Data Bender

Qu-Bit Electronix 14HP
fw 1.4.5
GLITCH EFFECTS SAMPLER DISTORTION WAVESHAPER

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Circuit-bent stereo audio buffer. 96kHz/24-bit buffer of ~1 minute feeds clocked Bend, Break, Corrupt and Freeze manipulations modeled on failing tape, skipping CDs and crashing software.

Patch Ideas · 8

★ Clocked beat mangler
Macro Mode with an external clock and both Bend and Break active: the drum bus comes out re-timed, occasionally reversed, with vinyl pops — but still locked to the grid.
Walkthrough
  1. Press the Clock button so its LED glows white (External Clock mode).
  2. Press the Mode button so its LED glows blue (Macro).
  3. Turn the Time knob to the 12 o'clock detent (Clock Matches Input — x1).
  4. Set the Bend knob to 2 o'clock and the Break knob to 2 o'clock. Both their LEDs should be blue (enabled).
  5. Set Repeats to ~11 o'clock, Mix fully wet (CW), Corrupt knob fully CCW (off).
  6. Hold SHIFT and press Bend until its LED turns blue (Stereo Unique — per-channel independent glitches).
  7. Patch Clock Source (Out) into Data Bender clock.
  8. Patch Drum Bus (L) into Data Bender left, Drum Bus (R) into Data Bender right.
  9. Patch Data Bender (Out left) and (Out right) into your main Mixer.
Signal out Data Bender Out left / Out right — stereo modular-level drum bus, ±5V, with on-grid reverses, pitch varispeed, and vinyl pops on every clock division.
Listen for The drum loop plays back in time, but every few beats a snare gets reversed, a hat slides up in pitch, and a vinyl pop lands on a downbeat — the groove stays intact.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 5 connections. Modules: Data Bender, Clock, Drums, Output. Signals: 4 audio, 1 clock.Data BenderClockDrumsOutputMode: MacroTime: x1 (match input clock)Bend: ~2 o'clock (enabled)Break: ~2 o'clock (enabled)Stereo: UniqueclockclkIn leftaudioIn rightaudioOut leftaudioOut rightaudioOutclkLaudioRaudioLaudioRaudioaudioclock
★ Tape-stop freeze stab
Micro Mode with Bend below noon (reversed playback) and Freeze set to momentary: each snare trigger freezes the buffer briefly and spits a reversed stutter over the dry signal.
Walkthrough
  1. Press the Mode button so its LED glows green (Micro).
  2. Turn the Bend knob fully CCW (reverse playback at 1x speed — the LED will be green).
  3. Set Break to 9 o'clock (Traverse — picks an early buffer slice), Repeats to 1 o'clock.
  4. Turn Mix fully CCW (dry). Engaging Freeze will force it fully wet automatically.
  5. Hold SHIFT and press Freeze until its LED turns green (momentary — freeze only while the gate is high).
  6. Patch Source (Out) into Data Bender left.
  7. Patch Snare Trigger (Out) into Data Bender freeze input (needs >2V).
  8. Patch Data Bender (Out left / right) into your main Mixer.
  9. Each snare hit will briefly freeze the buffer and play it back reversed; release-time depends on the snare gate length.
Signal out Data Bender Out left / Out right — mostly dry signal, punctuated by short reversed stutter bursts on every snare trigger.
Listen for A normal source plays clean until a snare hits; on each hit you get a half-second backwards stutter that slams in, then the dry signal returns.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Data Bender, Gate Source, Source, Output. Signals: 3 audio, 1 gate.Data BenderGate SourceSourceOutputMode: MicroBend: CCW (reverse)Mix: fully dryFreeze: momentary (green)In leftaudiofreezegateOut leftaudioOut rightaudioOutgateLaudioLaudioRaudioaudiogate
Self-modulating destroy pad
Random CV into Time and Repeats, a slow LFO into Corrupt CV, and Corrupt in Destroy: a sustained pad becomes a self-modulating wall of saturation and stutter without touching a knob.
Walkthrough
  1. Press Mode so its LED is blue (Macro) and Clock so its LED is blue (Internal).
  2. Press the Corrupt button until the Corrupt LED indicates Destroy (third press from Decimate).
  3. Set the Corrupt knob to 1 o'clock (first half of travel is soft saturation, past noon starts hard clipping — watch levels).
  4. Set Time knob to 9 o'clock (slow, ~1–2s buffers), Repeats to noon, Mix fully wet (CW).
  5. Turn Bend and Break fully CCW (off — we want Corrupt alone driving the texture).
  6. Patch Pad (Out) into Data Bender left.
  7. Patch Random CV (e.g. sample-and-hold, 0–5V) into Data Bender time CV and repeats CV.
  8. Patch slow LFO (sine, 0.1–0.3 Hz, ±5V) into Data Bender corrupt cv.
  9. Patch Data Bender (Out left / right) into Mixer — leave headroom: Destroy can swing up to 14Vpp.
Signal out Data Bender Out left / Out right — sustained pad with compounding bitcrush/clipping that breathes as the LFO sweeps and stutters as Time jumps.
Listen for A held chord turns into a breathing, saturated wall that slowly distorts harder as the LFO crests, then relaxes back — with occasional stutters as Time jumps to a new buffer size.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 5 modules and 6 connections. Modules: Data Bender, Pad, Random, LFO, Output. Signals: 3 audio, 3 cv.Data BenderPadRandomLFOOutputCorrupt: Destroy · ~1 o'clockTime: slowMix: fully wetIn leftaudiotimecvrepeatscvcorrupt cvcvOut leftaudioOut rightaudioOutaudioOutcvOutcvLaudioRaudioaudiocv
DAW-locked buffer reset
External clock plus SHIFT+Corrupt repurposes the Corrupt Gate into a reset input: a DAW bar trigger resyncs the subdivision counter every downbeat so the glitch never drifts.
Walkthrough
  1. Press Clock so its LED is white (External).
  2. Turn Time knob to the /4 detent (1 bar — divide by 4).
  3. Press Mode until its LED is blue (Macro). Set Bend to 1 o'clock, Break to 1 o'clock.
  4. Hold SHIFT and press the Corrupt button — the Corrupt LED turns green, which means the Corrupt Gate jack now acts as a Reset input.
  5. Set Mix fully wet (CW), Repeats to noon, Corrupt knob CCW (off — the knob is independent from the reset function).
  6. Patch DAW Clock (e.g. 16th-note trigger from Expert Sleepers / Pam's) into Data Bender clock.
  7. Patch Bar Trigger (one pulse per bar from DAW) into Data Bender corrupt gate — this now resyncs the subdivision counter on each downbeat.
  8. Patch Source (Out) into Data Bender left.
  9. Patch Data Bender (Out left / right) into Output.
Signal out Data Bender Out left / Out right — stereo processed bus, rhythmically locked: subdivision counter resets to 1 on every bar trigger, eliminating drift.
Listen for The glitch pattern stays phase-locked with the DAW — you can stop and restart transport and the Data Bender snaps back onto the grid within one bar.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 5 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Data Bender, DAW Clock, Bar Trig, Source, Output. Signals: 2 audio, 1 trigger, 1 clock.Data BenderDAW ClockBar TrigSourceOutputClock: ExternalTime: /4Corrupt gate: Reset (SHIFT+Corrupt)clockclkcorrupt gatetrigIn leftaudioOut leftaudioOutclkOuttrigOutaudioLaudio11. buffer/clock resetaudiotriggerclock
★ Micro scrub instrument
Micro Mode + Freeze latched + V/oct-style CV into bend CV: the Bend knob becomes a ±3 octave playback-speed control, turning a frozen buffer into a playable sampler.
Walkthrough
  1. Press Mode so its LED is green (Micro). In Micro, Bend is direct playback speed (±3 oct) and Break selects a buffer slice (Traverse).
  2. Record audio into the buffer for a few seconds, then press Freeze — the LED should go solid blue (latched). If it's momentary, hold SHIFT + Freeze until blue.
  3. Set the Bend knob to noon (1x forward — LED will be cyan at exact octave multiples).
  4. Set Break to 9 o'clock (picks the first buffer slice to scrub). Repeats to noon for short loop segments.
  5. Set Mix fully wet (CW — Freeze already forces it wet, but this stays wet after unfreezing).
  6. Patch Source (Out) into Data Bender left, record your material, then engage Freeze.
  7. Patch Keyboard CV (±5V) into Data Bender bend cv — this sums with the Bend knob for pitched scrubbing.
  8. Patch Data Bender (Out left / right) into Output.
  9. Optionally patch a slow CV or LFO into Data Bender break cv to scan through the slice list automatically.
Signal out Data Bender Out left / Out right — pitched, looped playback of the frozen buffer slice, tracked by keyboard CV across a 6-octave range.
Listen for The frozen phrase plays back as a short loop; pressing higher keys speeds it up and raises pitch, lower keys reverse it below noon — like a granular sampler with one grain.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Data Bender, Keyboard, Source, Output. Signals: 3 audio, 1 pitch.Data BenderKeyboardSourceOutputMode: MicroFreeze: latched ONRepeats: ~noonBreak: TraverseIn leftaudiobend cv1v/octOut leftaudioOut rightaudioCV1v/octOutaudioLaudioRaudio11. scrub pitchaudiopitch
Skipping CD pad
Macro Mode with Break in Dropout territory and full glitch windowing: slice-skips and dropouts ride over an ambient pad without any clicks at the edges.
Walkthrough
  1. Press Mode so its LED is blue (Macro) and Clock so its LED is white (External) if you want tempo-locked skips, or blue (Internal) for free-running.
  2. Turn Bend fully CCW (off — LED dark). Set Break to 3 o'clock (aggressive slice jumps and added repeats).
