigation.

Preset browser

At the center of the header bar is the preset browser:

  • ← / → — step to the previous or next preset.
  • Name — click to open a searchable list of factory and user presets.
  • Save — write the current patch as a user preset (.gv2p file).
  • Init — load the default "init" preset.

User presets are stored in the application support directory and are shared between the standalone app and the plugin formats.

Transport

  • Play / Stop — toggles global playback. Behavior depends on the play mode (see below).
  • SYNC — a toggle that locks grain density, LFO rate, and delay time to the host's tempo. In the standalone app the toggle is disabled; in a DAW it follows the host transport.

Play mode

Grainulator has two play modes:

  • Free — grains spawn continuously as long as a layer is enabled. The Play button drives playback.
  • Instrument — grains spawn only while MIDI notes are held, and each note sets the root pitch for the layer.

The play-mode toggle is available from the header settings menu and from any MIDI-control panel on the SYNTH tab.

Layer selector

In compact layouts (AU plugin and iPhone), only one layer's controls are visible at a time. A Layer 1 / Layer 2 segmented control in the header (or at the top of the GRAIN panel in the full layout) switches the visible layer. The selector is highlighted in the current layer's accent color.

Internally, Grainulator calls these "voices" (parameter names start with V1 or V2), but the UI uses "Layer" everywhere a user sees them.

Tab navigation

The GRAIN, TEXTURE, SYNTH, FX, and MOD tab buttons sit beneath the header bar. Click a tab to switch the main panel view. The MOD tab is always visible, even in layouts that collapse other panels, so the modulation matrix is reachable from anywhere.

See also