ADDAC112 VC Looper & Granular Processor Manual (PDF)
The ADDAC112 VC Looper & Granular Processor is not just a texture machine. It can be used very effectively as a melodic instrument, especially when you treat its looper, pitch controls, quantizer, preset system, and granular engine as compositional tools rather than just effects.
From the manual, the ADDAC112 combines:
That means it can act as:
The most direct melodic use is to record or load short loops that contain:
Then use:
For melodic composition, load or record:
A useful strategy is to build a bank where each loop is:
Then the module becomes a playable melodic memory.
The manual shows that both loop pitch and grain pitch can be quantized, depending on menu settings.
You can set the quantizer to affect:
There are also selectable scales, including default or custom scale sets. This is very important for melodic use.
If you send CV to:
and quantization is enabled, the pitch changes can snap to scale tones. This turns the module into something much more like a playable voice.
The granular engine reads from the currently selected loop, and each grain has control over:
This is where the module becomes especially interesting for melody.
Instead of thinking "granular = texture," think:
Use the ADDAC112 like a pitchable sampler voice.
vocal hum
Bring up:
Grains Volume down for now
Enable quantization for Loops Only or Both.
Send a sequencer CV into Loop Pitch CV.
The loop plays back as a transposable sampled tone. Because the pitch range can be set in the menu, you can choose finer or wider behavior.
Use Play/Reset and On Loop Change options to control whether playback retriggers or continues smoothly.
Create a melodic line using grain pitch while the loop itself stays fixed.
vocal tone
Keep Loop Volume low or off.
moderate Attack/Decay
Send melodic CV into Grain Pitch CV.
The granular engine becomes the actual melodic voice. The loop is just source material.
A stable source with moving grain pitch gives you: - a coherent timbre - melodic control - evolving articulation
Turn one recorded phrase into many melodic events.
multiple plucks
Use the granular engine.
keyboard CV offset/attenuated
Set low Position Deviation for more precise scanning.
Each grain picks a different slice of the loop, so the loop acts like a wavetable or phrase memory. If the recorded material contains separate notes, scanning position becomes a melodic selection method.
Use different loops as separate notes, intervals, or chords.
Create a bank where loop numbers correspond to musical material, for example:
Then sequence Loop Select CV.
The ADDAC112 behaves like a sample-addressed melodic instrument. This is especially strong if each loop is normalized and similar in length.
Set On Loop Change to: - Immediate for abrupt jump-cuts - On Loop End for phrase-aligned changes
This gives you either chopped rhythmic melody or phrase-safe musical transitions.
Make repeating grains function like arpeggiated notes.
Repeat Mode to Repeat X or Probability
Patch stepped CV to:
or both
Use quantization.
Grains become repeating note attacks. With envelope shaping, they behave like plucked notes.
Use the looper and overdub path to recursively build melodic material.
The manual explains that recording input is a mix of: 1. input signal 2. current loop playback 3. grains feedback
The buffer gradually evolves into a new pitched source. Over time, your melody becomes self-derived and transforms while staying related.
Create harmony from a monophonic phrase.
panning spread
Quantize grains to a useful scale.
The loop plays the original line while the grains add harmonized intervals around it.
The looper is best thought of as: - the sample pool - the root pitch body - the rhythmic/melodic phrase source
The granular side provides: - note extraction - alternate pitch layers - repeated fragments - harmonic extension - microtiming variation
Together, they can behave like: - a sampler + harmonizer - a phrase looper + granular sequencer - a wavetable-ish voice made from recorded sound
This is central if you want the looper itself to act melodically.
Use it for: - transposition - basslines - chord changes - tuned phrase playback
Use this when the grains are the “notes.”
Use it for: - harmonies - lead melodies - arps - interval clouds
Very useful if your loop contains several notes or timbral regions.
Use it for: - selecting note zones - changing vowel/formant region - slicing recorded phrases
This determines whether grains sound like: - clicks - plucks - syllables - sustained tones
For melody, short-to-medium lengths often work best.
These shape articulation.
For melodic roles: - short attack/decay = plucked - longer attack/decay = pad or bowed - asymmetry = speech-like phrasing
This sets spacing between grain events.
Use it as a rhythmic density control for: - arps - repeated melodic pulses - sparse pointillism
This matters a lot musically.
This gives you a sample-based melodic instrument.
This is excellent for live melodic performance.
This is probably the most “granular” melodic use.
The manual notes that presets store: - loop lists - granular settings
This is very useful compositionally.
You can make presets like:
Then sequence or manually switch presets as arrangement sections.
This turns the module into a scene-based melodic processor.
Even though this manual only covers the ADDAC112, it clearly benefits from being paired with standard Eurorack utility categories.
Use for: - loop pitch melodies - grain pitch melodies - quantized transposition
Use for: - grain position - loop select - repeat density - panning and variation
Use for: - loop control - synced recording - clocked mode behavior - rhythmic loop changes
Use for: - modulating position slowly - sweeping grain length - changing density and articulation
Use as source material to record tuned notes/chords into the looper.
This is one of the biggest musical advantages. You can constrain pitch material to a compositionally useful set.
Because the scale file can be customized, you can create: - standard tonal scales - modal scales - just intonation-ish ratio sets - harmonic series mappings - non-octave scales
That makes the module unusually strong for melodic experimentation.
The updated firmware allows: - loop playback - grains processing - recording
to happen in parallel.
This means you can: - play one melodic loop - granularly decorate it - simultaneously record a new loop from the mixture
That is ideal for iterative melodic development.
This means melody on the ADDAC112 does not have to be static. You can voltage-control: - pitch - density - position - volume - selection - feedback behavior
So the melodic output can evolve constantly.
This gives a live-looping solo instrument feel.
Use presets to shift between: - sparse plucks - dense harmony - reverse shimmer - wide stereo melody
Assign different chord tones or chord stabs to loop slots, then use CV or manual selection for harmonic movement.
Use grain direction probability or reverse loop playback for occasional backward note phrasing.
Result: expressive digital lead.
Result: choir-like harmonic pad or melodic line.
Result: degraded but tonal phrase mutation.
Result: sparkling arpeggiated cloud.
When changing presets, panel knobs do not immediately reflect stored values. You have to cross the stored value before the knob becomes active. In performance, this matters.
The bank has about 30 MB total shared loop memory, so if you want many melodic loops, keep them short and efficient.
Recorded loops live in volatile memory until saved. For melody-building sessions, save often.
The manual warns that in the -INF to +24 mode, grain pitch at -INF can stop the grain engine. Avoid that setting unless you intend it.
The ADDAC112 works best melodically when you think in three layers:
Record or load something with pitch identity: - note - chord - phrase - voice - harmonic texture
Choose what musical material is active via: - loop select - grain position - preset changes
Shape it into melody with: - loop pitch - grain pitch - quantization - envelope - density - repetition
That is the core of how this module becomes a melodic instrument rather than only a sound processor.
The ADDAC112 can be used for melody in at least four strong ways:
As a quantized looper-sampler voice
Record notes/phrases and transpose them musically.
As a granular melodic voice
Keep the loop static and sequence grain pitch, position, and rhythm.
As a phrase/chord switching instrument
Use loop select and presets as musical scene changes.
As a self-resampling melody generator
Feed loops and grains back into recording for evolving tonal material.
If your goal is melodic composition, the most powerful combination is:
That gives you everything from pitched leads and basslines to harmonized phrases, granular arpeggios, and evolving melodic textures.