Grain Freezer by Amazing Noises
FREE GRANULAR FREEZE EFFECT FOR MAC AND WINDOWS Grain Freezer captures a short fragment of incoming audio and turns it into a continuous granular texture. Blend the texture with your live signal, capture moments manually, or let it refresh automatically on a timed or beat-synced interval. Nine factory presets are included, and your own presets save and recall in .angfr format. • Granular Freeze: Captures a 150 ms fragment and sustains it as a stereo granular texture, with Balance blending texture against the original signal. • Manual and Auto Modes: Trigger a freeze on command or let it refresh automatically at a set time or bar-synced interval. • Stereo Field Spread: Mono material is spread across the stereo field grain by grain; stereo input preserves its image. • DAW Automation: The Freeze control can be automated directly from your DAW. • Factory Presets: Nine factory presets included, with user preset saving and recall in .angfr format.
Amazing Noises
Amazing Noises is the brainchild of Maurizio Giri the co-author of the Max Bible, Electronic Music & Sound Design.
View all products by Amazing NoisesOverview
Granular freeze texture, free for Mac and Windows
Every mix has a moment worth holding. Grain Freezer captures a 150 ms fragment of incoming audio and scatters it into a continuous granular texture, so that fleeting chord, breath, or room tone becomes something you can sustain, shape, and blend back against the live signal. Dry and present to suspended and atmospheric, in a single click. Grain Freezer is free, and a full PDF quick guide is included in your download. Nine factory presets are ready the moment you load it, and your own presets save and recall in the dedicated .angfr format, surviving reinstallation without touching the factory content.
- Captures a 150 ms audio fragment and sustains it as a continuous stereo granular texture
- Balance control runs from 0 to 100 percent, blending the granular texture against the original signal or replacing it entirely
- Manual mode offers Toggle and Hold behaviour, so the freeze stays active between clicks or only while held
- Preload control shifts the capture window anywhere from 150 ms before the trigger to the moment after it, because what you hear in your head is what gets frozen
- Auto mode refreshes the fragment on a set Time period from 0 to 16 seconds, or locked to a DAW bar subdivision from 1/64 of a bar up to 8 bars; Ratio sets the proportion of each interval during which the texture is active
- At Time 0, the effect follows the input continuously for a moving granular wash rather than a true freeze
- Mono material is spread across the stereo field grain by grain; stereo input preserves its image through the granular process
- The Freeze button responds to DAW automation directly, so freeze events can be drawn into the arrangement
- Nine factory presets included, with user preset saving and recall in .angfr format stored separately from factory content
- Installation Guide
- Mac installer
- Windows installer
- User manual (PDF)
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Core Engine
Granular Freeze Texture
Grain Freezer takes a short fragment of incoming audio and turns it into a continuous granular texture. That texture can sit alongside your original signal or replace it entirely, depending on how you set the Balance control.
Capture Control
Manual and Auto Freeze Modes
Manual mode lets you decide exactly when to capture, with Toggle and Hold behaviour and a Preload control that shifts the capture window anywhere from 150 ms before the command to the moment after it. Auto mode removes the decision entirely, refreshing the fragment on a timed or bar-synced interval, with the Ratio control setting the proportion of each interval during which the granular texture is active.
Stereo Image
Stereo Field Spread
A stereo input preserves its image through the granular process. Mono material on a stereo output is spread across the stereo field grain by grain, so a centred source naturally opens up into a wide texture as soon as the effect becomes active.
Presets
Factory and User Presets
Nine factory presets are included inside the plugin bundle. User presets save and recall in .angfr format and are stored separately from the factory content, so they survive reinstallation.
Important Information
INSTALLATION
Our Products are generally provided as Zip file downloads which in all cases will need to be extracted and saved to your hard drive prior to installation. Details on the different file type provided and what to do with them are below.
.alp Files – These are Ableton Live Packs and will either install directly into the Packs Section of the browser of Ableton Live or ask you to save them to your hard drive. For packs that install to the library, when you double click on them you will see a pop up window asking you to confirm that installation is ok as the files are described as “Legacy”. This is fine and you are ok to proceed, the packs are created using the format for an earlier version of Live and so remain compatible with the current version.
