Make it rain.
- A granular texturizer, which processes an audio stream into manipulable droplets.
- Fully licensed, and officially approved by Mutable Instruments.
- Can be used simply as a reverb, or a delay.
In the world of modular synthesis there are certain names that command veneration and respect, like Moog, Buchla, Doepfer, and Serge, but there are others that inspire the kind offizzing delight and excitementthat simply won’t leave you alone until you’ve filled your bedroom and half the hallway too.
Mutable Instrumentshave been making Eurorack modules in that latter category for almost a decade, and nowClouds— the texturizing module which sold like crazy in hardware and became a firm favorite of enthusiasts around the world — is available for Softube Modular.
"With the original Clouds Eurorack module now disappeared into the ether, this software version offers an opportunity for everyone to transform sounds into a densely textured soundscape, stretching time beyond the imaginable. Add modulation and suddenly a new planet is born! Simply beautiful."
Robin Rimbaud a.k.a. Scanner
Producer, DJ, remixer and artist
Granular Texture Synthesizer
Clouds can divide incoming signals into audio droplets — like using a tap to create a controlled drip from the audio stream; and manipulate those droplets in endless creative ways.
One-Shot Sampler
Freeze the audio buffer to capture a sample and play with it indefinitely. In this software version of Clouds you can even save that sample as part of a preset.
Lo-FI Playtime
Choose between 16-bit stereo or mono, or 8-bit stereo or mono, to digitally degrade your signal in some very appealing ways.
Condensing droplets
Now discontinued in hardware, Clouds has been one of the most loved Eurorack modules out there for years. Clouds allows the user to condense incoming signals into audio droplets between 16ms and 1 second long — like using a tap to create a controlled drip from the audio stream — and manipulate those droplets in so many different ways you could easily pass a rainy weekend or two examining the capabilities of this module alone.
A digital module, code-ported
Scrub through the audio buffer. Change the sample size and texture. Create choppy rhythmic mayhem out of the smoothest input. Alternatively, mutate a snare drum into an ambient drone or soundscape by stacking droplets more and more densely until a reverb-like storm-system builds. Shift pitch, stretch time, feed back, until the tone you want shines through.
A digital module, Clouds hides hidden depths behind its every control, and learning its limits and possibilities is an adventure in itself.
It even has a built in reverb to add extra ambience and space to any signal passing through.
Explore ideas
Clouds is great for mangling incoming drum loops into trippy, jerking breakouts. You can use it as a basic sampler by freezing the buffer, taking a snapshot of your audio. Or robotize an input signal, by using an external oscillator to quickly freeze and un-freeze the audio stream. Try using Clouds like a wavetable by populating the buffer with multiple different tones. Or simply add some grit and texture to a signal with a granular, irregular delay tail. A kind of organic sonic friction.
If modular synthesis is about creating the most diverse palettes possible for sound design, then no system is complete without Clouds. Add it to your setup today, and make it rain.
In short
- Made for Modular, Softube's Eurorack platform.
- A granular texturizer, which processes an audio stream into manipulable droplets
- Fully licensed, and officially approved by Mutable Instruments
- Control speed, size, texture and more of the flow of droplets
- Can be used simply as a reverb, or a delay
- Freeze function allows use as a simple one-shot sampler
- Four audio quality modes, including appealing lo-fi 8-bit options
- Stereo spread can send droplets firing left and right
- An awesome module to experiment with – find a use no one else has
System requirements
- macOS Big Sur 11, Monterey 12, Ventura 13
- Windows 10 (64-bit), Windows 11
- Softube account
- iLok account
- Computer with AU, VST, VST3 and/or AAX compatible DAW host software
- Internet access (for downloading installers and managing licenses)