Granular Synthesis

In the visiting practitioner series, we had Electric Indigo talk this week. An Austrian techno DJ, and multi-channel experimental electronic artist. She spoke a few times about granular synthesis, a topic I’ve heard about but never researched further or even used.

What is granular synthesis

Firstly, what do the words mean? Granular stands for granulation, a way how DAWs can break down audio. The original sample is split into a series of smaller samples (grains). This series, in order, is called the “graintable.” If the original graintable was played back at the original speed, the original sample would play.

Granulation is a process in which an audio sample is broken down into tiny segments of audio.

Griffin Brown, iZotope Contributor

We are able to adjust any grain in most software’s, for a whole range of sound design potential. Whether its looping, cutting or reversing an individual grain, the possibilities are endless. These grains are the reason why you can speed up a clip and the pitch wont go up, and vice versa.

Synthesis, means “the production of a substance from simpler materials after a chemical reaction.” In music terms, this means to create a complex sound using multiple other simpler sounds.

Mixing these two terms together gives the definition of granular synthesis; “the production of a complex sound using grains of a sampled sound.”

Using granular synthesis

I decided to try use a granular synthesis VST. The one I downloaded is called granulator II, which is free for Ableton only.

Granulator II was very easy to use but still has a lot of depth. I decided to automate the grain (how large the grain is), grain randomness (randomises the size of the grains), file position (where the sampled grain is), spray frequency (randomises the file position) and frequency (cut off frequency).

I also put Valhalla supermassive reverb to create an atmospheric, ambient, drone piece.

I automated the granular synth to create an evolving soundscape with no describable rhythm, yet still recognizable.

Even though this is a one minute clip. I really enjoyed using granular synthesis, Its a new and creative way to make sound which I have never used before. As I stated before, I was surprised by how understandable and simple the synthesiser was to use. Furthermore, I am excited to use this in my next piece, experimenting with grains further.