What is a glitch effect?

An effect of glitches is the deliberate use of digital errors, stingy artifacts and unpredictable sound disturbances to create strange texture elements. It is a form of controlled chaos – distort, stretch, cut and re -enchant the sounds to create something unexpected.

Glitch Sounds first emerged as a happy accident from defective CD players, digital distortion and corrupt audio files. Over time, producers have started to reproduce these unpredictable elements with sampling, granular synthesis and creative publishing. Now Glitch is a must of electronic sub-genres such as IDM, glitch-hop and experimental music. They are also used in films to create strange science fiction effects.

You can hear glitchy rhythms and digital artefacts in “Bucepta Bouncing Ball” by Aphex Twin: