What is granular synthesis in music?
Granular synthesis is a sound synthesis method that operates on the microsound time scale. It is based on the same principle as sampling. However, the samples are split into small pieces of around 1 to 100 ms in duration. These small pieces are called grains.
Who devised the theory of granular synthesis?
1.1 Dennis Gabor Dennis Gabor was first to conceptualize granular synthesis in 1946, in his Theory of Communication.
When was granular synthesis created?
Granular synthesis was first suggested as a computer music technique for producing complex sounds by Iannis Xenakis (1971) and Curtis Roads (1978) and is based on the production of a high density of small acoustic events called ‘grains’ that are less than 50 ms in duration and typically in the range of 10-30 ms.
How does a granular synth work?
Granulation is a process in which an audio sample is broken down into tiny segments of audio. These segments are called “grains.” You may see a different number from source to source, but a grain generally ranges from 1–100 milliseconds in length. The original sample is split into a series of smaller samples.
What does a granulator do music?
Sound artist Robert Henke creates the tools that define his sound. Using Max for Live, Robert made the ‘Granulator’, which can transform any sound into a lush soundscape or a wall of noise.
What are the differences between synchronous and asynchronous granular synthesis?
The inter-onset time is the duration between two adjacent grains. With asynchronous granular synthesis the grains are added to the texture without the strict linear relationship of synchronous granular synthesis. The relationship will contain random elements or there will be a very indistinct relationship.
How does wavetable synthesis work?
Wavetable synthesis is fundamentally based on periodic reproduction of an arbitrary, single-cycle waveform. In wavetable synthesis, some method is employed to vary or modulate the selected waveform in the wavetable. The position in the wavetable selects the single cycle waveform.
Is form a granular synth?
Form is a hybrid sample-based synthesizer. Drag and drop a file onto the interface, and then play them back using granular techniques to manipulating pitch and time and “track” through the sample at different speeds and with different gestures. That’s nothing new in and of itself, as a fundamental idea.
Is granular synthesis digital?
Granular synthesis is one of the most overtly digital approaches out there. In that sense, it excels at the creation of complex, otherworldly sounds that are a world away from the fuzzy warmth of analog. As a sample-focussed approach, granular synthesis is heavily influenced by the source sound used.