With granules I've used paste solder before, it helps those little suckers stick where I want them. Depends how large your ganules are I suppose. I've seen people make a "seat" with a small ball burr and then place a tiny bit of solder in the divot and then the granule on top of that but they were quite large granules, and have seen another jeweller use spit to keep her filed solder dust and granules where she wants them.
These are some rings I made using solder paste to place the bronze granules where I wanted them. There's more than one way to skin a cat and all that.
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