Databending is an art form where flaws in digital systems are exploited and used for creative purposes. Most popular in Glitch Art circles due to its ability to seriously corrupt image and video files, Databending can also produce sonic artifacts which can be useful to have in your sound library and use as an inspiring platform from which further sound design can begin.
I began experimenting with Databending via my visual artwork, which encompasses the hacking of image (and sometimes video) files in text, hex and audio editors. During these processes, I was opened up to the multitude of bonus audio delights which emerged from these experiments.
Having always had a fascination with Glitch, Noise and alternative approaches to sound design, Databending was something I was keen to embrace and implement in my audio work. The ‘random/chance’ nature, never quite knowing what sounds a file is going to throw at you and the old adage of finding ‘diamonds in the rough’ is an approach I take with the majority of my work.
For the uninitiated, I’d like to describe a single Databending process to serve as an introduction to the technique and one which is highly beneficial to any sound designer who would like to break free of convention.
A simple method of Databending can be achieved by opening non-audio files as ‘raw data’ in Audacity, although any audio editor with the ability to open raw files should work too. The software will deliver an audio representation of the data and provide a highly malleable stream of noises and glitched-out sounds.
The technique works best with files which are not too heavily compressed, for example, a JPEG will mostly result in a short run of white noise, whereas a Bitmap or executable file will throw out all sorts of lengthy, glitchy goodness that is just ripe for the plucking.
The results which can be gained from meticulous and ruthless editing are vast
Experiment with different file types and stick with the ones which give you the best results. Although it’s rare that you will use the audio in its entirety, the results which can be gained from meticulous and ruthless editing are vast…
Cutting out microsecond snippets provides a plethora of unique percussive effects that will liven up your rhythm tracks, while other edits can be perfect for some original multimedia notification sounds such as rollovers, navigation tones, error buzzes and so on. Lengthy drone-like sounds can emerge from a Databent file, rhythmic elements will surface, a sneaky bass tone and so on… Use your ears and imagination and you are on your way.
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Game Audio Packs & Bundles Dirt & Asphalt Series: Motorbikes Bundle Play Track 365 sounds included, 305 mins total$116.66$99.17Dirt & Asphalt Volume 1 is the first addition of vehicle and transportation recordings from Output Audio. This library contains a selection of recordings from 3 road bikes, with additional bonus content from other road motorbikes. The library also contains acceleration ramps for use in granular playback engines.
Road bikes included:
• Yamaha 450cc Thumper
• Triumph 600cc Dual Fuel Injection
• Aprillia RST 1000cc Futura
• A selection of bonus pass-bys and externals from a range of high performance bikes
Dirt & Asphalt Volume 2 is the second addition of vehicle and transportation recordings from Output Audio. This library contains a selection of recordings from two motocross events and two practise sessions, with additional bonus content provided as race atmospheres.
Library highlights:AMCA Motocross Classes Included:
MX1/MX2/Experts/Seniors Unlimited classesEngine Sizes Included:
85cc/125cc/250cc/450cc engines
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Ui Two is the sequel to our overwhelming popular Ui One collection, this collection contains 377 original sounds uniquely crafted for creating user interfaces, telemetry, gadgetry and more.
Empty Sea’s Mark Camperell, carefully crafted these sounds using a variety of beepers, boopers and other sonic tools. A sample of which include synths, samplers, spectral editors and more. Each sound was recorded at 48k/24bit. Planned, processed, mangled and otherwise destroyed, every single tone was tweaked until it was something new, original, and exciting.
As usual, we meticulously edited, mastered and embedded the files with metadata. This collection is priced to move, so don’t hesitate. If you’re tired of the your same old UI inspiration, Ui Two from The Library by Empty Sea is a great addition to your library.
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An electric car sound library with a range of FX from the Hyundai SUV, Kona.
The library includes numerous driving FX on both gravel and asphalt including pass-bys, take offs, corners, approaches and skids.
It also contains a large range of interior recordings from driving at highway speed all the way to buttons and switches.