  3. Press the Corrupt button until the LED indicates Dropout (second press), then set the Corrupt knob to 11 o'clock (few, long dropouts — left side of the knob).
  4. Hold SHIFT and turn the Time knob fully CW — the SHIFT LED will go bright white (maximum glitch windowing, fully faded edges).
  5. Set Time knob to noon, Mix fully wet, Repeats to 1 o'clock.
  6. Patch Clock Source (Out) into Data Bender clock.
  7. Patch Pad (Out) into Data Bender left (normalizes to right).
  8. Patch Data Bender (Out left / right) into your main Mixer.
Signal out Data Bender Out left / Out right — ambient pad with rhythmic slice skips and occasional long dropouts, all crossfaded (no clicks).
Listen for An ambient pad drifts along — every couple of bars a slice jumps to a different part of the buffer or briefly drops to silence, but every transition fades in and out smoothly.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Data Bender, Clock, Pad, Output. Signals: 3 audio, 1 clock.Data BenderClockPadOutputMode: MacroBend: OFFBreak: ~3 o'clockCorrupt: Dropout · ~11 o'clockWindowing: max (SHIFT+Time CW)In leftaudioclockclkOut leftaudioOut rightaudioOutclkOutaudioLaudioRaudioaudioclock
Mono-to-stereo decorrelator
Mono source into left (normalized to right) plus Stereo Unique mode: tiny per-channel Bend/Break decisions widen the mono image into a decorrelated stereo field.
Walkthrough
  1. Press Mode so its LED is blue (Macro).
  2. Hold SHIFT and press Bend until the Bend LED is blue (Stereo Unique — per-channel independent decisions).
  3. Press Clock so its LED is white (External) — the fast subdivision keeps the decorrelation lively.
  4. Turn the Time knob clockwise to the x4 detent (16th notes — LED will briefly flash gold on entering the subdivision).
  5. Set Bend to 9 o'clock and Break to 9 o'clock (low probability — one subtle glitch every few seconds).
  6. Set Mix fully wet (CW), Repeats to 1 o'clock, Corrupt knob CCW (off).
  7. Patch Clock Source into Data Bender clock.
  8. Patch Mono Source into Data Bender left only (leave right unpatched — it normals to left internally, but the Unique mode randomizes each channel independently downstream).
  9. Patch Data Bender (Out left / right) into Mixer L/R.
Signal out Data Bender Out left / Out right — two slightly different processed copies of the same mono input, widening the stereo image.
Listen for The mono source suddenly has width: micro-stutters and pitch blips appear only in the left ear, or only in the right, giving a wide, lively image without a chorus.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Data Bender, Clock, Mono Source, Output. Signals: 3 audio, 1 clock.Data BenderClockMono SourceOutputMode: MacroStereo: Unique (SHIFT+Bend blue)Bend: ~9 o'clockBreak: ~9 o'clockTime: x4In leftaudioclockclkOut leftaudioOut rightaudioOutclkOutaudioLaudioRaudio11. normalizes to rightaudioclock
Kick-ducked dropout gate
Corrupt in Dropout with the Corrupt Gate set to momentary: each kick transient punches a brief silent hole in the processed signal, like a hard sidechain gate.
Walkthrough
  1. Press the Corrupt button until the LED indicates Dropout.
  2. Set the Corrupt knob to 2 o'clock (more frequent, shorter dropouts — right side of the knob).
  3. Hold SHIFT and press the Clock button until the Clock LED turns green — this sets all effect gates (bend/break/corrupt) to momentary.
  4. Press Mode (blue — Macro), turn Bend fully CCW (off), Break fully CCW (off). Only Corrupt should be active.
  5. Set Mix fully wet (CW), Repeats to 1 o'clock, Time to noon.
  6. Patch Synth / Pad Source into Data Bender left.
  7. Patch Kick Envelope Follower (or kick gate, >2V) into Data Bender corrupt gate.
  8. Patch Data Bender (Out left / right) into Mixer L/R.
  9. Adjust kick gate length to taste — short gates punch tight holes, longer gates leave the dropout texture on longer.
Signal out Data Bender Out left / Out right — wet processed signal that briefly dropouts (goes silent/stuttered) every time the kick fires.
Listen for A pad plays cleanly between kicks; every time the kick hits, the pad briefly chokes with a ragged silence, then returns — a harder, more digital sidechain duck.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 4 modules and 3 connections. Modules: Data Bender, Kick Envelope, Synth, Output. Signals: 2 audio, 1 gate.Data BenderKick EnvelopeSynthOutputCorrupt: Dropout · ~2 o'clockGate behavior: momentary (SHIFT+Clock green)Mix: fully wetIn leftaudiocorrupt gategateOut leftaudioOutgateOutaudioLaudio11. hole on each kickaudiogate

