How is Reaktor for Granular?

[awol9000]

I don't own Reaktor but I'm thinking of getting it for Twisted Tools ensembles. How is Reaktor for Granular synthesis? Anything comparable to others on the market? I don't have time to dive in and code stuff.

Rob

[Neon Breath]

Lot of people consider Reaktor as the granddad of granular synthesis. Personally (I owned it for along time) and it might simply be a matter of taste but I've never truly loved its granular sound, always found it very clicky & raw. But that might be something you're after though. There was always that little something I can't put my finger on that I never liked or kept annoying me. But.... You have TONS of granular ensembles, so that's really cool. Twisted Tools ensemble are pretty nuts too if you're after that type of wacky grainy sounds.

I suggest you to try the demo and try some ensemble coming with it and see if you like the way its granular engine sounds. Compared to some granular plugins on the market at the moment, I think it sounds a bit unpolished and outdated, but again that might just be a matter of taste.

[~Pd~]

Reaktor's granular synthesis is as clicky or smooth as you want it to be. There are parameters for all that. One thing you'll hear in the factory ensembles is use of the grain jitter inputs - I find that gives the instruments or effects a characteristic "Reaktory" sound so I avoid using them and modulate the parameters with LFOs etc instead.

Check out my free Frame granular ensemble for Reaktor. It should load in the Reaktor player in demo mode. Hold down some chords, sweep the sample position, adjust the smoothness and grain length controls. You can get a wide range of granular sounds out of Reaktor with just this simple set of controls.

It's still the king of granular.

[awol9000]

Lot of people consider Reaktor as the granddad of granular synthesis.

Cool, I did not know that. So, no Granular before Reaktor came out? I can see why Reaktor is so popular.

Check out my free Frame granular ensemble for Reaktor.

Thank you, I will take it for a spin.

I'm starting to think maybe I don't "need" other granular synths on my must have list.

[deastman]

Well, granular synthesis was not invented with the advent of Reaktor, but it did popularize it with a wide audience. Max/MSP is another way to go.

[SODDI]

I look forward to trying Frame.

I don't find Reaktor's granulators "clicky" - I find them whooshy and I long for some spaces between the grains.

I really like that Crusher-X handles the grains in a different way - applying a "window" to the grains makes them more distinct. (I would never buy Crusher-X ever again, but it is a neat granulation synth.)

[BBFG#]

Can't say I've had Reaktor long enough (less than a month) to do anything but compare it to my other Granular (Alchemy). Most of Reaktors Granular shipped patches are actually too clean and come out too subtle at times. I'm sure this is just the patches and not the machine though. Definitely will be downloading and checking out PD's Frame GE. I think its granular may prove to be a compliment to the granular I get in Alchemy. I definitely wouldn't call it a parent of granular though, more like a sibling.

Thanks PD for the Frame (downloading now).

[deastman]

I don't see how Reaktor's granular functions could be too clicky or too wooshy or too anything. Granular synthesis isn't an FFT process or anything... you're just looping samples! The amount of crossfade you apply to the loop point is going to determine how clicky or smooth it sounds, and that is really up to the instrument designer to implement.

[~Pd~]

I look forward to trying Frame.

I don't find Reaktor's granulators "clicky" - I find them whooshy and I long for some spaces between the grains.

I really like that Crusher-X handles the grains in a different way - applying a "window" to the grains makes them more distinct. (I would never buy Crusher-X ever again, but it is a neat granulation synth.)

Reaktor's grain cloud sampler module has a distance input port for knobs or modulation signals. Setting the distance higher than the grain size puts space between the grains. Setting it lower makes the grains overlap for a denser sound. I have a knob mapped to that in Frame to space out the grains. Mirage has a similar control but also allows grain overlap on a single note. Anyhow, the distance control in combination with the attack / decay per grain dictates what I think you're calling the "windowing".

Basically, if you know what you're doing with the grain cloud sampler module in Reaktor, you can get any granular sound you want, from luscious billowing swells of sound to harsh abrasive shards. (bleh, NI should be paying me to write this)

[vurt]

normally id suggest trying a demo, as we are discussing reaktor ill just say "get you credit card out"

[~Pd~]

Can't say I've had Reaktor long enough (less than a month) to do anything but compare it to my other Granular (Alchemy). Most of Reaktors Granular shipped patches are actually too clean and come out too subtle at times. I'm sure this is just the patches and not the machine though. Definitely will be downloading and checking out PD's Frame GE. I think its granular may prove to be a compliment to the granular I get in Alchemy. I definitely wouldn't call it a parent of granular though, more like a sibling.

Thanks PD for the Frame (downloading now).

The two major differences between Reaktor and Alchemy's granular implementations are the grain size and the smoothing / windowing. Reaktor's grain cloud sampler allows much larger grains, and you can change the individual grain envelopes in realtime, unlike Alchemy where you select a static window from a menu.

BTW, if you want a thicker sound from frame you can set the grain cloud module to overlap grains in its properties palette... actually, scratch that, I'll do a blog post showing how, I'm overdue for the next tutorial in the frame series anyhow.

[osiris]

Reaktor is granular heaven.
Don't forget Skanner also.

[Neon Breath]

Regarding the question 'How is Reaktor for Granular?' well it's good, of course. But it's not just the one and only choice. Today, purely for the granular synthesis I think HALion 5, Padshop Pro and Alchemy are all options more interesting than Reaktor, but again it might simply be a matter of taste. Even after years of use (yes I've built my own ensembles) I've never been truly amazed by Reaktor's granular engine.

Another interesting one you could check is Granite, from New Sonic Arts.

[electro]

Steinberg Halion 5 is extremely powerful combining muliples synthesis types including granular and pcm.

[BBFG#]

Steinberg Halion 5 is extremely powerful combining muliples synthesis types including granular and pcm.

Doesn't Halion 5 require an iLok though?

iLok is the only reason I stopped using Cubase.