GlitchBud User Manual

Overview

GlitchBud is a performance effect for your whole setup. Put it across up to 8 stereo tracks, and play glitches on them from a grid of 16 pads: rolls, stutters, shuffles, tape stops, reverses, gates and frozen textures. Other pads make your tracks play each other: one track answers another, takes turns, or loops on its own length.

Hold a pad to glitch the music. Let go, and the dry audio returns. Smear can leave a short tail. There is nothing to record or load first: GlitchBud is always listening, so every pad is ready the moment you touch it.

Why GlitchBud

• 8 inputs, 8 outputs. Most glitch effects sit on one stereo track. GlitchBud works more like a modular system: 8 separate stereo lanes pass through it, and each pad is patched to the lanes you choose. Glitch every track at once, only the drums, or drums and bass together, and they stay locked in time. Each lane has its own output, so the rest of your mix is never touched and every glitch can go to its own effects.
• Made to be played. Pads can wait for the next beat or bar, catch a moment that just passed, and sound a little different each time.
• Four pattern pages. Prepare a page of 16 pads for each part of your song or set (A–D, 64 pads in total). All 64 pads are live: a latched pad plays on while you work on another page.
• Focused on glitches. GlitchBud does not include filters, delays or reverbs. Send its outputs to the effects you already love.

How It Works

GlitchBud has 8 inputs and 8 outputs, in pairs: what comes in on In 1 goes out on Out 1, In 2 on Out 2, and so on. With the mixer at its default levels and no pad playing, the audio passes through unchanged.

Each pad has one effect. You choose which inputs it listens to and which output it plays on. While you hold the pad, Wet ducks those inputs on their own outputs and blends in the effect at the chosen output. At 100% Wet, the effect fully replaces their dry signal. When you let go, they come back.

For example, with your drums on In 1 and your bass on In 2:

• A pad on In 1 glitches only the drums. The bass plays on.
• A pad on In 1 and In 2 glitches both together, in time.
• A pad on all inputs glitches the whole mix.

Quick Start

1. Add GlitchBud as an audio effect on a track in your host (AUM, Loopy Pro, Drambo, ...). Or open the app with headphones on.
2. Play some audio. It sounds unchanged.
3. Hold pad 1 (Roll 1/4): the next beat plays, then repeats. Let go: the audio goes back to normal.
4. Try the other pads for different effects and setups.
5. Turn on ✏️ Edit, tap a pad, and change its sound in the editor.

The Screen

• Top: the output waveform. In the FX and Pad tabs it shows the selected pad's output; otherwise it shows all outputs. While a pad plays, the waveform glitches with it (turn this off with Glitch Visuals in Settings).
• Middle: the editor and the pad grid. Turn the device to landscape to see them side by side.
• Bottom: the patterns (A–D) and three buttons: ✏️ Edit, 📁 Presets, ⚙️ Settings.

Each pad shows its number (1 to 64 across the four patterns), its MIDI note (top right), its title and a short summary. The title is the effect and its main value, for example "Roll 1/8", and it follows the effect when you change it. If you give the pad a name, the pad shows the name, and the summary shows the effect. The summary also shows the inputs and the output, for example "All→1". "L" means the pad is latched.

• A pad gets smaller while a finger or a MIDI note holds it down.
• A dark pad with a bright border is playing. A latched pad stays like this after you let go.
• A pad with a blue border waits for the next beat to start (see Grid).
• A pad with a white border is the one in the editor.

Edit mode (✏️): when it is on, tapping a pad also opens it in the editor. Turn it off to hide the editor and get bigger pads. The pads always play, in both modes.

The editor has three tabs: FX (the sound), Pad (routing and MIDI) and Mixer (levels).

FX Tab

Effect and Sync

Tap the effect name to pick one of 16 effects, grouped by family. Sync sets the effect's time in note values that follow the tempo: straight (1/8, 1/16, ...), triplet (1/8T) and dotted (1/8D). Turn it off to set the time in milliseconds. Smear and Scatter have no time knob, so they have no Sync button.

Effect material is limited to 2 seconds. If a note value is longer than that at a slow tempo, the effect plays half of it (or a quarter), so it stays in time. The knob's name shows the value that plays, for example "Length → 1/2" for 1 bar at 100 BPM.

