Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
MXR unleashes its excellent Textures Granular / Glitchy Synth Texturizer Engine with 3 Modes onboard - Delay, Auto Freeze, and Layers
Key Points
MXR’s Textures is a Granular / Grains pedal with GREEN Grains Delay, ORANGE Auto Freeze, and RED Layers, sustaining up to four notes or chords. Controls include Reverse, Time, Size/Length, Overlap, Regen, Pitch, Dry>Wet Mix, and eight Presets.
Mode and Reverse combinations add Reverb, Vibrato, Filter, Pitch Quantize, randomized settings, Regen Mix, and Randomised Reverse. Further actions include Preset Scroll Mute, Trails, Output Mode, Output Gain, and footswitch settings.
The format follows MXR’s Bass Synth, after the Poly Blue Octave and Joshua Ambient Echo. As of the article’s date, the price was £275 ($270).
I thought this was the 4th or 5th pedal that MXR had released in this format, while this exact format including the Presets only came in with last year’s Bass Synth! There were two pedals before that with the two colour-changing top push-buttons and 6 knobs - the first was the Poly Blue Octave in 2022, then the Joshua Ambient Echo in 2024. I though the Layers was similar - but that has quite a different topology,
I have a feeling that the Joshua will eventually be updated to include the Presets strip found on this Textures pedals and the Bass Synth.
So this is a Granular / Grains pedal with 3 main Modes and a million different secondary and tertiary options - as I touch on in the above visual, and summaries here below!
The 3 Modes
- GREEN Grains Delay - Notes and chords continuously recorded and played back as grains
- ORANGE Auto Freeze - Sustains each note or chord while continuously processing it as grains according to the pedal’s other settings. If a new note or chord is played, the pedal will adapt accordingly
- RED Layers - Like Auto Freeze Mode, but will sustain up to four notes or chords at a time. If a fifth is played, it will replace the oldest of the current four. This button’s LED flashes when the effect is frozen
Controls per Mode
GREEN GRAINS DELAY
Reverse [Reverse Probability], Mode : GREEN, Time : 50ms-2s, Size/Length : 60ms-2s, Overlap : 1-30 Simultaneous Grains, Regen : Delay Feedback / Repeats [Blend], Pitch : ±2 Octaves, Dry>Wet Mix, Presets : 1-8.
ORANGE AUTO FREEZE
Reverse [Reverse Probability], Mode : ORANGE, Time : 50ms-2s [Record Time], Size/Length : 60ms-2s, Overlap : 1-30 Simultaneous Grains, Regen : Feedback [Blend], Pitch : ±2 Octaves, Dry>Wet Mix, Presets : 1-8.
RED 4 NOTE LAYERS
Reverse [Reverse Probability], Mode : RED, Time : Attack / Fade-in, Size/Length : 60-500ms, Overlap : 1-30 Simultaneous Grains, Regen : Decay / Fade-out, Pitch : ±2 Octaves, Dry>Wet Mix, Presets : 1-8.
Further Options
MODE Options
- Mode + Time = Reverb Mix, Mode + Regen = Reverb Decay
- Mode + Overlap = Vibrato Rate, Mode + Mix = Vibrato Depth
- Mode + Size = Filter : <LPF | HPF>
- Mode + Pitch = Pitch Quantize
REVERSE Options
- Reverse + Time = Randomized Time
- Reverse + Size = Randomized Size
- Reverse + Overlap = Randomized Overlap
- Reverse + Regen = Regen Mix
- Reverse + Pitch = Randomized Pitch
- Reverse + Mix = Randomised Reverse
Final Thoughts
There are further Knob actions for Preset Scroll Mute, Trails, Output Mode, Footswitch Hold Mode, Output Gain, and Tap Switch Hold Mode - which you will need to consult the manual for.
There's too much detail to cover for what's supposed to be a fairly streamlined overview - while I want you to appreciate what you're getting here - including those additional Reverb, Vibrato and Filter options!
MXR seems to be the masters of kitchen-sinking these types of effects - it would for sure be easier to have some of those details on a screen - as you're never going to remember all the options by heart.
So there is a degree of inherent complexity here - but only if you want it - it's up to you really how deep you go - just know that it's and Iceberg / Tardis-like structure.
The Textures is priced at $270 / £275 - already widely stocked - and a decent price for what you're getting - certainly plenty to get stuck into - and some really cool tones and textures to be found!
Goes straight onto my wishlist! I will need to assign a priority and decide which slot it goes on - could happen as soon as next week - we shall see!
You can read up more about the Textures on the Jim Dunlop / MXR Website.
Demos
