Re: [microsound] granulation

[Phil Thomson <philthom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Quote from Barry Truax's webpage:

>> However, granulation and its twin, granular synthesis, did not become a
viable compositional tool until I was able to develop a real-time
implementation in 1986.

Nicholas Kent replied:

> Further to comment I guess as 12 of the 17 refrences he cites are his
own so that alone might very well bear things out, but still I would
think real-time implementation has a much greater impact on the
> viability of performance rather than viability as a tool for composition.

<academicism>

As an historical note, Barry might not have been aware that there was an
implementation of real-time GS in Sweden in the late 70's, but certainly
his implementation is the one that caught on and made GS a "household
word" as it were (of course, the fact that Barry is my teacher might bias
my perception of that).

To reply to your statement re: real-time GS and composition vs.
performance: I guess it depends a lot on how you define "composition" and
"performance". Barry tends to "compose" by recording "performances" and
assembling those recordings into a work. Other people have found his
implementation useful in that respect.

In its early stages, Barry's implementation was probably not viable for
performing complex works in a live setting. Leaving aside that fact that
there was no way to run it off a laptop in the late 80's (!), the PODX
system could only manipulate a certain number of grain-streams at a time.
Most pieces made with Barry's GS implementation involved some overdubbing.
"Riverrun", for example, Barry's first work made using GS, consists of up
to 16 overdubs done in the studio.

Incidentally, Curtis Roads' book _Microsound_ has more details about
Roads' non-realtime implementations of GS, and the accompanying CD has
sound examples, as well as a history of the conceptual basis of GS and
granulation, which leads, not surprisingly, back to Xenakis, among others.

</academicism>

Phil

===========
Phil Thomson
home: http://www.sfu.ca/~pthomson/
label: http://centibel.vze.com/

groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/databenders/
http://www.freelists.org/webpage/experimustech
===========



===========
Phil Thomson
home: http://www.sfu.ca/~pthomson/
label: http://centibel.vze.com/

groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/databenders/
http://www.freelists.org/webpage/experimustech
===========

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