Speed

Makes the effect faster and higher, or slower and lower, like a turntable. 2× is one octave up, 0.5× one octave down. Speed changes the rate of the audio the effect reads; timing controls still follow their selected note value or milliseconds. It also changes how Tape Stop and Rewind move.

Mutate

Each time you play the pad, Mutate moves the effect's knobs by a random amount, so it never sounds quite the same. More Mutate means bigger changes: a synced time can also go to half or double, and step patterns can change. Effect choices (for example Tape's Direction) and Sync do not change.

At 0% the knobs stay as you set them. Effects with their own random behavior, including Shuffle, Scan, Smear and Scatter, can still vary.

Wet

How much of the effect you hear. 100% is effect only. 50% is half effect, half normal audio.

Grid

Free starts the pad at once. A note value (for example 1 bar) makes the pad wait for the next beat or bar, so it starts in time. Letting go is always immediate. Grid needs the host's transport to be playing: when it is stopped, and always in the standalone app, the pad starts at once.

Lookback

Now starts the effect from the moment you touch the pad. A note value starts it a little earlier. Use it to catch something that just happened: for example, Roll with Lookback 1/4 repeats the beat you just heard.

Step Pattern

Gater and Sequence show 16 steps at the bottom. Tap or drag across the steps to turn them on or off. Steps sets how many steps play; the steps after that are dimmed. At least one step always stays on.

Common Controls

Control	Range	Default
Speed	0.25× – 4×	1×
Mutate	0 – 100%	0%
Wet	0 – 100%	100%
Grid	Free, 1/32 – 1 bar	Free
Lookback	Now, 1/64 – 1 bar	Now

The Effects

Repeat

• Roll: repeats a short loop while you hold the pad, like a DJ loop roll. It keeps repeating the same loop until you let go.
• Stutter: repeats a short piece a few times, then goes back to normal. Accel makes the repeats faster or slower, Decay makes them fade.
• Erode: a loop that gets damaged each time it repeats. Decay sets how much, Cells sets how fine the damage is, Mode sets the damage: holes (Drop), repeated bits (Stick) or a mix. Renew takes a fresh loop after that many repeats.

Rearrange

• Shuffle: cuts the last few beats into slices and plays them in a new order. Reverse and Repeat add backward and repeated slices.
• Sequence: repeats the first step on the steps you turn on, and plays normally on the others.

Speed

• Tape: slows down to a stop (Stop) or spins back like a rewind (Rewind). Curve sets how the speed changes.
• Reverse: plays the audio backward, a piece at a time.

Gate

• Gater: cuts the audio on and off with a step pattern. Attack and Release make the cuts softer.

Texture

• Freeze: holds a short moment and sustains it. Fade makes the loop smoother.
• Scan: a cloud of tiny grains that moves slowly through the last moment. Its own Speed knob sets how fast it moves; 0 holds it still.
• Smear: a wash of grains. Spread detunes them. Tail lets the sound ring on after you let go.

Stems

• Scatter: a cloud of grains where each grain comes from only one of the pad's inputs, so the tracks break into pieces that take turns. Reach sets how far back the grains come from. Run sets how many grains in a row come from the same input. Spread detunes them. Use it on a pad with two or more inputs.
• Relay: plays one input at a time and passes on to the next at each step, like the tracks taking turns. Order sets the way (up, down, back and forth), Run keeps one input for a few steps, Age plays each next input a bit further in the past, Jitter makes some steps jump to a random input.
• Stagger: plays all the inputs, each one a step later than the one before, like a canon of your own tracks. Order sets which is first, Rotate moves the delays along every few steps.
• Loom: every input loops at its own length (the first at First, each next one Add longer), so the loops drift apart and meet again. Cycle starts them all together again after 8 to 64 units. With many inputs or a long Base, Loom plays Base at a half or a quarter (or less), so that every input keeps its own length. Build a polyrhythm from your own tracks, and let go to return.
• Crossfire: one input plays the others. When the Key input hits (a kick, for example), the pad plays a short piece of its other inputs from just before the hit. Fragment sets the length, Sens how easily a hit is found, Back how many pieces back it goes, Repeats how many times it plays. The Key input is only listened to: it keeps playing on its own output. Pick the Key in the effect, and the other inputs in the Pad tab. Silent between hits.

