Granular Processing in Ableton Live

As musicians and producers, we’re always on the hunt for new sounds. These can be in the
form of instruments or effects. Filter sweeps have become so ubiquitous, many won’t touch
them. Flangers and phasers were invented decades ago, so, while still serviceable, the word
“new”, hardly applies. Where to next, I hear you ask? Granular processing. A comparative
new kid on the block, Granular processing brings a host of new possibilities to the table.

For many, their first encounter with granular processing was by way of the native Ableton
Live device, Grain Delay. Somewhat incredibly, Grain Delay was released with the original
version 1 application. This sleeper stills sound fresh today and has inspired countless plugins
from myriad developers: Arturia Fragments, Output Portal and Sound Toys Crystallizer are
some of the most extensive granular plugins that arrived more than a decade after the Grain
Delay. There are a host of granular samplers and synths on the market too, but rather than
getting the wallet out, in this tutorial we’ll look at ways to create a Granular playback
sampler using Live’s inbuilt Sampler instrument.

Before we progress, let’s look at what Granular processing actually is. In both the digital and
analog worlds, sounds can be recorded and played back with incredibly high fidelity. Until
relatively recently, this process saw the recorded sound played back in a linear fashion, from
start to finish. With some ingenuity and a tape deck, samples/recordings could be reversed,
pitch shifted, distorted, flanged and more. Implementation was difficult, however, and many
artefacts and side effects were generated at the same time. In the analog domain, slowing
down or speeding up a recording, resulted in the lowering or raising of pitch. Additional
artefacts were produced as the formants of the recording were also manipulated. (Formants
are dominant frequencies that give human voices and instruments their characteristic
sound.) Composer, Michael Nyman happened upon this by happy accident. When recording
his masterful ambient piano piece, Decay Music, the tape played back at the wrong speed at
some point in the production process. Not only did this lower the pitch of the piano, the
timbre or tone of the instrument was also darkened. The Beatles and Led Zeppelin famously
experimented with this effect too. On Strawberry Fields forever, John Lennon recorded the
vocals with the tape sped up so that when it was slowed down, his voice had a decidedly
sombre, alto texture. On the Song Remains the Same, Robert Plant went in the other
direction, resulting in a brighter and more exultant sound.

So, what does this have to do with Granular processing? For a long time, as discussed above,
the stretching or shrinking of a sample produced a number of artefacts, both desirable and
undesirable. As digital playback systems increased in power and complexity, samples could
be easily manipulated in new ways. One of the key features and selling points for Ableton
Live, from the first version, was the ability to stretch and shrink songs so that DJ’s could alter
the tempo of a track without altering the pitch or the formants. A revolution is born!
Perhaps not well known, is the fact that this was achieved with granular processing. An
algorithm was developed to capture short samples, or “grains”, of audio from the original
source. These were randomly inserted and crossfaded, in between samples of the original
audio, to extend the length of the original recording without noticeable artefacts and is now
features in every major DAW. As Ableton had already completed the leg work to develop
this algorithm for time stretching, it wasn’t a great leap to repurpose the technology into a
device to process audio. The Grain Delay was born.

Fast forward almost 20 years, and the version 11 release of Ableton Live brings with it a host
of new granular processors for sampling and audio manipulation. Rather than drawing on
these, in this tutorial, we’ll make our own Granular sampler.

Granular Sampler
Using Ableton’s Sampler device to modulate a number of playback parameters we can
create a Granular Sampler to create some beautiful sound design possibilities. First, find a
sample. To best illustrate the technique, use a simple sound. (Once familiar with the
technique, experiment with all kind of samples and prepare to amazing and repulsed in
equal measures!) Assuming you have the Grand Piano pack installed in Ableton Suite, type
CMD/CTRL + F to bring up the browser and type “grandpiano c2”. A similar sample can be
found here, at www.freewavesamples.com Drag one of the notes into the drop zone at the
bottom of a midi track and it will automatically open into the Simpler device. From here,
right click on the device header in Simpler and right to click to reveal the context menu.
Select the “Simpler -> Sampler” option at the bottom of this menu. Now, copy the
parameter settings that have been changed, inside the green boxes.