Behaviors

Macro vs Micro mode Mode button

Macro fires Bend/Break probabilistically on each clock division — knobs scale the amount of automated chaos. Micro turns Bend into direct playback speed (±3 oct, reverse below noon) and Break into manual buffer-slice selection (Traverse) or silence duty-cycle. Use Macro for hands-off generative glitch, Micro for performative control.

Background buffer any change to Time

Writes continue outside the current Time window. Sweeping Time down after Freeze drags up to a minute of older recorded audio back into playback — expect discontinuities and fragments of earlier material.

Freeze forces wet mix Freeze engaged with Mix CCW

Engaging Freeze while Mix is fully dry instantly pushes Mix to fully wet. Lets the patch run clean until Freeze fires, then slams into the queued glitch state — performative stutter gate.

Corrupt as Reset SHIFT + Corrupt button

Green LED on Corrupt turns the Corrupt Gate input into a buffer/clock reset. In internal clock mode it restarts the clock and reloads the buffer (can click). In external mode it aligns the subdivision counter to an external beat — useful for DAW sync.

Glitch windowing SHIFT + Time knob

Sets envelope on stutter edges. CCW: hard edges and clicks — glitch beats, SFX. CW: fully windowed fades — ambient textures. Default is 2% minimal window; restored by SHIFT + Break.

Stereo unique vs shared SHIFT + Bend button

Blue: Macro Bend/Break make independent random decisions per channel — wide decorrelated glitch. Green: both channels share identical automation — image stays centered. Only affects Macro mode.

