Linear Playback

Every pad starts in linear mode: tap it and the sample plays straight through, like a classic sampler or drum machine. This is the foundation you build on before reaching for granular synthesis. All of the controls below live in the pad’s properties — the pinned panel beside the grid on iPad, or the top of the Edit page on iPhone.

Linear vs. granular

A pad is linear until you turn granular on. In the GRAN section, a pad with granular off shows “Granular is OFF for this pad” and an Enable GRAN button; tapping it switches the pad to the granular engine and lights up an ON badge on the GRAN tab. Turn it back off to return to linear playback.

The two modes share the same sample and the same playback range, but only the linear path uses the trim, loop, reverse, and envelope controls described here. (Granular has its own envelope — see The Granular Envelope.)

Trimming the playback range

The PLAYBACK RANGE section shows the sample as a waveform strip with two handles. Drag the handles to set where playback starts and ends; only the selected window plays.

• Hold the middle of the selection to slide the whole window without resizing it.
• Drag outside the current selection to reselect from scratch.
• Double-tap, or use the RESET button, to restore the full sample.

By default the range covers the whole sample, so an untrimmed pad plays end to end. For finer, zoomed editing of the same window, open The Sample Editor.

Loop and reverse

The PLAYBACK section has two toggles:

Control	What it does	Default
Loop	Wraps back to the start of the playback range instead of stopping at the end.	Off
Reverse	Reads the sample backwards.	Off

Both respect the trimmed playback range, so a looped or reversed pad cycles only the window you selected.

The linear envelope (ADSR)

The ENVELOPE section shapes the pad’s amplitude over time. Drag the handles on the chart for quick shaping, or use the sliders below it for precise millisecond values. The defaults are tuned so an untouched pad sounds like a clean one-shot — a short attack and release just to declick, with full sustain.

Stage	What it does	Range / default
Attack	Fade-in time from trigger to full level.	0.001–4.0 s / 0.005 s
Decay	Time to fall from full level down to the sustain level.	0.001–4.0 s / 0.100 s
Sustain	Held level after decay.	0.0–1.0 / 1.0
Release	Fade-out time after the note ends.	0.001–8.0 s / 0.005 s

Normalize

In the MIX section, the NORMALIZE button scans the sample’s peak and boosts a quiet pad up to unity without touching the Volume slider — handy for evening out recordings or imports of different loudness. Tap it again to reset to the original level; when active the button reads NORMALIZED.

Volume and pan

The MIX section also holds the pad’s Volume (0.0–1.0) and Pan (−1.0 to +1.0). These per-pad levels feed the project mix; to balance pads against each other and route output buses, see The Mixer.