Intellijel Multigrain: Morphing Granular Sampler in Eurorack – A Deep Dive

Intellijel introduces the Multigrain as a stereo morphing granular sampler module, designed to bring creative sound manipulation to the Eurorack format. The video opens with a concise panel tour, highlighting the module’s layout: eight sound buttons for sample selection, a row of function buttons for modulation assignment, and a pair of scene buttons flanking a morph fader. This fader is central to the module’s unique approach, allowing users to interpolate between two distinct parameter sets, or “scenes.”

The top of the panel houses stereo audio I/O, gate and next inputs for external triggering, and assignable modulation inputs and outputs. There’s also a dedicated CV input for the morph fader, a sync input for clocking grains, and a micro SD card slot for storing projects and samples. The overall design is clearly aimed at hands-on, performance-oriented workflows, with enough patch points to keep even the most cable-happy modular user satisfied.

The Multigrain’s core feature set revolves around granular synthesis, with grains defined as tiny slices of audio extracted from longer samples. Users can select from up to eight sound sources, triggering grains via the sound buttons or latching them for continuous playback. Notably, while only one sound can be triggered at a time, grains from different sounds can overlap, enabling layered textures.

Granular controls include a reverse button for playback direction, a shape selector with seven envelope types, and knobs for level and tone. The tone control acts as a two-pole filter, sweeping from low-pass to high-pass. Pitch, size, and rate are linked by default, but can be unlinked for more experimental results—allowing, for example, pitch changes without affecting grain size or rate. The quantizer locks pitch to user-selected scales, and the blur effect adds a global reverb-like wash, with its send and decay controlled by a single knob.

Position controls—start, wrap, and scan—let users define which part of a sample is granulated. Start sets the initial point, scan moves the start point for each grain, and wrap defines the scanning boundary. This trio enables precise or wild sample slicing, with wrap looping the scan back to the start or vice versa. The video demonstrates how these controls interact, especially when paired with the granular engine’s flexibility.

A standout feature of Multigrain is its dual-scene system. Each sound has two parameter states—Scene A and Scene B—between which users can morph using the dedicated fader. This allows for seamless transitions between drastically different granular settings, or for subtle shifts in timbre and texture. The morph fader’s position is universal, affecting all sounds, and can be modulated externally for evolving soundscapes.

The video walks through copying scene settings, editing parameters in one scene, and morphing between them to hear the results. All ten granular controls and the reverse button are morphable, making this a powerful tool for live performance or generative patches. The ability to morph not just static parameters but also modulation assignments opens up a rich territory for evolving, layered sonic results.

To support ongoing experimentation, Multigrain offers robust preset and project management. Users can save up to 48 presets per project, with 48 projects available on the module. The save and load process is visual and immediate, using the sound and modulation buttons to select banks and locations. There’s also an auto-save state to capture the latest settings, even if you forget to manually save.

Sample management is equally flexible: samples can be loaded from project folders, global WAV folders, or a chronological REX folder for recorded material. The video notes that Multigrain comes with demo projects and that more resources will be available online. This approach encourages users to build evolving libraries of sounds and setups, making Multigrain a strong candidate for both studio and live modular rigs.