The Modulation Envelope

The modulation envelope is a per-pad ADSR that fires every time the pad is triggered, then drives whatever destinations you assign it. Unlike the envelopes that shape the sound itself, this one is purely a modulation source: it sweeps parameters, it doesn’t make level.

Where it lives

Open a pad’s properties and switch to the ENV tab. It sits alongside LINEAR, GRAN, and LFO — the ENV and LFO tabs together make up the per-pad modulation matrix. The envelope is a Pro feature: without Pro the controls are visible but dimmed behind an unlock pill, so you can see exactly what you’d get.

Shaping the envelope

The top of the tab is a draggable ADSR chart with a numeric readout below it for A, D, S, and R. Drag the handles to set the shape, or read the exact values from the footer.

Control	What it does	Range / default
A (Attack)	Time to rise from 0 to full	0.001–2.0 s, default 0.005 s
D (Decay)	Time to fall from full to the sustain level	0.001–4.0 s, default 0.100 s
S (Sustain)	Held level while the pad is sounding	0–1, default 1.0
R (Release)	Time to fall back to 0 after the pad ends	0.001–4.0 s, default 0.200 s

The envelope’s output is unipolar — it travels from 0 up to 1 and back. The amount and direction it applies to each destination is set separately (see below), so you can still push a parameter down as well as up.

Reset on trigger

Below the readout is the RESET ON TRIGGER switch, on by default. The envelope re-enters its attack stage on every trigger, so each new hit kicks off a fresh sweep that follows the note. A re-trigger picks up from the envelope’s current level rather than snapping to zero, which keeps fast re-triggers click-free.

Routing to destinations

Under the DESTINATIONS header is a list of lanes, one per modulation target. Each lane has a bipolar depth control showing a signed value (for example +0.45). At +1 the envelope sweeps the destination’s full range upward; at -1 it sweeps it the same amount in the opposite direction; 0 means the envelope does nothing to that target. The default for every lane is 0, so a fresh envelope is silent until you dial in a depth.

The available destinations are:

• GRAIN POS, GRAIN SIZE, GRAIN PCH, GRAIN DENS — the granular parameters
• VOLUME, PAN, PITCH (st), START — the linear playback and mixer path

How it differs from the other ADSRs

GranSample has three ADSR shapes and it’s easy to mix them up:

• The granular envelope and the linear ADSR shape the pad’s own loudness — they decide how the sound itself rises and falls.
• The modulation envelope makes no sound on its own. It’s a control signal you route, at your chosen depth and direction, to one or more destinations.

It shares the modulation matrix with the LFO: both feed the same destination lanes, so a target can be driven by the envelope, the LFO, or both at once. The LFO cycles continuously; the envelope fires once per trigger and is the right tool when you want the modulation to follow each hit.