GRANULAR, Browser Granular Synthesis Engine
A browser-based granular synthesis FX engine with six algorithms and a two-layer freeze system, inspired by the Hologram Microcosm pedal, built in two days.
- Web Audio API
- Claude Code
- TypeScript
- Granular DSP
Feed it your guitar, synth, or MIDI. GRANULAR breaks the audio into fragments, scatters them in time, and rebuilds something your ears won't recognise. Six algorithms, two freeze layers, and free algorithm switching while both layers hold.
The six algorithms
BLUR, long overlapping grains for a seamless ambient wash, a classic drone texture.
SPRAY, mid-length grains scattered at random positions, shimmer and diffusion.
GLITCH, ultra-short grains with per-grain pitch randomisation, circuit-bent digital shards.
MICRO, tight micro-loops clustered around the read position, stutter and live drone.
STRING, grains pitch-shifted to harmonic intervals, single notes bloom into chords.
CLOUD, very long dense grains, walls of atmosphere and room-filling cavernous textures.
Layering system
FREEZE A locks the current algorithm as a continuous drone layer. FREEZE B layers a second algorithm on top of A. The player can switch algorithms freely while both layers continue to hold, building textures by hand.
Why this exists
I wanted to know what it actually felt like to ship a non-trivial product with an AI coding agent. The interesting product question was not the algorithm, it was figuring out which decisions to keep with the human (the UX, the FX taxonomy, the freeze metaphor) and which to delegate to Claude (DSP scaffolding, parameter ranges, the audio worklet plumbing).