Granular Synthesis EXPLAINED

∿ Nebulae sample libraries: www.qubitelectronix.com/sample...
∿ Andrew Huang's video featuring Crusher X: • Making a 3 second song...
∿ Support these videos on Patreon: / whitenoises
∿ Download my music on Bandcamp
gregwht.bandcamp.com
∿ G r a n u l a r T o o l s ∿
∿ Nebulae v2: www.qubitelectronix.com/module...
∿ Clouds: mutable-instruments.net/modul...
∿ Ableton Granulator II: www.ableton.com/en/packs/gran...
∿ Fruity Loops Granulizer: www.image-line.com/support/fl...
∿ Malström: www.propellerheads.se/en/reas...
∿ Absynth: www.native-instruments.com/en...
∿ Crystallizer: www.soundtoys.com/product/cry...
∿ Crusher-X www.accsone.com
∿ L e a r n M o r e ∿
∿ Microsound by Curtis Roads: mitpress.mit.edu/books/micros...
∿ Sound on Sound article on granular synthesis: www.soundonsound.com/techniqu...
∿ Barry Truax article on granular synthesis: www.sfu.ca/~truax/gran.html
∿ Barry Truax article on granulation: www.sfu.ca/~truax/gsample.html
∿ Iannis Xenakis: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iannis_...
∿ Crusher X overview of granular synthesis www.accsone.com/crusherx/gran...
∿ M o d u l e s U s e d ∿
∿ Nebulae and Chance by Qu-Bit Electronix
∿ Clouds by Mutable Instruments
∿ Arp and Pluck by 2HP
∿ STO by Make Noise
∿ Pamela's New Workout and Tangle Quartet by ALM Busy Circuits
∿ uJack and Buff Mult by Intellijel
∿ StrongPWR by Konstant Lab
∿ Travel case prototype by me
∿ L i n k s ∿
∿ PATREON: / whitenoises
∿ BANDCAMP: gregwht.bandcamp.com
∿ INSTAGRAM: @gregwht
∿ MODULAR GRID: www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/v...
∿ TWITTER: @gregwht
∿ WHITE NOISES WEBSITE: www.whitenoises.co.uk
∿ PERSONAL WEBSITE: gregory-white.co.uk

[@narbra9678]

Amazing. I don't believe it. Gave a good, clear and concise definition in about a minute and provided the summary along with it instead of making you wade through 10 minutes of bullshit... and then offered examples... holy shit you purple unicorn you

[@Thebadpiper]

Thank you so much. It’s weird to watch a video for the first time, and instantly knowing my whole life is changing because of it. This is the world I want to explore

[@kojik4271]

watch a video online? Where have you been? lol

[@beatsbyguillermo8802]

as weird as it sounds, i know what you mean

[@sumeroo5689]

No

[@sumeroo5689]

@@kojik4271 no

[@sumeroo5689]

@@beatsbyguillermo8802 no

[@otisdone785]

Your vocabulary when talking about sounds is so inspiring.

[@OmriCohen-Music]

Oh wow, that was really nice! This combination of Nebulae and Clouds is mesmerizing... Thank you!

[@noahbrown334]

In love with the quality of your videos.. theyre all crazy informative at the depth i would want while never wasting time, always visually appealing, and educational in ways you never expect. All the while you actually source everything. Thanks so much and please keep it up!

[@naturarum]

very nice explanation. helped me clarify some notions of granular synthesis. that new Nebulae is a real powerhouse! I also can't wait to see what mutable instruments has in store for this end of year.

[@garaughty]

You have the most insightful videos on synthesis, really appreciate what you're doing !

[@fragileyouth4302]

You never fail to make me want new modules! Fantastic job my man :) also I love the discreet hainbach cassette

[@reggiep75]

I've always had a deep interest in modular synths since the Doepfer A-100 came in the scene in the mid 90's as it was young and new and not dusty, old and smelling of Kraftwerk, not in a bad sense ;-) , but they were the unaffordable synths we'd never ever get to play with and then suddenly we could all enjoy playing with them. With more powerful PC CPUs arriving in the late 90's/early 2000's, emulated synths became a thing and lowered the prices of everything. My own first experience of what I'll call 'ghetto mod synthing' was using the synths and modules in Reason (first version I got was 2.5) and patching them in a primitive fashion and using a keyboard with knobs on to get the closest I could get to the perceived experience and most importantly without wobbling pitch of the hot, old beasts. And here, in this video, you've got a good micro modular/travel unit and the units are affordable and with all the hands on feel and the immediacy of patching and jabbing a lead in a few different places out of pure experimentalism and just enjoying the warbling, burbling or grinding tones. Going to binge your content having recently found you after featuring in Sam look mum no computers's vid you featured in and now a new sub!