Multiple FX on each track – recorded in Sydney, Australia
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car interiors library is a great supplement for all the car engine sounds that you already own. That way the action on the inside of the car is not stale at all. Dashboard buttons, seatbelts, automatic windows, switches, switching gears, brake, clutch and gas pedals, vents, turning signals. They’re all here!
Got a whole bunch of roaring car engine sounds but then realised that you’re not equipped with all of the boring stuff like:
car door handles, seatbelts, turn signal, air vents, buttons and switches, seats, storage compartments, horns, windows, pedals (gas, brake, clutch), handbrakes wend
and all other Car Interior sound effects? Well then.. look no further! This is just the pack for you.
160 wav files with over 400 single sounds in total. Car Interiors will spice up that car interior scene with real, crisp sounds, recorded from over 6 cars in total!20 %OFFEnds 1574981999 -
Destruction & Impact Cinematic Strikes Play Track Up to 4140 sounds includedFrom: $119From: $95.20ENORMOUS SOUNDING PERCUSSIVE HITS
CINEMATIC STRIKES joins the BOOM Library Cinematic Series – and it focuses on big sounding drums. A whole world of cinematic percussive sound design lies a few clicks away: From devastating cracks and stomps over crisp swells and rolls to epic ensemble hits – you will be sure to find and build just what you are looking for.
With the ultimate flexibility of different microphone positions, single and ensemble hits, flams and swells using various drums and beaters, you couldn’t be better equipped to design huge blockbuster and trailer hits – or simply place ready-to-use DESIGNED sounds into your timeline and feel the earth shake.
CINEMATIC STRIKES – CONSTRUCTION KIT:
FLEXIBLE SOUND DESIGN TOOLKITThe Construction Kit offers you one of the most comprehensive drum hit packages ever recorded. Carefully planned to satisfy and complement every spot in the frequency range, you will never run out of low end booms, aggressive cracks, mid-range body impacts, reverberant tails and excellent sweeteners to top it off.
PERSPECTIVE & RHYTHM
Not only are you able to produce impressive sounding hits, but also transition into, out of and between peaks. Control the attack and release of each sound, using rolls, flams, double hits and other meticulously performed techniques. Three coherent microphone positions make spatial adjustments a breeze.
Files: 618 • Sounds: 3708 • Size: 13 GB
CINEMATIC STRIKES – DESIGNED:
MAXIMUM PUNCH – AND THEN SOMECINEMATIC STRIKES – Designed is what you get when layering and processing Construction Kit sounds BOOM Library style.
From rumbling low-end BOOMS, soft and natural sounding WHOOSH HITS to aggressive, frontal CRACKS and PUNCHES, the Designed library showcases what’s possible, while saving precious time and budget on a tight schedule.
This package is particularly useful for filmmakers and trailer sound designers.
Files: 108 • Sounds: 432 • Size: 1.4 GBCINEMATIC STRIKES BUNDLE:
THE BUNDLE – The best of both worlds at a discounted price.
The Bundle gives you the full sound design power as it contains both – the DESIGNED and the CONSTRUCTION KIT edition at a discounted price.
Files: 726 • Sounds: 4140 • Size: 14.6 GB
Included sounds – keywords:
BASS DRUM, BOOM, BOX, CAJON, CONCERT TOM, CRACK, CRASH, DAIKO, DOUBLE HIT, ENSEMBLE, FLAM, FOOT, GONG, HARD BEATER, HIT, JAM BLOCK, KICK, KODO, LOG, MALLET, BIN, PUNCH, ROLL, SINGLE, SNARE, SOFT BEATER, SPLASH, STICKS, STOMP, SWEETENER, SWELL, TABLA, TAIKO, TAMBORA, THUNDER SHEET, TOM, WHIP, WHOOSH HIT, WOOD PERCUSSION, WOODBLOCK
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A Sound Effect Turns 5:
Get wild deals on sound effects right here
A Sound Effect Turns 5:Get wild deals on sound effects right here
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Aircraft - Jet/Propeller Planes B-25 Mitchell Play Track 115 sounds included, 71 mins total$199$99.50A large collection of authentic B-25 flybys, takeoffs, landings, taxis, startups, and shutdowns with both internal and external perspectives – for a total of 71 minutes of recordings.
