Chapter 8: Slicing, Dicing, and Glitching

Taking a sample or audio stream, slicing it into pieces, warping the parts a little, and then reassembling them can create some very cool sounds.

I’ve decided to format this chapter a little differently than it appeared in the original release of the book, focusing more on groups of apps by specific developers. This is partially because there are so many apps out there now that I’ve had to focus my learning time on apps by developers who consistently deliver solid, cutting edge apps geared towards producing this type of music. The other reason is that many of these apps don’t fit cleanly into the original categories, so I just got rid of them.

Audio Damage

Other Desert Cities

OK, so Other Desert Cities is technically a delay app, but it does have a couple of algorithms that bring some serious glitch. The Cactus, Mirage, and Sky Valley Granular algorithms are pretty good at dicing up and mangling the source audio, and the built-in LFOs can be used to automate the different parameters for added craziness. In my opinion, no glitcher’s toolkit is really complete without this app. I use it a LOT.

Replicant 3

Audio Damage markets Replicant 3 as the “O.G. glitch effect”, so how could I not include it in this roundup. The app has a built-in sequencer that allows you to “loop, reverse, and re-slice audio in real-time” using a number of built-in effects.

Audiomodern

Gatelab

Gatelab is a stereo gate sequencer which is great for chopping up audio signals and filling out the stereo field. I personally use this app every time I play for chopping up a bass drone created from my guitar with sustainer and octave pedals.

BLEASS

Granulizer

BLEASS Granulizer is a granular effect plugin with the interesting ability to accept up to four different audio sources and randomly pull tiny samples (grains) from each one. The result can definitely be pretty glitchy, depending on the source audio. There are also lots of dice icons in this app, so you know I love it.

Kymatica

Sector

SECTOR by Jonatan Liljedahl is an amazing app for slicing up samples, allowing you to divide an audio file into up to 32 sectors before warping them and re-sequencing them in various ways. SECTOR uses a probability matrix to determine the playing sequence of the sample slices. The matrix can be configured manually or randomized, or for more control you can use a more standard step sequencer. Up to four different time warp functions can be assigned to each segment with variable probabilities of being triggered when that slice is played. The warp functions can be manually chosen or randomized. Four different snapshots are available for each of map, sequencer, and warp configurations. The result is a very playable app that creates new variations of a sample every time it goes around.

Alex Matheu

GlitchCore

GlitchCore is one of the first apps I reach for when I want to glitch things up. It works best as an AUv3 fx app to glitch incoming audio. This app features my favorite control for any app, which is a little dice button under the grid for quickly creating random patterns. You can also use the X/Y pad for manual control of the playhead.

GlitchBreaks

Designed specifically for glitching breakbeats, GlitchBreaks by Alex Matheu lets you load up four different audio loops and switch between them seamlessly in real-time. There are separate x-y controls for glitching, cutting, or modulating your loops. Each of the pads can be quickly switched to control assignable dynamic effects. The effects can be automated individually by recording your knob movements or drawing a modulation curve in the automation editor. There’s also a large waveform view available for the iPad version that lets you scrub through the sample and modulate the loop length for more granular-style glitching.

Alex Nadzharov

skippodisk

Skippodisk is a free glitch app from Alex Nadzharov, the developer of the Broohahaizer app mentioned in the previous chapter. This AUv3 fx app mimics the skips and dropouts from compact disc players and is controlled via an X/Y pad interface, or alternatively can be set on auto to give random glitches in the background.

Sugar Bytes

Egoist

Egoist by Sugar Bytes is a groove box style app with a full-featured loop slicer. Each of the 16 patterns can have its own sample and slicer configuration. The slicer can break a sample into up to 16 difference parts, which can then be reversed, pitch- shifted, and altered in other ways using the sequencer. Egoist includes a stripped- down version of Sugar Bytes’ Effectrix effects sequencer, allowing different effects to be applied to each step. As with most of the apps by Sugar Bytes, almost everything has its own randomizer, so coming up with interesting new patterns is as simple as clicking the tiny little dice.

Turnado

Turnado is one of the most powerful real-time audio manipulation tools available for iOS. The heavy glitching capabilities come from the 5 “Loop Effects” and 3 “DJ Tools” effects, which freeze, loop, and mangle the incoming audio. There are 16 other dynamic effects that can be applied as well. The effects are assigned to one of eight knobs, which can be configured to modulate the effects in different ways. The knobs can be manipulated directly or in pairs using four x-y pad controllers. Turnado can process pre-recorded loops and samples, or you can send it live audio via AUv3, Audiobus or Inter-app Audio.

Unfiltered Audio

LO-FI-AF

LO-FI-AF does just plain ugly stuff to incoming audio. It works as an AUv3 effect, chopping and distorting your beautiful little sounds into a mangled lump of noise. The Digital section replicates CD skipping for breaking things up nicely, while the rest of the controls pile on the dirt.

Silo

Silo granulizes your audio into tiny little bits before shooting it off into space. This AUv3 effect app is great for creating spacey drones or glitchy noisescapes.

Igor Vasiliev

Soundscaper

Soundscaper is a unique app using oscillators to simulate 8-bit sound chips. Up to 3 samples can be manipulated simultaneously using controls based on shorting and manipulating hardware circuits. The result is a stream of ambient sounds, glitches and noise that can be further filtered and mapped within the stereo field using a cool top-down visual spatial mixer. The app offers tons of automation and randomization options, and pretty much everything can be controlled via MIDI.

BeatCutter

Another intriguing app by Igor Vasiliev is BeatCutter. This app has a steep learning curve, and I admit I haven’t totally got my head around it. In my experience, the results from this app seem a little more rhythmic and less ambient compared to Soundscaper, but that could just be my lack of command over the complexities of the app.

Feel free to leave a comment if there are other apps you feel should be on this list. As I mentioned in the introduction, there are tons of great apps out there, so this list just represents the apps I’m most familiar with.

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