grids

grids · modulation · schema v1

Topographic drum pattern generator (Mutable Instruments Grids port). Walks a 32-step pattern reading a 5x5 "drum map": the (X, Y) coordinate bilinearly interpolates BD/SD/HH step densities between the four surrounding map nodes. Per-channel DENSITY sets each instrument fill, CHAOS adds per-pattern randomness, SWING shifts off-steps, and steps with level > 192 fire an ACCENT. Outputs BD/SD/HH triggers + a combined accent gate + a chained clock. Runs off its internal tempo or an external clock (rising edges advance one step). Alternate EUCLIDEAN mode swaps the drum map for a 32x32 length-vs-density euclidean LUT.

A topographic drum-pattern generator (a port of Mutable Instruments Grids) that produces three drum trigger streams — kick (BD), snare (SD), hi-hat (HH) — plus an accent. Instead of drawing steps, you steer an X/Y pad across a built-in map of drum patterns: the X/Y position blends between many curated 32-step grooves, and a per-instrument Density knob decides how many of that groove's hits actually fire (low = sparse, high = busy). A Chaos control sprinkles in random variation each loop, and Swing shuffles the off-beats. It clocks from its own BPM or an external CLOCK IN, and there's an alternate Euclidean mode that swaps the drum map for evenly-spread Euclidean rhythms. Patch BD/SD/HH into three drum voices and the accent into a VCA/velocity input for dynamics.

the faceplate

9 inputs · 5 outputs · 10 params

about this module

Hover a control, or open the patch panel and hover a jack.

inputs

id	cable	what it does
`clock`	gate	External clock: each rising edge advances the 32-step pattern one step. While patched it sets the pace; unpatch to run on the internal tempo. gate / trigger
`reset`	gate	A rising edge resets the pattern back to step 0, realigning the groove to the downbeat. gate / trigger
`mapX_cv`	cv	CV that sums onto the X pad coordinate, sweeping the drum map left-right to morph the groove's character. control voltage (CV)
`mapY_cv`	cv	CV that sums onto the Y pad coordinate, sweeping the drum map top-bottom to morph the groove's character. control voltage (CV)
`bdDensity_cv`	cv	CV that sums onto the kick (BD) Density — modulate how many kick hits fire. control voltage (CV)
`sdDensity_cv`	cv	CV that sums onto the snare (SD) Density — modulate how many snare hits fire. control voltage (CV)
`hhDensity_cv`	cv	CV that sums onto the hi-hat (HH) Density — modulate how many hat hits fire. control voltage (CV)
`chaos_cv`	cv	CV that sums onto Chaos — modulate how much random variation is sprinkled into the pattern. control voltage (CV)
`swing_cv`	cv	CV that sums onto Swing — modulate the off-beat shuffle (0..0.75). control voltage (CV)

outputs

id	cable	what it does
`bd`	gate	Kick / bass-drum trigger gate: fires on each step whose map level clears the BD density threshold. Patch into a kick voice's trigger. gate / trigger
`sd`	gate	Snare trigger gate: fires when the step level clears the SD density threshold. gate / trigger
`hh`	gate	Hi-hat trigger gate: fires when the step level clears the HH density threshold. gate / trigger
`accent`	gate	Accent gate: fires on the loud steps (any instrument's accent bit set this step) — patch into a VCA or velocity input to emphasize the strong hits. gate / trigger
`clock`	gate	A short pulse on every step advance — chain it into another module's clock in to lock everything to the Grids tempo. gate / trigger

params

id	label	range	default	curve
`tempo`	BPM	30..300	120	linear
`mode`	Mode	0..1	—	discrete
`mapX`	X	0..1	0.5	linear
`mapY`	Y	0..1	0.5	linear
`bdDensity`	BD	0..1	0.5	linear
`sdDensity`	SD	0..1	0.5	linear
`hhDensity`	HH	0..1	0.5	linear
`chaos`	Chaos	0..1	0	linear
`swing`	Swing	0..0.75	0	linear
`isPlaying`	Run	0..1	1	discrete

controls

control	what it does
BD	How busy the kick is (0..1): 0 plays almost no kicks, 1 plays the groove's full kick pattern.
Chaos	How much random variation is mixed into the pattern each loop (0..1): 0 is the clean curated groove, higher values perturb the hits for evolving fills.
HH	How busy the hi-hat is (0..1), from sparse to the full hat pattern.
Run	Run/stop transport (1 = running, 0 = stopped); the card's RUN button. Note this defaults to running.
X	The X coordinate of the pad on the drum map (0..1) — selects the groove's character along one axis (summed with the mapX_cv input).
Y	The Y coordinate of the pad on the drum map (0..1) — selects the groove's character along the other axis (summed with the mapY_cv input).
Mode	Pattern engine: DRUMS (the default) walks the curated X/Y drum map; EUCLIDEAN swaps it for evenly-spread Euclidean rhythms whose fill follows the density knobs. The card's mode button toggles this.
SD	How busy the snare is (0..1), from sparse to the full snare pattern.
Swing	Off-beat shuffle (0..0.75): 0 is dead-straight, higher values push the off-beat steps later for a swung feel.
BPM	Internal tempo in beats per minute, used when nothing is patched into CLOCK IN.

source

grids.ts on GitHub.