This library was over 8 years in the making, and is the refined result of more than 30 field recording expeditions, including one recorded aboard a B-25 during flight. All sounds have been extensively quantified with metadata (action, event length, relative speed, perspective, microphone pattern, and much more) which will make it an ideal resource for those working in audio post production.
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The Cars In Motion sound library gets you exterior sounds of cars driving at different speeds, slow/medium/fast/very fast pass-bys, reverse sounds, accelerations, braking sounds and a lot of additional files. You’ll find different engines, and cars with different character.
From a small BMW 114i through to a powerful Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 V8 with Magna Flow exhaust, up to a fast twin turbo BMW 640D F12. In addition to cars there are also files covering big machines like tractors and excavator.
The library features 561 WAV files with total length of 340 minutes, recorded in 96kHz and 24 bits with a Sound Devices 702, two Sennheisers MKH 8040, Rode NTG3 and Sony PCM-M10.
Here are the cars included in this library:• Audi A4 Allroad 2.0 TFSI – 73 files – 73 minutes
• Audi A4 B8 2.0 TDI Avant – 11 files – 10 minutes
• BMW 114i E87 – 20 files – 10 minutes
• BMW 530D E60 – 55 files – 21 minutes
• BMW F12 640D Gran Coupe – 87 files – 49 minutes
• Excavator MF 860 – 30 files – 20 minutes
• Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 V8 – 62 files – 51 minutes
• Renault Kangoo 1.6 16V – 71 files – 32 minutes
• Renault Master II 2.8 dTi – 21 files – 13 minutes
• Renault Master F3500 dCi135 – 30 files – 12 minutes
• Tractor Case II CX90 – 15 files – 10 minutes
• Volkswagen Golf II – 26 files – 13 minutes
• Other Cars – 60 files – 23 minutes
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This bundle includes 4 different libraries.
The Baltic Sea sound library is compilation of 56 WAV files recorded with Sound Devices 702, Rode NTG3, Sony PCM-M10, two Oktavas MK012 set in MS, XY and ORTF setup. All the sounds were recorded far away from the cities and roads. Since most of the sounds were recorded in late winter, there are no insects or birds in background. There are few files that includes the sound of birds, but I left them on purpose, because of the overall feel of the files. In this library you will find beautiful sound of waves crushing on the rocks and shore, recorded from different perspectives in different stereo configurations, during calm and windy days. In addition to those sounds, there’s foley like walking, running and swimming in the water.
The Harbours Of Norway sound library features 25 files with ambients recorded in Myre, Sto and Nyksund, very small towns with direct access to the sea. Most of the sound effects were recorded at night, but since it’s a polar day time of the year, it was very pleasurable to walk and look for convenient places to set up my gear. Everything was recoded with ORTF setup built from two Sennheisers MKH 8040. Inside this library, you’ll find a lot of seagulls, waves crushing on the rocks and plants, windy ambients from the cliff, industrial sound from port in Myre with ship unloading the cargo, walla with steam engine boat and additional sounds from boat engine market and air cooling aggregates from food containers. Every file was recorded in 96kHz, edited (i removed any unintentional bumps, pops and unwanted sounds). I limited EQing to removing harsh frequencies, or enhancing a little bit the good sounding ones. At the end of the chain there is a small compression, for louder sounds.
The Summer Ambients sound library contains 33 beautiful WAV files recorded with Sound Devices 702, Rode NTG3, two Oktavas MK012 in MS and stereo XY pattern. All sounds were gathered in different and beautiful places like forests, lakes, meadows or swamps. You can expect amazing ambients, textures, different birds, insects, forest during rain, calm and windy days. It’s a perfect library for designing background sounds. Everything was recorded in amazing Masuria in Poland.
