Buffers can be shared amongst any combination of units, so you can throw some external audio into a looper and then have a manual grains (or 3, or 4) use the same buffer elsewhere in the patch while the audio is continually updated. Sample scanner and manual loops could also be fertile units to play with this way. If the play and record heads cross paths at the wrong time it’s possible to create clicks and pops, though.
The feedback looper is really powerful for this sort of stuff. I like to run audio in, then through a granular delay for pitch shifting, then into a feedback looper. Insert modulation wherever you want and enjoy. Clocked random gates controlling the looper (reset/engage/punch) produce nice generative results, and often I’ll throw quantized pitch CV into the delay’s v/oct control. Combinations of modulated effects/filters/distortion preceding the looper also get awesome results. I like keeping feedback and fade at zero for total replacement of material inside the buffer (i.e. maximum glitch) but I’ve had fun modulating that parameter, too!
The wonderful sloop unit would also be a great fit.
