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Granular SynthesizerOnline granular synthesizer

Turn any sound into textures, pads and ambience by chopping it into tiny grains.

Drop the audio you want to granulate

MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, AAC · up to 100 MB

or
or try an example sound:

Grain canvas hold to sculpt

Load audio to activate

Upload audio or pick an example to get started.

Example settings

Each one brings its synthesized sound
Example settings

Grains

30 ms
20/s
0.30
1.00×

The canvas overrides it while you hold it.

1.00×

Multiplies pitch and density.

Grain direction

Effects

Center
0.20
0.30 s
0.30
0
0.80
Free · local processing · no accountEngines and licenses

About Granular Synthesizer

Granular synthesis splits audio into fragments of 5 to 100 milliseconds and recombines them overlapping, with changes of pitch, direction and position. Upload a recording, move the cursor across the canvas and transform a piano, a voice or birdsong into sound clouds, drones or glitchy textures you can record and download.

What you can do with it

  • 01

    Ambience and pads

    Stretch a piano chord or a spoken phrase into a continuous bed of sound for ambient music, relaxation or soundtracks.

  • 02

    Sound design

    Create atmospheres and effects for videos, games or podcasts by turning metallic hits or field recordings into something unrecognizable.

  • 03

    Glitch and experimental music

    Tiny grains, extreme pitch and lots of scatter turn a drum loop into stutters and characterful noise.

  • 04

    Learn synthesis

    The canvas draws each grain as a dot while it plays, so you see and hear what changes when you move each control.

How it works, in 3 steps

  1. Load the sound

    Upload an audio file or start from one of the example settings. On the waveform, drag the ends to choose the region to granulate.

  2. Sculpt on the canvas

    Press play and move the mouse or your finger: the horizontal axis decides which part of the audio the grains come from and the vertical axis, how high they sound.

  3. Record and download

    Tweak the grains and effects, press record, let what you want to capture play, stop and download the result as WAV.

The controls, one by one

  • Grain size

    How long each fragment lasts, from 5 to 100 ms. Small sounds rough and buzzy; large, smooth and continuous.

  • Density

    How many grains fire per second, from 2 to 100. Few give a choppy sound; many, a solid mass.

  • Scatter

    How far grains stray from the read point. At zero they all come from the same spot; at maximum, from anywhere in the chosen region.

  • Pitch and speed

    Pitch changes each grain's tuning, from 0.25× to 4×. Speed sets how fast the reading moves through the audio, from 0.25× to 2×.

  • Direction

    Play grains forward or backward, for more natural or stranger textures.

  • Effects

    Stereo pan, reverb, delay with adjustable time and feedback, distortion and master volume.

  • Automatic drift

    When you stop touching the canvas, the synth keeps wandering through the audio on its own and the texture evolves endlessly.

  • Six example settings

    Ambient cloud (piano), glitch storm (drums), frozen voice, natural texture (birds), crystal pad (synth) and lo-fi drift (guitar).

Tips for better results

  • For soft ambience, try large grains, low density and a bit more reverb and delay.
  • For a clean drone, pick a short, stable region of the audio, like a sustained note or a long vowel.
  • When the result gets too chaotic, lower the scatter before touching anything else.
  • Let the automatic drift run while you record: you'll get variations you wouldn't have played by hand.

Frequently asked questions

What is granular synthesis?

A technique that cuts audio into very short pieces, called grains, and plays them overlapping with changes of pitch, position and order. A short sound becomes a long, evolving texture.

What kind of audio works best?

Anything works. Sounds with sustained notes, like piano, strings, voices or synths, give cleaner pads; percussive ones, rhythmic and glitchy textures.

What is the canvas for?

It's the main control: moving the cursor or your finger changes both which part of the audio the grains come from (horizontally) and their pitch (vertically). Each dot that appears is a grain playing.

How do I save what I've made?

Press record, let the texture play as long as you like, stop recording and download it as WAV. You can record several takes with different settings.

Which formats can I upload?

MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG and AAC. To use only a specific part, select it on the waveform or trim it first.

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