Reason Grain Explained

Thomas Cochran presents an in-depth look at Propellerhead’s Grain virtual granular synth. Learn all of its features and functions as well as interesting sound design techniques allowing you to fully command this powerful synth.

Videos
Introduction (04:53) - Thomas introduces the series and briefly outlines the interface of the Grain synthesizer. He also provides a brief explanation of granular synthesis and how it processes audio samples material.
Audio Sampler & Motion Modes (10:15) - Thomas begins his discussion on the Grain synthesizer by covering how to load and edit audio in the audio sampler. He also breaks down the audio motion modes in the synthesizer's sampler section that are used to playback audio.
Granular Oscillator Pt. 1 (08:27) - In this video, Thomas covers the tape mode, long grains mode, and the grain oscillator mode on the synth. Thomas explains the controls on each of the different modes and shows how they can be used to change the sound of a synth patch.
Granular Oscillator Pt. 2 (05:39) - In the second part of this video, Thomas discusses the spectral grains oscillator mode and shows how it can be used to alter samples in the synthesizer. He gives an explanation of spectral synthesis and the controls on the oscillator mode.
Pitch Controls & Sub Oscillator (05:34) - This video covers the pitch controls for the oscillator section of the synth. Additionally, Thomas talks about how to uses the sub oscillators to add additional frequency content to sounds. He discusses the controls on the sub osc, the waveforms, and the modulation controls.
Oscillator Audio Routing (02:56) - Learn how the audio on the synthesizer can be routed from the oscillators to the different parts of the synthesizer, as well as how to control the volume of the sub oscillator.
Filter Modes (06:37) - In this video, Thomas talks about the synthesizer's filter modes, filter controls, and how to use the envelope to control the filter's frequency cutoff.
Amplifier Envelope (07:59) - Learn how to use Grain's audio amplifier envelope to sculpt the volume of a synth sound. In this video, Thomas covers the basics of adsr envelopes and gives an example of how the audio envelope can be uses to create different synth sounds. This video also covers the gain controls, velocity scaling, and pan features in the amplifier section of Grain.
Advanced Modulation Envelope (08:40) - Follow Thomas as he discusses how to use the advanced modulation envelope on the Grain synth. He first gives an overview of the envelope's controls and then show how to map the envelope to the filter.
Low Frequency Oscillators (09:13) - In this video, Thomas breaks down the low frequency oscillator section of the synth. Then, he covers the different lfo waves forms, speed controls, as well as the playback features. He also shows how the lfo can be mapped to the pitch and volume controls of the synth to create a rotary speaker style effect.
Modulation Bus (06:12) - Learn how the modulation bus can be used to create advanced modulations and audio routings. In this video, Thomas uses the modulation bus to show how one can control both the filter frequency and pitch of the synthesizer via an lfo, opening up complex modulation possibilities for sound design.
Audio FX Pt. 1 (09:47) - Thomas covers the effects controls on the Grain synth, using a patch from the Reason Factory Soundbank as an example. First, he covers the modulation effects, then the distortion and equalizer units.
Audio FX Pt. 2 (08:53) - In this second video on the effects section of the Grain synth, Thomas talks about the delay, compressor, and reverb units. He also gives an overview of the various controls on each unit.
Additional Features (13:14) - In this video, Thomas warps up the discussion on the features of the synth by covering voicing controls and key modes. He also shows how an external a pulsar lfo and be used to controls the internal parts of the synthesizer via control voltage. Then he also shows how the synthesizer's internal envelopes can be used to control an instance of the Audiomatic Retro Transformer in Reason's rack.
808 Bass Patch (07:41) - Learn how to use Grain to re-synthesizer a kick drum into a pitched 808 kick. This patch makes uses of the attack and textures of the kick sample, as well as a sub oscillator, to create a fat sounding kick.
Melodic Synth Patch (09:48) - In this video, Thomas shows how to make a melodic arpeggio and chords patch by combining the sub oscillator with a kalimba sample. He also shows how to create evolving textures by using the motion envelope to control the audio sample's playback.
Lead Synth Patch (08:35) - Thomas takes a sample from a classic vintage synthesizer and transforms it into cinematic sounding a granular lead.
Ambient Bass Synth Patch (10:09) - Learn how to make a textured bass sound, by using granular synthesis for the top end texture with the sub oscillator to provide bass harmonics for the sound.
Ambient Pad Synth Patch (09:06) - In this final video, Thomas shows how to make an ambient pad sound by using a sample from the Reason Factory Soundbank. This patch makes use of granular synthesis, as well as the effects section of the synth to create a ambient pad sound.