Not Just for Textures: 3 Grain Processing Techniques for Beat Makers

video upload by Oddment

"In this video, I walk through three practical grain-processing techniques for beat makers using granular synthesis. Instead of the usual pads and soundscape examples, I’m focusing on drums and rhythmic material — showing how grains can shape feel, create modulation effects, add tonal character, and even move into wavetable-style synthesis.

These examples use loops from Joshua Van Tassel, part of the upcoming Odd-1 factory library. The Odd-1 is a modular grain synthesizer we’ve been developing at Oddment, and all of these techniques can be recreated directly on the hardware.

Techniques covered:
• Tempo-locked grains for changing the feel
• Grain-size modulation and rhythmic dropouts
• Tonal effects using closely spaced grains
• Wavetable-like sounds from tiny slices of audio

If you’re interested in granular synthesis, drum processing, time-stretching, or experimental beat-making techniques, you’ll probably find something useful here.

We’re finishing up the first small production run of the Odd-1. If you’d like updates or want to join the waitlist, you can do that on our website: https://www.oddment-audio.com/waitlist

Follow us on instagram for more tips and demos: / oddmentaudio

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:56 Grain Synthesis: Just for textures?
01:29 Technique 1: Tempo-locked grains
03:33 Technique 2: Grain dropouts + rhythmic modulation
06:03 Technique 3: Tonal grain effects, including
06:53 Odd-1 Wavetable mode
09:25 Closing

Credits / Gear:
– Odd-1 Modular Grain Synth: https://www.oddment-audio.com/odd-1
– Drum loops by Joshua Van Tassel: https://www.joshuavt.com
– Intro/Outro music by Lee Clarke: https://leeclarke.bandcamp.com
– Ableton Live for comparison examples
If you have questions or want a deep dive into a specific part of granular synthesis or beat processing, feel free to leave a comment."