Arrggghhh!!!! He's back!!!!
 
Roger King wrote:
> 
> Why is it called "granular" synthesis?  Can anybody out there give me a
> history of the term and what can be done with it?  Thanks in advance for
> your shared enlightenment. 

I have a feeling that an ordinary, technical answer won't do in this
case. So,

It's called granular because it's made up of grains. grains of sound.
lots of them. Like grains of sand through the hourglass. So are the days
of our lives. Grains of corn, maybe, too. Does corn have grains?
Small grains. Large grains. Grain crackers. Nothing ventured, nothing
grained. I was in a prematurely air-conditioned supermarket, and there
were these grains that you could buy. When it grains it pours. The
olympic grains.

Larry 

--  Larry Troxler --  lt@westnet.com  --  Patterson, NY USA  --

I think Vivaldi and Chopin should get the most credit for the origin of 
granular synthesis.......

.... but then,

............ they knew better than to buy into too much neophyte tech. 

-PK