Granular Synthesis is one of the most powerful forms of synthesis out there. Flume's latest mixtape: Hi This is Flume, has massively increased the popularity of Granular Synthesis, where it had little attention before.

2021 Live Online Enrollment Closing SoonFor more info: https://beatlabacademy.com/beat-lab-live-online/-. Robert Henke has released Granulator II, a free granular synthesizer developed with Max for Live. Granulator II is a Max4Live synthesizer based on the principle of quasi-synchronous granular. Hey Audio Lovers!:)I followed the steps in the comments section from 'REQ: Ableton Live Suite v10.1.9' from the sister site to install the suite (DL. Ableton Live creator Robert Henke (Monolake) has released Granulator II, a free Max for Live synthesizer. Here’s what Henke has to say about the free software synth: Granulator II is a Max For Live synthesizer based on the principle of quasi-synchronous granular synthesis. Robert Henke has released Granulator II, a free Max for Live synthesizer based on the principle of quasi-synchronous granular synthesis.

In this article, I will discuss what Granular Synthesis is and how to make it to sound like the electronic music wizard, Flume.

Granular Synthesis is the process of breaking down an audio sample down into tiny ~1-100 millisecond pieces, these are what are called 'grains'.

Think of it like video - a series of images, that when played at a certain speed and in the right order, create seamless motion. The grains in an audio sample function in the same way.

What Granulator Synthesis allows you to do is gain control over the audio grains and manipulate them in such a way as to create unique and a legitimately unlimited number of arrangements of the grains.

There are heaps of options for granulator synthesis plugins, my favourite is Quanta by Audio Damage. For those with Ableton's Max For Live, there is also Granulator 2. Other plugins you can use are Padshop & Portal by Output. I haven't used either of those but I have heard good things.

For this post, I'm going to use Quanta, as that is the best plugin from my experience and the one I used to make all the Granulator Synthesis samples you'll find on this website.

It's a fairly straightforward layout. You drag and drop any audio sample (even full length songs) into the top section and from there the main area of focus is the Grains section.

The grains knob controls how many grains you will be sampling.
Length controls how long those grains are.
Tune obviously controls the tune of the grains. I normally leave this as is.
Position knob controls the playback position of the sample you have imported.
The big shape knob controls the volume shape of each grain
And the random knobs alongside each of these control the amount of randomization applied to each.

The randomisation knobs are very useful as they allow you to add diversity to parameters, making them change and not sound like a repetition.

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You can also modulate the position to create evolving, more interesting sounds.

I always have the width and level of the grains set all the way to 100% and the level of the oscillator all the way down.

I also normally use anything above 15 grains and more than 100 for the length. Obviously this depends on the sound but it's a good starting point. Windows 10 black edition 2018.

I recommend putting slight randomisation on thee grains and length to mix things up a bit, and definitely randomise the position. Randomising the position will give you the most interesting sounds.

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That's pretty much it for the basics, you can mess around with those parameters and chuck in different samples for days and still not run out of unique, cool-sounding ideas. To further tweak the sounds you can move into the FEG, FLFO and Matrix tabs.

In the FEG section, you can adjust your ADSR shape and control how the sample loops (if at all).

Inside the Matrix tab, you can assign envelopes and LFOs to modulate parameters and you can further tweak this in the FLFO tab.

If you're interested in Granular Synthesis, I've created a series of sample packs in the style of Flume & Quiet Bison using the techniques above. You can get 500+ samples, which is over 2gb of samples for £3.99 (Save £19.98)

18 JUNE 2016 | 628.1 kB

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. 'Granulator' is a sample-based granular synthesizer.
Aptly called a sound artist, Robert Henke spans the divide between musician and technician. A preeminent figure in modern electronic music, Robert and his collaborative music project Monolake have had an immeasurable influence on the sound of Berlin techno. As one of the founders of Ableton, Robert is no stranger to creating new tools for electronic music production and performance.
Creating the ultimate customized granular synthesizer has been a labor of love for Robert for more than a decade. Enter the Granulator: a granular synthesis-based sample playback instrument.
What is Granular Synthesis
Granular synthesis is a technique that involves dividing a sample into very short pieces, and then playing the pieces back superimposed and crossfaded with one another. These pieces, or 'grains,' are usually under 50 milliseconds long and sound like short clicks when heard individually. But when layered together, grains can produce lush textures with rich modulation possibilities.
Using the Granulator
Ableton Granulator 2

To use the Granulator, drag a sample onto its waveform display. You can then adjust the length of the grains and the density of their overlap with the Grain control. The playback position within the soundfile is set with the FilePos knob and can be modulated randomly or via the built-in LFO.
In addition to controls that influence the playback of the grains, there are also a number of 'classical' synthesis parameters such as an ADSR envelope, two multimode filters and an FM oscillator that can dramatically alter the overall timbre.
Granulator Companion Device
Granulator comes with a companion device called GranulatorInput that enables live input functionality for the Granulator. When the GranulatorInput device is on a track, any audio on that track can be captured in real-time by pressing Granulator's Grab button. The captured audio is then loaded into the Granulator automatically.