Morphagene

SampleStack supported

Make Noise

A tape and microsound exploration module with granular processing and splice navigation.

The Morphagene is Make Noise's take on tape music and granular synthesis, built as a single 20 HP Eurorack module. Instead of triggering one-shots like a drum sampler, it loads a stereo audio file called a reel and lets you play it back as a continuous tape loop, chop it into splices, and reshape it grain by grain. Gene-Size, Slide, Morph, and Vari-Speed are all voltage controllable, so the same reel can drift from a faithful loop to a dense cloud of microsound without ever leaving the module.

It is less a keyboard instrument than a texture and sound-design tool. Musicians reach for it for drones, musique concrète, evolving pads, glitch, and found-sound collage, where the point is to transform recorded material rather than play it back cleanly. That freedom comes with one strict rule: the Morphagene is particular about the exact file format it will load, which is where most of the setup effort goes.

Format

Eurorack, 20 HP

Sample Rate

48 kHz

Bit Depth

32-bit float

Channels

Stereo

File Formats

WAV

Storage

4 GB MicroSD card included (up to 32 reels), FAT32

Specifications

Depth	30 mm
Power	165 mA (+12V), 20 mA (-12V)

Features

Granular processing, splice/re-arrange
Forward/backward playback
Vari-speed (12 semitones up, 26 down)
Up to 2.9 minutes per reel, 299 splices
Voltage control over every parameter
Recording capability (24-bit codec)

Folder Structure

microSD Root (FAT32)/
├── mg1.wav
├── mg2.wav
├── ...
├── mg9.wav
├── mga.wav
├── mgb.wav
├── ...
├── mgw.wav
└── options.txt

Notes

Reels must be 32-bit float, 48 kHz, stereo WAV files
Named mg1.wav through mg9.wav, then mga.wav through mgw.wav (up to 32 reels)
Each reel is 2.9 minutes max
Reels placed in the root directory of a FAT32 microSD card
options.txt is auto-created for Auto-Level and firmware settings

Preparing samples for the Morphagene

Reels have to be 32-bit float, 48 kHz, stereo WAV files, placed in the root of a FAT32 microSD card and named mg1.wav through mg9.wav, then mga.wav through mgw.wav for up to 32 reels. Anything else either refuses to load or plays back at the wrong speed. A 44.1 kHz file plays sharp and short, a 16 or 24-bit file will not load, and a mono file needs its single channel duplicated to both sides first. Each reel holds up to about 2.9 minutes (174 seconds) of audio.

Splices are stored as ordinary cue points inside the WAV file. The start of the reel is splice one, and every additional cue point marks a new splice boundary, up to 299 per reel. Placing those cue points deliberately in advance means the module lands on musically useful boundaries when you turn Organize, rather than arbitrary points in the file.

SampleStack builds all of this in one pass: it converts source audio to 32-bit float 48 kHz stereo, carries or generates splice markers, applies the mg naming scheme, and lays the reels out on a FAT32 card, flagging any file that would fail to load before you copy it. The full Morphagene sample prep guide walks through the process step by step, and the WAV format guide covers why the module is this fussy in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

What sample format does the Morphagene need?

The Morphagene plays back 32-bit float, 48 kHz, stereo WAV files. Anything else either won't load or plays back at the wrong speed. Mono sources need to be duplicated to both channels before loading.

How long can a Morphagene reel be?

Each reel can hold up to about 2.9 minutes (174 seconds) of audio. The included 4 GB microSD card holds up to 32 reels named mg1.wav through mg9.wav, then mga.wav through mgw.wav.

How do splice markers work on the Morphagene?

Splices are stored as standard cue points inside the WAV file. The start of the file is splice 1, and each cue point defines a new splice boundary. You can have up to 299 splices per reel, and the module navigates between them with the Slide and Organize controls.

Why won't my reel load on the Morphagene?

The most common causes are a wrong sample rate (44.1 kHz instead of 48), wrong bit depth (16 or 24-bit instead of 32-bit float), a mono file, a file longer than 174 seconds, the file being in a subfolder rather than the SD card root, or a non-FAT32 SD card. SampleStack flags all of these before export.

Can I make Morphagene reels on a Mac?

Yes. SampleStack runs natively on macOS and includes a built-in Morphagene profile that handles the file format, splice markers, naming convention, and FAT32 SD card layout in one pass. You can also do it manually in any DAW that exports 32-bit float WAV with cue points (Logic, Ableton, Reaper, Audition all work).