synth talk / lazy synth?

[Bloated Slutbag]

I still don't know what granular synthesis is. Don't think I care either.

Always the talk of "lazy PE", which I find quite lazy. What about lazy generic piss awful noise? Why does that always get a free pass?

Rehash of the same response to the same complaint from I believe the same person: semantics.

Call it noise, beat the critics to the punch. Power electronics, well, you got that name to live up to.

edit
Blame Willy (aka Juntaro's dick), call it even?

[teenagelightning]

The distinction of power electronics vs noise is hardly semantic.

[GEWALTMONOPOL]

Granular synthesis means that...

Thanks for the explanation. I assume there are multitudes of software available that'll do it by the click of a mouse now.

[collapsedhole]

i really had no idea what it was either. interesting, i guess.

when i heard the term here, i had some vague memory of a buddy of mine back in highschool (~20 years ago) zooming in on .wav files in a .wav editing program to the point that they were just dots, and cutting and pasting segments only a few dots/miliseconds in length... though his result after endless nights of doing this was some clicking type sound which he used in a project that sounded like a mix between early front line assembly and autechre... i feel like what you guys are talking about matches that concept but it apparently makes "all types of sounds"....? i didn't know there were pedal type gadgets that did such a thing, i don't comprehend how they can do that to a live signal, and personally i cannot at all imagine what this would sound like.

[Balor/SS1535]

Granular synthesis means that you take an audio signal (generally a waveform but that can even be a sample) , split it in slices that last a certain number of milliseconds (called grains, hence granular synthesis), and put them back together in a different order, or on top of each other. And it makes a processed sound that's different from the one it's supposed to sound like.

I think it can sound great but most people make it sound like crap to my ears so I never use it.

Is this something that is usually done manually, or are there programs that do the cutting and pasting for you?  I have never heard of granular synthesis before either, but would now like to give it a try.

[cosmonaut]

I think it can sound great but most people make it sound like crap to my ears so I never use it.

Is this something that is usually done manually, or are there programs that do the cutting and pasting for you?  I have never heard of granular synthesis before either, but would now like to give it a try.

Soundgrain and Hourglass are free standalone apps with a lot of features (esp Hourglass) and if used in non-trivial ways can give interesting results. But there are pedals and Eurorack modules too. Being a digital process, using a computer seems to me the most straightforward.

Granulation, as well as other academic techniques like spectral processing, are used in SM/DP : Fault-Tolerant System , a side project by the man behind Umpio. http://www.umpio.com/nekorekords/ Like most of his stuff, this is excellent work.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

I don't know the pedal above but I assume, since there's a loop control on it, that you can record a loop that the different knobs dismantle as you tweak them.

[NIT]

I've been creating animal vocal sounds and disturbing humanoid screams using just the Korg DS-10 on the Nintendo DS.
[/quote]

Can u elaborate on this? You are able to process voice through this setup?

[Cementimental]

Nope just managed to synthesise some really vocal-like sounds using very limited means

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

I've been creating animal vocal sounds and disturbing humanoid screams using just the Korg DS-10 on the Nintendo DS.

Can u elaborate on this? You are able to process voice through this setup?
[/quote]

You can also create vowel-like sounds on a synth by simulating the acoustic resonance of the human voice using (generally) resonant bandpass filters. It's called formant synthesis.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

What about lazy generic piss awful noise? Why does that always get a free pass?

I think there is / was quite a lot of talk about that. I have been perhaps even too vocal about my dislike towards "HNW". Not the *good* HNW, but the stuff that feels 100% generic and lazy. Not sure if I have anymore more criticism to give, what have not been said before. Most would be almost same that is expressed in this topic in context of PE.



I think those who want to see and hear, how granular synth stuff happens, check for example:

Crusher-X demonstration, which should be giving pretty good examples of how it works with "electro acoustic" / movie sound effect type of stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=2FEGemYyglQ
There is demo version of this synth to download from company site: https://www.accsone.com

Hardware version for those who don't work with computer screens could be GR-1. There are others too, smaller, and more complex and bigger ones too. Usually less interesting droning sounds or dance beats are used as sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYRCIcnGnbc

If people feel like going deeper into this technology, perhaps topic in gear part of forum? Even if I can pretty much say that I do not like what I have heard done with it, there are some elements in this gear that I would be curious to try out few things.

[Bloated Slutbag]

The distinction of power electronics vs noise is hardly semantic.

Not sure anyone suggested that. It was more how a "get out of criticism free" card might be played wrt the one and the other (notwithstanding the questionable defense of such a play). Plus, I'm not sure I agree with the original complaint. There's always been plenty of criticism to go around (I thought).

But now that you mention it, I suppose it can be. Macro or Sickness call what they do "harsh power electronics", no one bats an eye*. Pittsburgh PA later earns honorary Canon Of PE status. Maybe there's another card you can play. The "do it well enough, call it whatever you damn well like" card.

*I suppose if there were any issues there, may I suggest the designation of an exciting new genre: "Harsh It's Free Country Motherfuckers Electronics"

[Soloman Tump]

Personally, I don't care what genre tags are given to a sound.

They can help to give me an understanding of what to expect before I listen, but If I enjoy it then that is the best metric.

==

Give 10 people the same ingredients to bake a cake, they will all look and taste different and not all be to your liking.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

Any kind of synthesis works well for noise, it's all subjective. I also guess most people who use synths to make noise don't know what kind of synthesis they use to make what they do, which is fine. Sometimes it's not necessary to know something to use it. Like, I love that I cn indulge in making noise because I can create something without theorising much about the tools I use.

[Euro Trash Bazooka]

But for instance, I've been thinking a lot about how I could make generative noise lately, or how I wish I could make some noise with a Buchla synth (which I plan to get at some point and which uses a different kind of synthesis from the one we're used to.) Now theorising about synthesis and how we can use it gets good. But in the end it's always a matter of personal tastes.