What does a granular plugin do?
What is a Granular Plugin?
A granular plugin is a type of audio effect that uses granular synthesis to process and transform sound. Granular synthesis involves breaking audio down into tiny fragments called “grains” and then rearranging and manipulating these grains to create new textures and timbres. The grains are typically very short – ranging from 1 to 50 milliseconds in length. By chopping up the audio into microsecond pieces, granular plugins give you the ability to stretch, compress, scatter, randomize, and otherwise transform sound on a microscopic level (Source: https://output.com/blog/granular-synthesis-basics-guide-portal).
The “granular” in granular plugin refers to how the audio is processed in grains or particles, rather than processing the sound waveform as a whole. This approach provides capabilities like time stretching with unmatched flexibility, texture generation, and the ability to separate and rearrange transient elements in new ways. The small grain size also allows granular effects to perform extreme transformations that would cause unwanted artifacts with other processing methods. In summary, granular plugins give producers and sound designers unique creative control over texture, space, pitch, rhythm, and more through micro-level sound particles.
History and Origins
The granular synthesis technique was originated by Greek composer Iannis Xenakis in the late 1950s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granular_synthesis. He experimented with tape edits of natural sounds and applied mathematics and probabilities to music composition. Xenakis is known as the inventor of granular synthesis, which involves using tiny snippets of sound called grains and manipulating them to create textures and timbres.
In the 1970s, Curtis Roads significantly expanded on Xenakis’ ideas while a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego. Roads wrote the foundational text on granular synthesis techniques in his book “Microsound” published in 2001 https://blog.native-instruments.com/granular-synthesis/. Other key early developers of digital granular techniques include Barry Truax, Horacio Vaggione, and Barry Vercoe.
Granular synthesis plugins evolved out of earlier audio effects like delay, flanging, phasing, and reverb. The increased computing power of digital audio workstations in the 1990s allowed for manipulating audio on a microsound level to create granular effects in real time. Some of the first commercial granular synths were the Metasynth by U&I Software and Granny by Robotic Bean.
How Granular Synthesis Works
Granular synthesis involves breaking down audio into very small snippets called “grains” and then manipulating and reassembling those grains to create new sounds (https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/the-basics-of-granular-synthesis.html). The key parameters of granular synthesis are:
- Grain size – The length of each grain, usually measured in milliseconds. Smaller grains allow for more detailed manipulation.
- Grain rate – The rate at which grains are selected and output, measured in grains per second. Higher rates result in a more continuous texture.
- Grain density – The average number of grains sounding at once. Higher density means more layers and complexity.
Grains are generated by taking small snippets of an existing audio sample. The start point, length, and envelope of each grain can be randomized or modulated to create variety. Grains may also be pitch-shifted, time-stretched, filtered, or processed. The manipulated grains are then combined and overlapped to form the output audio.
By precisely controlling grain parameters, granular synthesis allows complex sound textures and effects to be generated from a small source sample. Sounds can be stretched, morphed, blurred, scratched, or turned into ambient clouds. The micro-level control of grains creates endless possibilities for sound design.
Creative Uses and Applications
Granular synthesis opens up creative possibilities for sound design, experimental music, and audio for film/games. By manipulating tiny grains of sound, artists can create otherworldly textures, ambient beds, and futuristic effects. Here are some of the most common creative applications:
For sound design, granular plugins excel at making strange, abstract tones. Splicing micro-samples allows you to stretch, pitch, warp, and mangle sounds beyond recognition. You can turn a simple piano motif into a swirling, granulated dreamscape. Granular effects also work well on pads and synth atmospheres, adding depth and complexity. According to this article, popular uses include designing “alien landscapes” and “freaky vocoder” effects.
Experimental musicians leverage granular tools to create glitchy, avant-garde electronics. The granular approach aligns with principles of microsound and acousmatic music. Artists chop samples into tiny grains then radically restructure them into new forms. Granular plugins drive many of the intricate, pulsating textures in IDM, ambient, and other electronic genres. Pieces become more textural than melodic or rhythmic.
For film and game audio, granular plugins generate unnatural ambiences and backgrounds. They can quickly transform standard recordings into otherworldly beds. Quanta, for example, excels at “dark, tension-building” cinematic tones according to this overview. Granular effects also produce glitches and digital artifacts suitable for sci-fi interfaces. Overall, the goal is crafting immersive audio that transports audiences to fictional worlds.
Popular Granular Plugins
Some of the most well-known and widely used granular plugins include Output Exhale, PaulXStretch, Glitchmachines Fracture, Izotope Stutter Edit, and Native Instruments Granular Synthesis.
Output Exhale by Output Inc is a multi-effects engine specialized for vocals, with a granular mode that can stretch, freeze, stutter and manipulate vocals in intricate ways. It has become popular for its ease of use and high-quality sound design capabilities for vocals. Some key features include rhythmic repeats, pitch-shifting, and the ability to sculpt grains and textures [1].
PaulXStretch by Nasca Octavian Paul is a simple but powerful time-stretching plugin that can turn a few seconds of audio into minutes of ambient textures using granular techniques. It allows for extensive manipulation of grain size and density for drone-like effects. PaulXStretch is renowned for turning ordinary sounds into slowly evolving soundscapes [2].
Fracture by Glitchmachines is a granular effect plugin geared toward electronic music production, with a emphasis on glitchy and stuttering effects. It features buffer, pitch, time, and modulation controls. Fracture is especially popular for chopping up beats, textures, and loops to create intricate rhythmic variations [3].