Summer ambients Update – library got 2x bigger and heavier than the original library. 59 additional files, 123 minutes of high quality audio recorded with Sennheiser MKH 8040 ORTF setup, Rode NTG3, Oktava MK012 XY setup plugged into SD702 and Sony PCM-10. It features ambients from the forests, ponds, swamps, meadows, lakes and suburbs recorded is very quiet locations, mostly just before the sunrise, during the day and before sunset far away from the cities.
Water Flow sound library took me about six months to record, consumed about 15 thermoses of tea and 42 litres of gasoline to get to all locations. It offers 90 BWAV files recorded in different locations. Huge part of this library is based on the recording sessions on the rivers. Two completely different locations, recorded regularly for the last 5 months allowed me to create this unique sound library. Most of the recording sessions took place during winter just before the sun was rising to reduce the amount of unwanted sounds. Almost all recordings are completely clear and only few have birds in background, since it was my intention to record some location ambients with natural backgrounds.
You can see the metadata and sound list below.
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From all 4 earth’s corners, air streamlines the environment and shapes our stories. Discover the cinematic world of rare winds!
This sound library is the ultimate achievement of a really ambitious project of recording winds from very remote places across the world.
Included are authentic recordings from the Boreal region (North hemisphere: in Canada and Iceland), from the Austral region (South hemisphere: Tierra del Fuego in Argentina and the Last Hope province in Chile), on Islands in Mediterranean region (Thira in Greece), in the Sahara desert (Marocco), Isle-aux-Grues (Canadian winter), and more (see file list for more details)
These were recorded either in urban settings, countryside, or complete wilderness.Included is a set of useful synthesized, tonal, and designed winds.
The sounds are categorized into 3 folders: Designed, Indoor & Outdoor.
WHAT’S INSIDE:
- 102 stereo files
- Highly focused and meticulously edited sounds
- Ready to use Loop
- Urban area and Wild area
- Useful Designed & Synthesized Wind Sounds
- Recordings from the Boreal region (North) in Iceland & Canada
- Recordings from the Austral region (South) in Argentina & Chile
- Recordings from Islands in Greece & Canada
- Recordings from the desert in Marocco
- Abandonned houses and shelters
- Marina, lake, forest, car, flags, arctic, metal pole, prairie, street, mountain, grass, …
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Going into Databending with an open mind and taking the time to listen through files featuring extreme digital distortions, taking note of and cutting out any ‘sweet spots’, will bring you a whole new, versatile sonic palette. If you decide to process and add effects to your edits, then there is even more scope for unique sounds.
So, here’s how it works – I’m using the free audio editor Audacity for this example:
A Quick Start Guide To Databending In Audacity
First of all, head to File>Import>Raw Data. Next you need to select a file. For this guide, ‘audacity.exe’ is used but the choice is yours, import various file types and find out which ones give you the best results to work with. Generally, .exe, .bmp and .dll file formats give great sonic artifacts.
The default import settings are fine to get instant results, the only thing changed here is the Channels (from Mono to Stereo), but experiment with all the options available as they give differing results.
As you can see from the image below, the file results in a harsh wall of sound and is over a minute long, which is plenty of material to edit down into smaller, glitchy elements or lengthier passages of digital noise. Head to Effect>Normalize to tailor the volume (I went with -6dB), as some of the results can be a little too loud!
Hit File>Export and render to an audio format of your choice.
Here’s what it sounds like:
And here’s another example – a Bitmap as Raw Data:
And finally, here is a short set of edited sounds from my Data Destruction sample pack:
Playing with Raw Data in Audacity is just one of many ways in which you can obtain fresh audio from Databending. Explore all the possible options, ruthlessly edit, process as you please and most importantly, experiment and don’t adhere to any ‘rules’.
And above all, have fun!