[@datavalisofficial8730]

I genuinely thought that i invented it and i was probably the only person or one of a really small group of people that did it I was just messing with the LMMS's built in sampler called audiofileprocessor and decided to cut very short waveforms of random samples Then i got a youtube shorts recommended to me called "microsampling tutorial" And i thought "ok more ppl do this but not like i do cuz i use a bunch of different "micro chops" or whatever at the same time Then i came to this video Thank you very much by the way i rly enjoy how you edit your videos and your voice for some reason sz

[@8MoonsOfJupiter]

Easily the best explanation of granular synthesis I've ever heard - easy to understand and well presented: thanx! Subscribed: hope you'll be adding more videos!

[@solitudeguard5688]

I use granular synthesis in almost all of my compositions. Bineural processing too.

[@MrMusic238]

Awesome lesson man! And an honourable commendation to your description 🙏

[@jonaseggen2230]

Thank you teacher, well done : ) Your way of explaining this, compared to other things I'v seen and read was really easy to comprehend and I think you got to the core here. Good I can't afford all these tempting modules you and others demonstrate on youtube as I don't even have time to play enough with the gear I already got.

[@jneedell1635]

Found my way back to your channel now that I've finally begun my modular journey! Love that you include VST examples here... another one I've been using is Reason's aptly named "Grain" which offers lots of control over things like loop points, playback direction, jitter etc

[@songsofsusannah]

Thank you! As a self-producing singer/songwriter, I keep seeing granular VSTi's and I had no idea what that meant, until today! Now, I understand how granulation allows digital audio to be sped up and slowed down without changing the pitch. I grew up with a record player and used to play with changing the speed, so between that experence as a toddler, and your video, I really feel that I understand granulation now, in a very in-depth way, and how it could apply to my future projects.

[@padenbergdall3451]

Thanks for all your demos. I’m looking to start a modular set up before long. I love my Moog and my DSI Prophet, but I need some more options. Your tutorials really break it down and make it not so scary. You’re the best.

[@erikeh2790]

Was just about to buy a microclouds, this video helps solidify the choice, thank you!

[@soniccompost]

Thanks I've been experimenting with granular synthesis in audiomulch but didn't really understand what I was doing. This has given me more things to try.

[@TroyBlackford]

I was very pleased to hear you cite the 2hp Pluck as pairing well with granular sounds. Couldn't agree more!

[@nodfactor8808]

Such great content and presentation! Very awesome and much appreciated.

[@joshbassett]

Great explanation and some really beautiful sounds.

[@stephenjames4937]

Thank you very much for this clear explanation and sensible demo! I've heard granular pieces by other chaps and disliked the stuttering sound, but you use the effect tastefully, and now I want a granular module for my nascent rig!

[@philippe9643]

Just discovered your channel. Incredible content, thank you so much!

[@MilesDLL]

so that's what culprate used at the start of Acid Rain... neat!

[@timrizzo3941]

Thanks for this explanation- I kind of stumbled into this world and learned some things intuitively before deciding to go back and try to be more intentional about it - though what I've found really satisfying is how this can happen as a performance, so you can settle on a particular algorithm (which itself can(should?) be modified in real time) and as you play and feed it input, it will output this beautiful cloud or cluster that's responsive in every way to what you've played- your own created world in a bubble, and as a performer you can float on top of it or dive beneath the surface. It reminds me of the struggle against entropy, and how allowing things to fly apart often doesn't result in chaos but in the emergence of new and unexpected patterns. It's been a while since I had my conception of music shaken up. Feels good.

[@dvalichannel]

damn bruh these ambients are amazing

[@sonic_detour3927]

I just found your channel this morning. Great stuff. Liked and subscribed.

[@katerinakaterin]

Clean, supported by understandable examples, explanation , approachable to the wider audience , nice!

[@d3a1990]

Love granular synthesis.. this is such a great explanation. Fantastic video!

[@Vadlife]

This is very enjoyable to watch. Looking into building my own rack. Keep up the good work!

[@garrettgengler7637]

You have a gift for teaching...amazing video my friend!

[@cheperez5202]

Great video, thank you. Being a newbie to synthesis (guitarist by nature) I have found a generous community willing to share info & technique! I am stepping away from iOS synths (love them dearly) into hardware synths. I have found a love for granular synthesis and all things modular. My musician friends give me a hard time but I’m finding some of them asking about it when I am listening to the Social Network soundtrack. Lol

[@col8981]

I put some granulated sugar in my coffee

[@MisterNiles]

Dammit. Me too.

