Granular Synthesis involves splitting audio into small slices or ‘grains’ of sound, and resynthesizing them to create a new sound. It is great for achieving glitchy, detailed, textured and abstracted sounds.
“Grains can be derived from an audio sample, or extracted in real time from a track in your DAW or an incoming live audio signal. As such, granular tools often fall into two broad categories: synths, which are playable via MIDI, and processors that are essentially effects for your DAW, guitar pedalboard or Eurorack case.” (Sound on Sound)
“At high Densities dozens or hundreds of copies begin to overlap and the sound becomes smooth, blurred, and smeared. This, for many, is pretty much the main draw of granular synthesis: a source of rich, complex, somehow timeless textures that are well suited to textural backdrops, atmospheres and slow, playable pads.” (Sound on Sound)
In the piece, ‘Riverrun’, Barry Truax uses a granular synth to create an interesting, fluid and evolving piece of ambient music. I really like this piece, and the way it creates a sense of seeming randomness while evolving compellingly over its duration. I really like how the sounds morph and change, creating different experiences for the listener.
I love how it makes reference to the ever-changing sounds of rivers, simulating this through granular sound. This is something Annea Lockwood was interested in with her river recordings, and it’s interesting to see a parallel in something much more electronic. In these early days, Barry had to make his own software (called the GSX) – manually inputting numbered data into the instrument to change the frequency and playback speed. It created loads of chunks of sound (grains) usually from sine waves, combining them together to create very rich sounds.
I love this explanation of granular synthesis, with an interview from Barry Truax himself.
Another helpful resource is the granular synthesis article on Sound on Sound, found here: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/granular-synthesis-practical-introduction
How could I use this myself?
I really love the soft, dreamy and ethereal sounds that granular synthesis is able to create and would love to use it more in my folk music practice. It would be good for creating any sort of texture which is slightly otherworldy, for example in an otherworldly sound design for a theatre or radio show. In my ambient music practice, too, I am inspired by Barry Truax’s work and would love to creating experimental and evolving sounds which are floaty and almost cloud-like.