Software

Databending with Audacity

Databending Result — Sabato Visconti

Databending with Audacity is the most common entry point for glitch art beginners, and for good reason: Audacity is free, cross-platform, and the technique produces dramatic results with minimal setup. The core idea is simple — open an image file as if it were raw audio data, apply sound effects to the “waveform,” then save the result back. The mismatch between audio processing and image data creates unpredictable visual artifacts that range from subtle color banding to full structural collapse.

What You Need

  • Audacity — Free, open-source audio editor available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
  • A source image — Start with BMP or TIFF format. These uncompressed formats store pixel data in a predictable, linear way that survives audio processing much better than compressed formats like JPEG or PNG.
  • An image editor — Any tool that can convert images between formats (GIMP, Photoshop, or even Paint).

Step-by-Step Workflow

1. Prepare Your Image

Convert your source image to BMP (24-bit) format:

  • In GIMP: File > Export As > select BMP, ensure 24-bit color.
  • In Photoshop: File > Save As > BMP, set Depth to 24 Bit.
  • BMP stores pixel data in a simple, sequential format with a small header — ideal for databending.

Keep a copy of the original. Databending is destructive — you cannot undo changes after saving and closing.

2. Import as Raw Audio

In Audacity:

  1. Go to File > Import > Raw Data.
  2. Navigate to your BMP file and select it.
  3. In the Import Raw Data dialog, choose your settings:
    • Encoding: Start with U-Law — it produces reliably glitchy results. Other options like A-Law, 16-bit PCM, and 32-bit Float each create different artifact patterns.
    • Byte order: Little-endian (default for most systems).
    • Channels: 1 Channel (Mono) for straightforward results. Stereo can create interesting left/right channel differences.
    • Sample rate: 44100 Hz is standard. Lower rates (22050, 11025) compress the image data differently and produce distinct glitch structures.
  4. Click Import.

The image data now appears as an audio waveform. The file’s bytes — which encode pixel colors and positions — are being interpreted as sound amplitude values.

3. Protect the Header

Critical step: The first small portion of the waveform contains the BMP file header — metadata that tells image viewers the file’s dimensions, color depth, and format. If you corrupt the header, the image becomes unreadable.

  • Click at the very beginning of the waveform and drag to select roughly the first 0.5 to 1 second of audio (for a typical image, the header occupies a tiny fraction of the total data).
  • Leave this region untouched. Only apply effects to the data after the header.

A safe approach: select from about 1 second in to the end of the file, then apply your effects.

4. Apply Audio Effects

Select a region of the waveform (avoiding the header) and apply effects from the Effect menu. Start with one effect at a time to understand what each does visually.

High-impact effects:

  • Echo (Effect > Echo): Creates repeated horizontal or diagonal bands and ghosted copies of image elements. Adjust delay time (controls band spacing) and decay factor (controls ghost intensity).
  • Reverse (Effect > Reverse): Flips the selected data, producing mirrored fragments, color channel inversions, and misaligned regions. Reversing small selections fragments the image; reversing large sections creates mirror effects.
  • Phaser (Effect > Phaser): Introduces rhythmic banding and wave-like color distortions. The stage and frequency controls determine the pattern density.
  • Wahwah (Effect > Wahwah): Creates undulating color shifts and turbulent texture patterns.

Moderate effects:

  • Amplify (Effect > Amplify): At extreme values, clips the waveform — visually this produces areas of flattened, solid color and hard edges.
  • Paulstretch (Effect > Paulstretch): Extreme time-stretching that smears pixel data over long distances, creating smooth gradient glitches.
  • Noise Reduction: When applied to image data, it selectively removes “noise” that is actually image detail, creating smooth patches and lost information.

Subtle effects:

  • Equalization / Filter Curve: Boost or cut frequency ranges of the “audio” to selectively affect different spatial frequencies in the image.
  • Compressor: Reduces the dynamic range of pixel values, flattening contrast in specific regions.

5. Export the Result

  1. Select the entire waveform (Ctrl+A / Cmd+A).
  2. Go to File > Export > Export Audio.
  3. In the export dialog:
    • Set the format to Other uncompressed files or RAW (header-less).
    • Use the same encoding you imported with (U-Law, A-Law, etc.).
  4. Save with the .bmp extension (or rename after saving).
  5. Open the exported file in your image viewer or editor.

If the image doesn’t open, the header was likely corrupted — go back to your original, re-import, and be more careful about protecting the header region.

Advanced Techniques

Multiple Effect Passes

The richest glitch results come from layering multiple effects:

  1. Apply Echo to one section.
  2. Apply Reverse to a different section.
  3. Apply Phaser across the entire non-header region at subtle settings.

Each pass builds on the previous corruption, creating complex, layered artifacts.

Selective Region Glitching

Instead of processing the entire waveform, target specific regions:

  • Early data (after the header) typically corresponds to the top rows of the image.
  • Middle data corresponds to the center of the image.
  • Late data corresponds to the bottom rows.

By selecting specific sections, you can compose your glitches — corrupting only the sky, or only the lower third, or creating bands of alternating glitched and clean areas.

Import Setting Variations

The same image produces completely different glitches with different import settings:

  • U-Law vs A-Law: Different encoding curves create different artifact patterns from the same source data.
  • 8-bit vs 16-bit: Higher bit depths treat the data as wider samples, creating coarser but more dramatic distortions.
  • Different sample rates: 11025 Hz vs 44100 Hz changes how the data is chunked, affecting the scale and spacing of visual artifacts.

Experiment with multiple import settings on the same source image to build a library of variations.

Sonification Loops

For video or animated glitch work:

  1. Export a sequence of frames from your source video.
  2. Databend each frame with slightly different effect parameters (gradually increasing echo delay, for example).
  3. Reassemble the frames into a video sequence using your video editor.

This creates animated databending where the glitch evolves smoothly over time.

Troubleshooting

Image won’t open after export:

  • The header was corrupted. Re-import the original and avoid selecting the first portion of the waveform.

Image opens but looks unchanged:

  • Your effect was too subtle, or you accidentally only selected the header region. Try more aggressive effect settings on a larger selection.

Image is completely destroyed / unrecognizable:

  • The effect was too aggressive. Use lighter settings or apply effects to smaller selected regions.

Colors are wrong but structure is intact:

  • This often means you changed the encoding on export. Always export with the same encoding you used during import.

JPEG/PNG source produces unusable results:

  • Compressed formats don’t survive databending well. Always convert to BMP first.

Practical Tips

  • Always work on copies — never databend your only version of a file.
  • Name your exports descriptively — include the effect name and settings (e.g., portrait_echo-0.5s-0.6decay.bmp) so you can learn what produces which results.
  • Combine with other techniques — databend a file, then open the result in Photoshop or GIMP for additional processing. Layer databent versions over clean originals for composited effects.
  • Try different source images — images with large areas of uniform color glitch differently than highly detailed photos. Portraits, landscapes, and abstract patterns each produce distinct results.
  • Document your process — keep notes on import settings, effect parameters, and which regions you selected. Databending has a strong element of chance, but documented workflows help you refine your approach over time.