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Chapter 3 Distortion eects 77
Bitcrusher
Bitcrusher is a low-resolution digital distortion eect. You can use it to emulate the sound of early
digital audio devices, to create articial aliasing by dividing the sample rate, or to distort signals
until they are unrecognizable.
Bitcrusher parameters
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Drive slider and eld: Drag to set the amount of gain applied to the input signal (in decibels).
Note: Raising the Drive level tends to increase the amount of clipping at the output of the
Bitcrusher as well.
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Resolution slider and eld: Drag to set the bit rate (between 1 and 24 bits). This alters the
calculation precision of the process. Lowering the value increases the number of sampling
errors, generating more distortion. At extremely low bit rates, the amount of distortion can be
greater than the level of the usable signal.
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Waveform display: Shows the impact of parameters on the distortion process.
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Downsampling slider and eld: Drag to reduce the sample rate. A value of 1x has no eect on
the signal, a value of 2x halves the sample rate, and a value of 10x reduces the sample rate to
one-tenth of the original. (For example, if you set Downsampling to 10x, a 44.1 kHz signal is
sampled at just 4.41 kHz.)
Note: Downsampling has no impact on the playback speed or pitch of the signal.
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Mode buttons: Set the distortion mode to Folded, Cut, or Displaced. Signal peaks that exceed
the clip level are processed.
Note: The Clip Level parameter has a signicant impact on the behavior of all three modes.
This is reected in the Waveform display, so try each mode button and adjust the Clip Level
slider to get a feel for how this works.
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Folded button: The center portion of the signal is halved in level above the threshold,
resulting in a softer distortion. The start and end levels of the clipped signal are unchanged.
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Cut button: Causes abrupt distortion when the clipping threshold is exceeded. Clipping that
occurs in most digital systems is closest to Cut mode.
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Displaced button: The start, mid, and end levels of the signal (above the threshold) are oset,
resulting in less severe distortion as signal levels cross the threshold. The center portion of
the clipped signal is also softer than in Cut mode.
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Clip Level slider and eld: Drag to set the point (below the clipping threshold of the channel) at
which the signal starts clipping.
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Mix slider and eld (Extended Parameters area): Drag to set the balance between dry (original)
and wet (eect) signals.