Sample Tab

Some key considerations are as follows:

 Snap – Disabling Snap, allows the Sample Start, Loop Start and Release Loop settings
to be set at any point in the sample, rather than just a zero crossing. When enabled,
this parameter, forces these parameters to the nearest zero amplitude sample to
avoid clicks. In this instance, we want flexibility, so turn it off. (The click will be
removed by adjusting the Attack envelope later.);
 Sample Start – This sets the playback start position. It can be set anywhere, but by
making it a little later, the delay between sample start and the looping grain segment
is reduced;
 Sustain Mode – When a note is held, the sample plays back and forward between
the Loop Start and Loop End values, configured next;
 Loop Start – Defines the looping region start after the sample passes through the
Attack and Decay stages, to enter the Sustain phase;
  Loop End – Defines the end of the sustain, looping region. With these settings, the
grain size is approximately 130ms. This parameter wildly effects the sound. When
you set it the minimum possible value, expect some crazy sounds;
 Crossfade (sustain) – As the sustain portion of the sound cycles back and forward,
the Crossfade parameter softens the transition as the sound cycles back and forth.
Setting this to 0 creates some glitchy artefacts, so experiment;
 Release Mode – As a note is released, the sample plays back and forward from the
Loop End to the Release Loop end;
 Release Loop – Defines the section of audio to be looped when the note is released.
n.b If the Release parameter on the Filter/Global tab is set to zero, this will have no
effect; and
 Crossfade (release) – Again, this smooths out the glitchy artefacts.

Many of the parameters affect each other, so start with these to ensure it works. Once
you have working, tweak like crazy to explore more sonic possiblities. Remember, you
can adjust parameters with the mouse, or click once, type the value, then hit enter.

Global Tab

Not as many changes here, thankfully!

 Attack – This slows the onset of the sound and removes any clicks that may have
been created during the previous step. Adjust to taste;
 Sustain – After the Attack the Decay have been played out, the Sustain is heard. This
has been reduced a few dB to emphasize the Attack and Decay settings. A common
approach in sound design to create the sound’s transient;
 Release – In combination with the Release Loop in the previous step, Release defines
how long the sample takes to fade out when note is released.
 Voices – This defines the number of individual notes playable simultaneously.
Modulation Tab

This is where the rubber hits the road. In this tab, well use LFO 2 and LFO 3 to achieve the
granular processing effect.

 LFO 2 and LFO 3 – These are set to modulate the Loop Start point and the Loop
Length, respectively. The short grain of sound defined by the small looping time set
in the sample tab, now scans back and forth randomly as a note is sustained. Enter
the grain!
 Type – This is set to sample & hold/random. With this setting the Loop Start and
Loop Length values will jump around randomly, as seen in the GIF below;
 Freq – Defines the rate at which LFO 2 modulates/changes the destination
parameters set in the A and B modulation destination drop down boxes;
 “A” (modulation destination) – The modulation destination parameter. Here, it is set
to Loop Start so LFO 2 will randomly modulate the start position for the looping,
sustain portion of the sound. For LFO 3 ,it is modulating the Loop Length. The box to
the right of these sets how much these parameters are modulated by LFO 2 and LFO
3. Positive values will shift the Loop Start and Loop Length parameters towards the
end of the sample. Negative values will shift the Loop Start and the Loop End
towards the start of the sample.

So now we have it! A granular sampler. Once you have it working, you can add some delay
and reverb on it to create an epic sound scape that could fit nicely into a host of genres from
synth wave to ambient. Better yet, why not have some grains with your grains, and add the
OG, Grain Delay. This one is a wild beast and a warrants a tutorial in its own right. As a
starting point, try the settings indicated below.
All things going well, you should have crafted your own granular sampler. Using a simple
sample, such as the single piano note, can create beautiful, evocative pad sounds that keep
us clear from the generic lure of the preset.

Below you can download a session file with the Grain Sampler nested into a macro
controller rack for easier control. I added a cheeky FM macro or two for extra spice. Happy
tweaking!