.amxd files – These are individual MaxforLive Devices and can be stored anywhere on your hard drive. We’d advise creating a folder for them and then adding that folder as a location within the Places section of Lives Browser.
LICENSE
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Grain Freezer?
Grain Freezer is a free stereo granular freeze effect by Amazing Noises. It captures a short fragment of incoming audio and turns it into a continuous granular texture, which you can blend with the live signal.
What formats does Grain Freezer come in?
On macOS it is available as both AU and VST3 in a Universal Binary installer covering Intel and Apple Silicon. On Windows it is a 64-bit VST3, available as an installer or a whole-bundle ZIP.
What are the system requirements?
macOS: Intel Macs require macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later; Apple Silicon requires macOS 11 or later. Windows: requires Windows 10 x64 or later. Windows 11 ARM is supported via x64 emulation using an x64 DAW. Compatibility with every DAW version has not been verified.
Does Grain Freezer include presets?
Yes. Nine factory presets are included inside the plugin bundle. You can also save and recall your own presets in .angfr format. Presets store settings but not the captured audio fragment.
Can Grain Freezer be automated?
Yes. The Freeze control can be automated directly from your DAW, so you can write freeze events into your arrangement and replay them precisely.
What happens to a mono signal when processed by Grain Freezer?
Mono material is spread across the stereo field grain by grain when using a stereo output. A stereo input keeps its original stereo image.
In Depth
What Grain Freezer Does
Grain Freezer is a stereo VST3 and AU audio effect from Amazing Noises. It takes a short fragment of incoming audio and turns it into a continuous granular texture. That texture can sit alongside your original signal or replace it entirely, depending on how you set the Balance control. The result moves from dry and present to suspended and atmospheric in a single click.
Two Ways to Work
Manual mode lets you decide exactly when to capture. Click Freeze and a 150 ms window is held and scattered into grains. Toggle keeps the freeze active between clicks; Hold sustains it only while you press. The Preload control shifts the capture window anywhere from 150 ms before the command to the moment after it, so what you hear in your head is what gets frozen.
Auto mode removes the decision entirely. Set a Time period from 0 to 16 seconds, or lock to a DAW bar subdivision from 1/64 of a bar up to 8 bars, and the fragment refreshes on its own. The Ratio control sets the proportion of each interval during which the granular texture is active. At Time 0, the effect follows the input continuously rather than holding any single moment: useful for a moving granular wash rather than a true freeze.
Blending and Automation
Balance runs from 0 percent, where only the original audio passes, to 100 percent, where only the texture is heard. Values in between blend the two, which means your next session can use Grain Freezer as a subtle shimmer behind a lead or as a complete replacement of the source. The Freeze button responds to DAW automation directly, so you can draw in freeze events as part of your arrangement rather than relying on manual clicks.
Stereo Behaviour
A stereo input preserves its image through the granular process. Mono material on a stereo output is spread across the stereo field grain by grain, which means a centred source naturally opens up into a wide texture as soon as the effect becomes active.
Presets
Nine factory presets are included inside the plugin bundle. User presets save and recall in .angfr format and are stored separately from the factory content, so they survive reinstallation. Session files retain all control settings but not the captured audio fragment itself. When you reopen a project, Manual mode resets Freeze to off and Auto captures a fresh fragment from the input on the next playback.
Format and Compatibility
On macOS, one universal installer covers AU and VST3 for both Intel machines running macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later and Apple Silicon machines running macOS 11 or later. On Windows, a 64-bit VST3 installer supports Windows 10 x64 or later, and Windows 11 ARM with x64 emulation when used with an x64 DAW. A whole-bundle ZIP is also available for manual installation. Copy the entire Grain Freezer.vst3 bundle to your DAW’s VST3 folder; do not copy only the internal binary file.
Controls at a Glance
Drag any control to adjust it. Hold Shift for fine adjustment. Double-click to restore the default value. Time, Preload, Ratio, and Balance also accept typed values. Typed Time values are always in milliseconds, so type 1500 to set 1.5 seconds. The Freeze button is mouse-operated in the interface and automation-controlled from the DAW.
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