[@outrunthis]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@rjw8631]

beautiful sounds, excellent and eminently understandable tutorial. this is how videos should be done. bravo. first class work!

[@Sinesquares]

Best explanation out there.. And a very cool module too!

[@ArielBissett]

You’re clever and I like you. Great book shots!!!

[@DJANTONIVS]

Thank you so much for explaining this in detail. Always wanted to know what Granular Synthesis was. Now I have a clear idea of what it is and which modules to chose. :)

[@aidanhanlon6290]

Thanks for putting the time into explaining this!

[@anthonyadeyemi6056]

Thank you. I've just started my journey into sound synthesis.

[@jppagetoo]

GlitchMachines make several VST plugins that include granulation in them. FractureXT and Quadrant are two examples. These plugins are meant to entitrely reprocess the source audio. The granular synthesis is a part of the larger overall sound processing engine. I watched your video so I could understand better how to use this processing. Thanks for the great info.

[@SheilaBugal]

Wow. I absolutely loved your explanation. It really helped me.

[@beatsbyguillermo8802]

great tutorial! you deserve more views

[@f11bot]

THIS IS AMAZING!! I’ve been developing car sounds and I just recently had the “idea” : I wish I could use an engine sound sequence and then just loop a portion of the sound depending on the RPM… Well just discovered that that is granular synthesis, I wasn’t even sure if it was possible!

[@zanerichter3806]

Absolutely BADASS!! Great explanation of granular synthesis, and a damn fascinating module! Is that a custom build?? It almost makes the Moog Sub 37 look boring, but I think it could pair quite nicely going into that bad-boy!

[@indiefilmcomposer]

Thx much you just sold me with e features and workflow, the sound, being able to reduce speed and keep pitch ......this seems easier to navigate and get results desired for me than morphogene which I never warmed up to it....sorry 4 the typos

[@chatolars]

Nice music...as always Greg

[@TROGULAR10000]

Thanks for this awesome video. I might get this module one fine day.

[@pulsavi6446]

Loving my clouds but Nebulae sounds fantastic, thanks!

[@rayderrich]

I already played with granular in UVI Falcon but still liked your explanation a lot, thanks for your clear videos.

[@simpson6700]

i like your volume balance. a lot of music making channels have their music way up so it sounds more big and impressive and probably so you can hear the details, but i just feel fatigued at the end of those videos and don't want to work on my own music anymore.

[@MultiRamaan]

Amazingly educational and interesting video. Thank you so much

[@dukeax6241]

Sounds lovely

[@TheNerubi0690]

Excellent explanation! thank you!

[@misokly]

Thank you for the great explanation and references. I would add Reaktor from NI to the list of software for granular experiments. You can build your own synth or use one from User Library

[@sentinelproductions7565]

such a helpful video!! thank you for explaining this!

[@ajwalker83]

🌟❤️ This is all pretty awesome! Thanks for the explanation. Subscribing and passing along vid to class today.

[@anderslundolsen6489]

It is nice to get a simple explanation, that can help you understand the things that everyone else is jumping over. Thank you. I stated with the Grainstorm App. It would be fantastic if you explained the basic concepts using that.

[@MrFlatlandcycle]

I really like the pitch change when slowing down, I understand that Nebulae undoes that...That chip, Teensyduino.

[@brucehathcockmusic]

This is a great explanation really cool thanks so much.

[@OmizaruHaven]

I love this stuff, Squarepusher introduced this to me

[@TheObeseBeaver]

Best video for granular synthesis around

[@amundbisgaard7295]

This was mighty helpful. Thank you.

[@raoulvanherpen9620]

cool you mention Xenakis!

[@marcelomoura7584]

i love granular synthesis

[@JavierRuizGonzalez]

I was very impressed by the fact that you recommended Curtis Roads' Microsound. It's a very nice book. By the way, you may want to check the seminal work by Canadian composer Barry Truax. "Pacific" comes to mind.

[@AnalogueRecall]

Beautiful sounds..

[@ottozagala991]

Nice video! Really informative

[@LittleAmbientMachine]

very useful i was was in between the morphagene and the Nebulea. But after seeing this video i'm pretty much convinced that i will get the NEBULAE

[@constmusic1]

Thanks a lot for this video! It was greatly explained!

[@youwot2430]

great video mate, very useful.

