Composers' Desktop Project
| Soundfiles | .GRN File | Listen for: |
|---|---|---|
| omahum.wav | None | Input soundfile from Peter Karkut: 10.1749 sec, mono |
| default1.mp3 | default1.grn | 1. Fairly rough texture; NB: Scatter at 75, Wander at 0.5 |
| default2.mp3 | default2.grn | 2. Change Scatter & Wander to 0 and hear a rapid pulsation |
| default3.mp3 | default3.grn | 3. Hear a 2nd tone when move Grainsize to
20 or 25 ms. Scatter & Wander still at 0. |
| default4.mp3 | default4.grn | 4. Now hear what happens when Scatter (grain time displacement) is
moved to 30% Wander at 0 and Grainsize at 20 or 25 ms. |
| default5.mp3 | default5.grn | 5. Becomes slightly richer when move Wander (search range for
grains in infile) to 0.5 Scatter at 30% and Grainsize at 20 or 25 ms. |
| default6.mp3 | default6.grn | 6. Now keep the above settings and widen the texture with a Pitch Range of -1 – +1. |
| default7.mp3 | default7.grn | 7. Now keep the above settings and widen the Pitch Range even more to -2 – +2. |
| dtrack.mp3 | dtrack.grn | Somewhat resonant, lightly textured; note the moderate Density (3) and
fairly small Grainsize (74 – 98). |
| lightdtrack.mp3 | light_dtrack.grn | Resonance and pulsations due to long grains (200 ms) and Density up
to 4; Slight pitch range of a ¼-tone gives a bit more texture (0.5 semitone). Micro-tonal MIDI values can be used. |
| ambiopan.mp3 | ambio_pan.grn | Very audible Left/Right swings, due to the large Grainsize (200
– 400 ms) and pan across the full L/R Space |
| stereophase.mp3 | stereo_phase.grn | The relatively high Density (8) produces resonance; if move Density to 1, the Left-Right swings will be more evident. |
| pitchdown.mp3 | pitch_down.grn | The granulated output is lowered by a constant 5 semitones. Note that this is a Time Domain transposition (lower & slower). |
| omdemo1a.mp3 | omdemo1.grn | The salient feature is how the Pitch range opens out, using breakpoint
files. Density range is also high (16 to 31) and the Grainsize is long (181 ms.), contributing to a smooth overlapping of grains. |
| omdemo1b.mp3 | omdemo1.grn | Grainsize is moved to 38 ms., keeping all the parameters the same as
in omdemo1a. The output is still 'smooth', but sounds more like a swarm of insects. |
| om1.mp3 | om1.grn | Complex multi-breakpoint example. Note how the low Density breakpoint
file roughly follows the shape of the high Density contour: this gives a range, but keeps the lengths similar. The fairly large increase in Density (to 27-29), along with the opening of the Pitch range, is nicely timed so that the richer texture grows smoothly out of the source sound. |
- Invoke this HTML Play file and start up GrainMill by double-clicking on their name or icon, respectively.
- In GrainMill, Open the input soundfile omahum.wav. You can also open your own choice of soundfile. Omahum.wav was NOT 'associated' with the .grn Preset, so you are free to do so. You could also overwrite the existing sound and thus be able to use the RDplayex.htm HTML file to play your own examples. You can recreate the original examples by opening omahum.wav, the appropriate Preset, and re-making the example.
- In GrainMill, under Options/Settings:
- Set the Working Directory to the directory where these .GRN files examples (and omahum.wav – or another soundfile of about the same duration (10 secs) are located.
- You are recommended not to select Write to named outfile (i.e., leave it unticked) – then you can try out different parameter settings while writing to temporary files, only saving when you choose to do so (using Save As).
- Tick Keep Dialog Visible so it's readily available for Loading new .GRN files or making changes to the parameters.
- Look at each example in this HTML Play file in turn, then, in GrainMill, Load the appropriate .GRN file, Make the sound, and Save Soundfile to the name shown in the Play List (with the appropriate extension for your system).
- IMPORTANT: When loading the .GRN file, in all probability you will be given a message stating that your current directory and the directory named in the .GRN file are not the same, and asked if you want to change to the 'new directory'. The 'new directory' would be the one named in the .GRN file, so the answer is NO, i.e., you want to stay in the working directory you've already selected. If you then re-save the .GRN file, the new version of the file will contain a reference to your own directory setup.
- Go back to this HTML Play file and play the sound you've just made. The advantage of this HTML Play file is that you can easily move around among the other examples, playing them and reading the suggestions about what to listen for.
- You can see all the parameter settings in the GrainMill dialog box, but it might also be useful to print them out. These are the files with the .txt extension. You can also save your own settings as a text file with Save as Text.
- Hint: Use File/Compare with in the Breakpoint Editor to see both the upper and lower breakpoint traces for a parameter at the same time. You will probably need to click on the Align Vertical button.
- Using the temporary file mechanism in GrainMill, you can try out other changes to the parameters in a non-destructive way: i.e., leaving the saved soundfile in tact. You only overwrite it if you Save. You can of course Save As some interesting sonic result to a new soundfile name.
- You can also use this HTML Play file as a place to edit in your own comments about the examples or even to add your own examples.
(Ed., A Endrich) – Last updated: 21 February 2010
Revisions for Release 5: 19 May 2005 and 5 October 2005
mp3 format changes: 21 February 2010 (the source soundfile
is kept as wav)
Sound Examples © 1999-2010 Richard Dobson, Frome, Somerset