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Check out some his libraries below, and follow his sonic adventures on his Facebook page:
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Data Destruction is a collection of sounds made using the technique of databending, the creative destruction of digital data. It features 97 unprocessed raw data .wav files. Pure digital glitch/noise suited to a variety of musical styles and multimedia applications or as a creative springboard for further sound design.
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Databending: A digital art form where flaws in digital systems are exploited and used for creative purposes.
Data Disruption contains 200 sounds sourced from raw computer files which have been interpreted as audio data. Bitmaps, executables, plugin files and more have been exploited to bring you a unique, varied collection of sound effects and atmospheres ready for a range of productions.
This sound collection has 100 'raw' files which include harsh, random data noises, intense drones and a versatile selection of glitch one shots as well as 100 processed sounds which were subject to extreme editing and mangling to deliver an array of abstract sonic artefacts.
Most useful for scenarios where computer technology – known or otherwise – is glitching out, these sounds are best suited to Science Fiction productions which call for the noise of broken communications, signal failures, ailing machines, industrial settings, planetary ambience and dystopian soundworlds.
That's not to say they won't also come in handy for Glitch/IDM music producers looking to build up an original collection of sounds for their latest kit, or for the creative sound designer to further shape these sounds into anything from user interface clicks, blips and bleeps to surreal soundscapes and beyond.
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Process Malfunction features 40 intricate future technology glitch production elements for science fiction scenarios where computers are going way out of control. You'll hear corrupt data streams, servers overloading, user interface issues, generative, abstract rhythms and more in this detailed exploration of what the computers of tomorrow may sound like when they go wrong.
Perhaps the mainframe has been compromised from a series of lethal hacker attacks or alien communication signals are interfering with the network, maybe the CPU has just seen better days… Whatever the cause of the failure, the machines have been corrupted and they are struggling, screaming and hanging on for their last bleep…
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from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement
- a few highlights:
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From all 4 earth’s corners, air streamlines the environment and shapes our stories. Discover the cinematic world of rare winds!
This sound library is the ultimate achievement of a really ambitious project of recording winds from very remote places across the world.
Included are authentic recordings from the Boreal region (North hemisphere: in Canada and Iceland), from the Austral region (South hemisphere: Tierra del Fuego in Argentina and the Last Hope province in Chile), on Islands in Mediterranean region (Thira in Greece), in the Sahara desert (Marocco), Isle-aux-Grues (Canadian winter), and more (see file list for more details)
These were recorded either in urban settings, countryside, or complete wilderness.Included is a set of useful synthesized, tonal, and designed winds.
The sounds are categorized into 3 folders: Designed, Indoor & Outdoor.
WHAT’S INSIDE:
- 102 stereo files
- Highly focused and meticulously edited sounds
- Ready to use Loop
- Urban area and Wild area
- Useful Designed & Synthesized Wind Sounds
- Recordings from the Boreal region (North) in Iceland & Canada
- Recordings from the Austral region (South) in Argentina & Chile
- Recordings from Islands in Greece & Canada
- Recordings from the desert in Marocco
- Abandonned houses and shelters
- Marina, lake, forest, car, flags, arctic, metal pole, prairie, street, mountain, grass, …
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This bundle includes 4 different libraries.
The Baltic Sea sound library is compilation of 56 WAV files recorded with Sound Devices 702, Rode NTG3, Sony PCM-M10, two Oktavas MK012 set in MS, XY and ORTF setup. All the sounds were recorded far away from the cities and roads. Since most of the sounds were recorded in late winter, there are no insects or birds in background. There are few files that includes the sound of birds, but I left them on purpose, because of the overall feel of the files. In this library you will find beautiful sound of waves crushing on the rocks and shore, recorded from different perspectives in different stereo configurations, during calm and windy days. In addition to those sounds, there’s foley like walking, running and swimming in the water.
