Granular Synthesis
microsound · grain clouds · time-stretch
Physics: Granular synthesis: signal as cloud of ~10-200ms grains. Each grain = short window of sound × bell-shaped envelope (Hann/Gaussian). Gabor (1947): minimum time-frequency product Δt·Δf ≥ 1/(4π) — the quantum of sound. Grain size ~20ms: smooth texture; ~5ms: pitched (repetition rate determines pitch). Time-stretching: use grains at their original pitch but vary the overlap/density — halve density to stretch 2×. Curtis Roads "Microsound" (2001). Used in Pro Tools, Ableton, and Logic for time/pitch shifting independently.