Gate latch vs momentary SHIFT + Clock button

Blue: each trigger into bend/break/corrupt Gate toggles the effect. Green: effect is held on only while the gate is high. Applies to all three effect gates simultaneously.

Destroy output level Corrupt in Destroy with high knob

Second half of the Corrupt knob in Destroy mode moves from soft saturation into hard clip with large gain boost. Output can hit 14Vpp — attenuate before downstream modules, especially with line-level input.

Settings persist Shift button release

Bend/Break state, Corrupt mode, clock source, Macro/Micro, stereo mode, windowing, gate behaviors and corrupt-as-reset are stored to memory every time SHIFT is released (at most every 2 seconds). Restore defaults with SHIFT + Break.

Controls

Global Time Sets sample period of the processed buffer slice. Internal: frequency. External: clock divide/multiply.
Internal: 80Hz – 16s · External: /16, /8, /4, /2, x1, x2, x3, x4, x8 · CV ±5V
Global Repeats Subdivides the active buffer into smaller stutter slices. CCW = one slice, CW = many short slices.
CV ±5V · adds to knob
Global Mix Dry/wet balance between live input and processed buffer.
CV ±5V · Freeze forces mix fully wet
Macro / Micro Bend Macro: probabilistic varispeed, reverse, tape-stop, vinyl pops on each clock division. Micro: direct playback speed ±3 octaves.
Macro CCW: off · Micro CCW: reverse · LED cyan/gold at octave multiples
Macro / Micro Break Macro: probabilistic buffer-section jumps, added repeats, up to 90% silence. Micro: Traverse buffer sections or duty-cycle silence.
Micro mode toggled by button press · LED blips gold on slice change
Global Corrupt Button steps Decimate → Dropout → Destroy. Knob sets intensity of the active mode.
Decimate: bitcrush + downsample · Dropout: random muted frames · Destroy: soft sat → hard clip · CV ±5V
Global Mode Toggles Bend and Break between Macro (automated, clock-synced) and Micro (direct manual control).
Blue LED: Macro · Green LED: Micro
Global Clock Selects internal or external clock source for Time. Blue: internal. White: external.
Dim white = external clock lost · runs at last rate until new pulse
Global Shift Hold to access edit layer for windowing, stereo mode, gate behavior, corrupt-as-reset, freeze mode, restore defaults.
SHIFT + Break = restore defaults · SHIFT + Time = glitch windowing
Global Freeze Stops writing new audio to the buffer; manipulations keep running on frozen material.
Latching (blue) quantizes to next clock · Momentary (green) engages instantly

I/O

IN · 13

  • clock 0–5V rising edge CLK
    External clock input for Time / external clock mode
  • left modular ±5V · tolerates line level AUDIO
    Stereo left audio input · normalized to right when unpatched
    NORM → right input when unpatched
  • right modular ±5V AUDIO
    Stereo right audio input
  • bend cv ±5V · sums with knob CV
    CV control over Bend knob
  • break cv ±5V · sums with knob CV
    CV control over Break knob
  • corrupt cv ±5V CV
    CV control over Corrupt intensity · reassignable to Reset with SHIFT + Corrupt
  • bend gate 2V+ gate GATE
    Gate enables/disables Bend effect · latching or momentary per edit menu
  • break gate 2V+ gate GATE
    Gate enables/disables Break effect · repurposable via SHIFT + Corrupt
  • corrupt gate 2V+ gate GATE
    Gate enables/disables Corrupt
  • mix ±5V CV
    CV over wet/dry mix
  • repeats ±5V CV
    CV over Repeats divisor
  • time ±5V CLK
    CV over Time control · sums with knob in both clock modes
  • freeze 2V+ gate GATE
    Gate engages Freeze · latching or momentary per edit menu

OUT · 2

  • left modular level · up to 14Vpp with heavy corruption
    Processed stereo left
  • right modular level · up to 14Vpp with heavy corruption
    Processed stereo right