The Harbours Of Norway sound library features 25 files with ambients recorded in Myre, Sto and Nyksund, very small towns with direct access to the sea. Most of the sound effects were recorded at night, but since it’s a polar day time of the year, it was very pleasurable to walk and look for convenient places to set up my gear. Everything was recoded with ORTF setup built from two Sennheisers MKH 8040. Inside this library, you’ll find a lot of seagulls, waves crushing on the rocks and plants, windy ambients from the cliff, industrial sound from port in Myre with ship unloading the cargo, walla with steam engine boat and additional sounds from boat engine market and air cooling aggregates from food containers. Every file was recorded in 96kHz, edited (i removed any unintentional bumps, pops and unwanted sounds). I limited EQing to removing harsh frequencies, or enhancing a little bit the good sounding ones. At the end of the chain there is a small compression, for louder sounds.
The Summer Ambients sound library contains 33 beautiful WAV files recorded with Sound Devices 702, Rode NTG3, two Oktavas MK012 in MS and stereo XY pattern. All sounds were gathered in different and beautiful places like forests, lakes, meadows or swamps. You can expect amazing ambients, textures, different birds, insects, forest during rain, calm and windy days. It’s a perfect library for designing background sounds. Everything was recorded in amazing Masuria in Poland.
Summer ambients Update – library got 2x bigger and heavier than the original library. 59 additional files, 123 minutes of high quality audio recorded with Sennheiser MKH 8040 ORTF setup, Rode NTG3, Oktava MK012 XY setup plugged into SD702 and Sony PCM-10. It features ambients from the forests, ponds, swamps, meadows, lakes and suburbs recorded is very quiet locations, mostly just before the sunrise, during the day and before sunset far away from the cities.
Water Flow sound library took me about six months to record, consumed about 15 thermoses of tea and 42 litres of gasoline to get to all locations. It offers 90 BWAV files recorded in different locations. Huge part of this library is based on the recording sessions on the rivers. Two completely different locations, recorded regularly for the last 5 months allowed me to create this unique sound library. Most of the recording sessions took place during winter just before the sun was rising to reduce the amount of unwanted sounds. Almost all recordings are completely clear and only few have birds in background, since it was my intention to record some location ambients with natural backgrounds.
You can see the metadata and sound list below.
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The Cars In Motion sound library gets you exterior sounds of cars driving at different speeds, slow/medium/fast/very fast pass-bys, reverse sounds, accelerations, braking sounds and a lot of additional files. You’ll find different engines, and cars with different character.
From a small BMW 114i through to a powerful Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 V8 with Magna Flow exhaust, up to a fast twin turbo BMW 640D F12. In addition to cars there are also files covering big machines like tractors and excavator.
The library features 561 WAV files with total length of 340 minutes, recorded in 96kHz and 24 bits with a Sound Devices 702, two Sennheisers MKH 8040, Rode NTG3 and Sony PCM-M10.
Here are the cars included in this library:• Audi A4 Allroad 2.0 TFSI – 73 files – 73 minutes
• Audi A4 B8 2.0 TDI Avant – 11 files – 10 minutes
• BMW 114i E87 – 20 files – 10 minutes
• BMW 530D E60 – 55 files – 21 minutes
• BMW F12 640D Gran Coupe – 87 files – 49 minutes
• Excavator MF 860 – 30 files – 20 minutes
• Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.7 V8 – 62 files – 51 minutes
• Renault Kangoo 1.6 16V – 71 files – 32 minutes
• Renault Master II 2.8 dTi – 21 files – 13 minutes
• Renault Master F3500 dCi135 – 30 files – 12 minutes
• Tractor Case II CX90 – 15 files – 10 minutes
• Volkswagen Golf II – 26 files – 13 minutes
• Other Cars – 60 files – 23 minutes
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+ free sounds with every issue:
Very cool technique! I do a lot of data-bending but have never tried this approach before.
This may well be one of the most inspiring things I have ever read, got some great raw material out of a few files already. Granted at least half the time the sheer volume of the white noise tears the top of your head off and I’ve gone through several pairs of studio monitors already but that’s kinda cool anyway, the rest of the time is a glitch goldmine.
Huge thanks!