Chromatic Mode

Chromatic Mode takes the sample on one pad and fans it across the whole grid, pitching each pad up or down so the pad grid plays like a one-octave-plus keyboard. It is ideal for playing melodies, basslines, and stabs from a single sound.

How it works

When you enable Chromatic Mode, the currently selected pad becomes the root. Its sample is copied to all 16 pads, and each pad is assigned a pitch offset equal to its distance from the root in semitones. Pads above the root play higher, pads below it play lower, one semitone per pad.

Turning Chromatic Mode off restores every pad’s original sample and its own tuning, so you can switch in and out without losing your kit.

Enabling it

1. Tap the pad whose sample you want to play chromatically so it is selected.
2. Tap the CHROM button. It sits in the pad grid controls and turns cyan when active.

The selected pad’s sample must be loaded first. If the pad is empty, GranSample shows a notice asking you to load a sample on the selected pad before enabling the mode.

To change the root, exit Chromatic Mode, select a different pad, and enable it again.

Reading the pad labels

While Chromatic Mode is active, each pad shows a note label so you can see its pitch at a glance. The labels are centered on C4 at the root pad, so the root reads C4, one pad up reads C#4, one pad down reads B3, and so on. The root pad is also marked with a cyan ring to keep it easy to find.

These on-pad labels describe the relative pitch layout of the grid. They are independent of the MIDI root note described below.

Playing it over MIDI

When you drive GranSample from a MIDI keyboard, Chromatic Mode maps incoming notes to pitch instead of mapping note numbers to individual pads. Each note plays the root pad’s sample, transposed by the difference between the incoming note and the Root Note.

Control	What it does	Range / default
Root Note	The MIDI note that plays the sample at its original pitch	0–127, default 60 (C4)

You set Root Note in the Chromatic Mode section of MIDI Settings. Notes above it transpose up, notes below it transpose down, one semitone per MIDI note across the full keyboard range. See MIDI Setup & Control for connecting controllers and routing notes.

To learn more about how GranSample pitches and plays samples, see Granular Parameters and Linear Playback.