---
id: truax
title: "Granular (Riverrun)"
year: 1986
category: "AI & Code"
lang: en
canonical: https://nodemusic.cc/node/truax
source: node.music
---

# Granular (Riverrun) (1986)

AI & Code · https://nodemusic.cc/node/truax

## Summary

Barry Truax split sound into atoms. Granular synthesis takes microscopic grains of sound and assembles them into new textures resembling flowing water. The river of time became controllable.

## Full text

Barry Truax created the POD system, the first implementation of granular synthesis in real-time. In 'Riverrun,' sound is born from thousands of microscopic grains, just as a river consists of drops.

By controlling the density and distribution of these grains, Truax creates massive sound flows. Granulation allows freezing a moment of sound or stretching a drop of water to the size of an ocean without losing quality. This changed our perception of time in music.

## People

- Barry Truax (b. 1947) — Canadian composer and acoustic ecologist.

## Connections

### Influenced by

- [Music N (Bell Labs)](https://nodemusic.cc/node/max_m.md) - ENABLED
- [Institute of Sonology](https://nodemusic.cc/node/sonology.md) - EVOLVED

### Influenced

- [Glitch / Autechre](https://nodemusic.cc/node/glitch.md) - INSPIRED

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Truax