Physics-driven note generator

Sand

Turn falling grains into evolving melodies. Pitch, weight, gravity and bouncing collisions shape notes and rhythm.

What it does

Each grain carries a pitch and a weight. Plate impacts produce notes and gates; overlapping falls create clusters and gaps.

Shape the motion with gravity, height, agitation, direction and five plate materials. Capture an 8- or 16-note phrase with Repeat.

Choose Modern, Retro, Steampunk or Future panel styles. Styling changes the appearance while preserving the musical behavior.

In VCV Rack, connect V/OCT to an oscillator, GATE to an envelope, and the envelope to a VCA. Sand produces control signals rather than audio.
Begin with 8–16 grains. Raise Clock Randomness for bursts and gaps; add Bounce for repeating impacts.
In a DAW, use the VST3 or Audio Unit MIDI FX format to drive an instrument. The gate/decay signal uses MIDI expression CC11.

Does Sand make sound by itself?

No. Sand generates pitch, gate and trigger control signals in Rack, and MIDI control in its DAW formats. Pair it with an oscillator or instrument.

Do the panel styles change the musical behavior?

No. All four styles share the same controls, connections and underlying engine.

Is there a Windows download?

The current release packages target macOS. No Windows release is offered here.