Izotope Stutter Edit is a multi-effect plugin with a specialized stutter module that manipulates audio using granular techniques. It lets users sculpt, shape and transform sounds with effects like repeats, fills, and glitches. Stutter Edit is well-regarded for its extensive preset library tailored for different instruments and genres [4].
Native Instruments Granular Synthesis is a Kontakt instrument powered by granular synthesis techniques to generate rich, evolving textures and ambient soundscapes. It features controls over grain size, density, pitch, stereo position and more. The plugin has proven versatile for sound design across electronic and orchestral music [5].
Granular Plugins in DAWs
Many major digital audio workstations (DAWs) like Ableton Live, Logic Pro, and Pro Tools come with built-in granular synthesis instruments and effects. These integrated granular plugins provide easy access to granular techniques without needing to purchase or install third-party plugins.
Ableton Live includes Granulator II, a versatile granular synth and effect. According to https://blog.landr.com/granular-synthesis/, Granulator II features “up to 4 grain streams, with control over grain length, pitch, position, randomization, and more.” This gives producers extensive creative control over granular sound design.
Logic Pro’s built-in Sampler instrument can be switched to Granular mode, transforming it into a powerful real-time granular synth. Various parameters like grain size, density, randomization, and envelopes allow for nuanced sonic textures.
While Pro Tools doesn’t have a dedicated granular synth, the included Manipulator effect provides granular capabilities like time-stretching and pitch-shifting with an emphasis on transients. This makes it well-suited for manipulating and transforming drums and percussion.
Overall, major DAWs now include high-quality granular tools right out of the box. Their integration empowers more producers to explore futuristic granular techniques without costly investments in third-party plugins.
Techniques and Tips
There are many creative techniques for achieving different textures and sounds using granular synthesis. One key technique is manipulating the grain size. Using very small grains of 10-50 ms can create noisy, granulated textures, while larger 100-500 ms grains sound more tonal and pitched (Source). Another important technique is adjusting the grain pitch – randomizing pitch creates rich textures, while static pitches sound more melodic. Reducing grain speed elongates the grains for ambient drones, while increasing speed makes rhythmic effects. Automating parameters like grain size, pitch, position, density and speed over time can create dynamic, evolving textures (Source).
Other useful techniques include using envelope shapes to contour grains, applying effects like reverb or delay to smoothed-out grains, and routing grains to multiple channels for surround panning. Overall, manipulating grain parameters and automating them is essential for exploiting the creative potential of granular synthesis.
Limitations
While granular plugins open up new creative possibilities, they also come with some limitations to be aware of:
Granular synthesis can be very CPU-intensive. Running multiple granular plugins at once or using high sample rates/bit depths can quickly max out your computer’s processor. As noted on the Ambisynth blog, “The downside is that granular synthesis is processor intensive. It’s easy to run out of CPU power when working in real-time.” [1]
There is a bit of a learning curve to using granular tools effectively. As one Reddit user commented, “I find that granular stuff requires a lot of tweaking before it sounds good. More than a traditional synth for sure.” Carefully dialing in parameters like grain size, density, pitch, panning, and envelope takes practice to find the sweet spot. [2]
Following best practices can help avoid unwanted artifacts and glitches: use high quality source samples, adjust gain staging between plugins, automate parameters gradually, and high-pass filter low frequencies. As production expert Yonatan Popper writes, “Start from high quality samples and be gentle with pitch shifting to avoid artifacts.” [3]
Comparable Effects
Granular synthesis has some similarities to other common audio effects like reverb, delay, and stutter. However, there are also key differences that set it apart.
Reverb creates a spacious ambience by simulating sound reflections in a physical space. Delay repeats an audio signal at defined intervals. Stutter creates rhythmic repetitions of small slices of audio. While granular synthesis can achieve effects reminiscent of reverb, delay, and stutter, it works quite differently under the hood.
Granular synthesizers split sound into tiny grains down to 1-50 milliseconds in length. These grains can be reorganized, layered, time-stretched, and pitch-shifted independently to generate new timbres. The micro-level control over audio offered by granular synthesis allows for far more radical sound mutations compared to effects like reverb, delay, and stutter. Granular plugins give producers access to glitchy, fractured, and ethereal textures that are near-impossible to create through traditional means.
In summary, while granular shares some surface-level similarities with other effects, the ability to manipulate waveform grains at an extremely fine scale makes it an incredibly versatile and unique audio sculpting tool.
The Future of Granular
Granular synthesis continues to be an area of active research and development. Here are some of the exciting directions this technology may head in the future:
Advances in computing power and algorithm design are enabling more sophisticated real-time granular processing. This could lead to more expressive and flexible granular instruments and effects (source).
Granular techniques are being integrated with cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable generative and adaptive music applications. Systems can analyze sound sources and recreate them with intelligent granular processing (source).
Researchers are finding new ways to control and sculpt granular effects in real-time, opening creative possibilities. This includes things like using bio-signals and gestures to manipulate granular textures and behaviors.
Immersive audio applications like VR/AR are ideal platforms for dynamic and spatialized granular effects. Granular could play a big role in next-gen immersive audio experiences.
As granular research continues to advance, this technique will open new creative doors for cutting-edge electronic musicians, sound designers, and interactive media creators.