Bitcrushing

Bitcrushing is an audio effect that intentionally degrades the resolution of a digital audio signal by reducing its bit depth and/or its sampling rate. By quantizing the amplitude to fewer possible levels and by downsampling the waveform, bitcrushing introduces distortion, noise, and characteristic digital artifacts that are often described as lo-fi, crunchy, or metallic.

How it works: Reducing bit depth removes intermediate amplitude levels, causing coarse quantization that manifests as stair-stepped waveforms and quantization noise. Reducing sample rate lowers the number of samples per second, producing time-domain aliasing and a distinct chopping effect. Some implementations combine both processes to produce a broader palette of textures.

Applications and usage: Bitcrushing is widely used in electronic music, hip hop, and sound design to achieve aggressive, retro, or experimental tones. It is common on drums, bass, or synth lines, and is available as software plug-ins and hardware units. Typical controls include depth (bits), rate (samples per second), mix, and drive or gain; some include tone or anti-aliasing filters.

Implementation notes: In software, bit depth can be reduced by truncating or masking the least-significant bits, or by rounding. Downsampling can be done with decimation; some tools apply a pre-filter to minimize unwanted aliasing, while others preserve aliasing for a more pronounced effect. Bitcrushers are inherently tolerant of harsh artifacts and are often used creatively rather than for high-fidelity reproduction.