[@margotbucau4510]

If you like granular synthesis you should also try the GRM Tools, IRCAM's CataRT and Karlheinz Essl 's standalones. Great stuff !

[@darklightprojector2688]

@Margot Bucau I’ve been looking for stuff like this, thank you!

[@fantasticsituation9461]

excellent, clearly explained video. thankyou

[@LeeCantare]

nice demo on this!

[@williamthazard]

very helpful stuff! Thanks for this

[@AlanDear]

Thanks! Great vid as always

[@WillKinsella]

Great stuff, thanks for sharing

[@alejandronieto576]

Thank you so much from Argentina.

[@PhilsHarmony]

Excellent video, well explained. Thanks!

[@bewildergoose]

When did that tuning fork become part of your rig? You absolute mad man. This is really nicely explained, and the stuff you're producing from it is proper lovely. Good to hear you reppin' Curtis & Iannis.

[@WhiteNoises]

Haha it's great, I've had it for a few months but not had it in my main rig til now. And thanks my brother. Got to remember the greats!

[@josepmiquelveramaiquez6273]

Good and clear explanation. Thanks!

[@darrenelkins5923]

Great tutorial. Thanks

[@pedrott6904]

awesome vid man, you should try tardigrain

[@motoboy6666]

Dude, whats up, liked your clips.

[@nichttuntun3364]

I enjoyed your great video. Thank you.

[@LukasFink1]

There actually was a device that allowed to alter pitch and speed independently completely analog. The principle was pretty similar to granular synthesis: It head a read head that rotated above the tape. The speed with what it rotated can alter the pitch, while the linear movement of the tape can alter the speed.

[@xoxxoxoxoxoxx]

wow wow wow. this is the only youtube comment that i haven't regretted reading. thank you that's so so cool

[@RaccoonEatingCacti]

Tempophon or Springer Machine, for reference. Not alot out there about this device! been around as early as the 50's, from what I can tell... Tried to cobble one together using the spinning tapehead from a VCR. No luck so far

Amazing video! Thank you!!!

[@kuldeepgohel29]

You look like a good human; thank you. God bless...

[@megumin4625]

Dang, I just learned how to create crazy pads just by understanding this technique you showed

[@trancecrafter]

subscribed to your channel on the basis of this video being awesome.

[@TheDustmeister88]

I know I'm 3 years late, but, I really enjoyed your video Cheers.

[@DanShaw]

Very informative. Thank you!

[@airerobertson5138]

Thank you so much， this was so helpful

[@XRXONE]

Great video !

[@Debugnus]

Another great video- Thanks

[@avantlanuit]

merci encore pour ces vidéos explicatives.

[@MusicSpeaks]

Interesting stuff!

[@robertgoldbornatyout]

Thanks for the explanation.

[@woulg]

Absolutely brilliant explanation of granular synthesis! So inspiring! One small note is that the complex and complex pro warp modes in Ableton are actually spectral stretching, which just means you doing a Fourier transform on the signal, store the amp and phase of all the bins, and then play back from that buffer. You can sort of think of it as granular since the Fourier transform happens on little grains at a time (this is called your fft window), but depending on how you do either inverse fft or you can just resynthesize it by using a bunch of sine waves (that's sometimes called additive synthesis). The key difference is whether you do the Fourier transform or not, that's what makes it "spectral". Also, side note, there are other transforms you can use that do the same thing like wavelet or constant q, I think there are others as well, but they are less common afaik. In terms of how it sounds you can tell the difference by how sloshy it sounds, granular usually has sort of grainy sound (although that nebula thing sounds reaaaally smooth and nice) and spectral has more of a sloshy kind of sloppy sound. This is due to the fact that the Fourier transform has a trade off between fidelity in the frequency domain vs the time domain, you can kind of solve this with overlapping the fft windows but it does still sound kinda sloshy imo. Anyway, absolutely beautiful video again, I'm really happy to have found your channel and am looking forward to watching more. Great production, super clear explanations, wonderful sounds, all around brilliant. Edit: 3blue1brown does a couple good explanations of Fourier transforms and the Fourier series if you're interested

[@WhiteNoises]

Thanks very much for the explanation! Great to know

[@woulg]

@@WhiteNoises would be awesome to see you do a video on that stuff too! I tried but I bunged it up pretty bad (I'm not a great presenter haha) so it would be awesome to see a pro like you handle it. There aren't many great videos on this stuff unfortunately (at least not that I've found), even tho it's in basically every daw now.

[@larpos6149]

Hey i love your work..