Parameters

Times show a synced range (Sync on) and a millisecond range (Sync off).

Effect	Parameter	Range	Default
Roll	Length	1/64 – 1 bar · 10 – 2000 ms	1/8
Stutter	Fragment	1/128 – 1/2 · 5 – 1000 ms	1/16
	Repeats	2 – 16	8
	Accel	−1 – +1	+0.5
	Decay	0 – 1	0.2
Shuffle	Slice	1/64 – 1/4 · 20 – 500 ms	1/16
	Slices	2 – 16	8
	Random	0 – 1	0.7
	Reverse	0 – 1	0.2
	Repeat	0 – 1	0.2
Sequence	Step	1/64 – 1/4 · 20 – 500 ms	1/16
	Steps	1 – 16	16
Tape	Duration	1/16 – 1 bar · 50 – 2000 ms	1/4
	Direction	Stop, Rewind	Stop
	Curve	−1 – +1	0
Reverse	Chunk	1/16 – 1 bar · 50 – 2000 ms	1/4
Gater	Step	1/64 – 1/4 · 10 – 500 ms	1/16
	Steps	1 – 16	16
	Attack	0 – 50 ms	1 ms
	Release	0 – 200 ms	20 ms
Freeze	Window	1/64 – 1/8 · 10 – 500 ms	80 ms
	Fade	0 – 1	0.5
Scan	Window	1/16 – 1 bar · 100 – 2000 ms	1/2
	Grain	10 – 300 ms	80 ms
	Density	2 – 60 per second	20
	Speed	−2× – +2×	0.25×
	Spray	0 – 1	0.1
Smear	Grain	20 – 500 ms	150 ms
	Density	2 – 60 per second	25
	Blur	0 – 1000 ms	300 ms
	Spread	0 – 12 semitones	0
	Tail	0 – 4000 ms	1500 ms
Scatter	Grain	10 – 300 ms	80 ms
	Density	2 – 60 per second	20
	Reach	0 – 2000 ms	250 ms
	Run	1 – 16	1
	Spread	0 – 12 semitones	0
Relay	Step	1/64 – 1/4 · 10 – 500 ms	1/16
	Order	Up, Down, Ping-Pong	Up
	Run	1 – 8	1
	Age	0 – 8 steps	0
	Jitter	0 – 1	0
Stagger	Step	1/64 – 1/4 · 5 – 500 ms	1/16
	Order	Up, Down, Random	Up
	Rotate	0 – 16 steps	0
Loom	Base	1/64 – 1/4 · 10 – 500 ms	1/16
	First	1 – 8 units	3
	Add	0 – 4 units	1
	Cycle	Free, 8, 16, 32, 64 units	Free
Crossfire	Key	In 1 – In 8	In 1
	Fragment	1/64 – 1/4 · 10 – 1000 ms	1/16
	Sens	0 – 1	0.5
	Back	0 – 16 pieces	0
	Repeats	1 – 8	1
Erode	Length	1/16 – 1 bar · 50 – 2000 ms	1/4
	Decay	0 – 1	0.15
	Cells	8 – 64	16
	Mode	Drop, Stick, Mix	Drop
	Renew	0 – 32 repeats (0 = never)	0

Pad Tab

• Inputs: the inputs this pad glitches. Pick one or more (all by default).
• Output: where the effect comes out (Out 1 by default). At 100% Wet, its inputs are silent on their own outputs while the pad plays. The effect joins this output's normal audio unless the pad also owns that output.
• Latch: on = tap to start, tap again to stop. Off = the pad plays only while you hold it. You can also set it from the grid with two fingers: see Two-Finger Latch.
• Name: your own name for the pad. Leave it empty and the pad shows its effect and main value.
• Gain: the effect's volume, up to +6 dB. Use it to make loud and quiet effects match. Wet sets the blend with the normal audio; Gain changes only the effect's level.
• Note and Channel: which MIDI note plays this pad. See MIDI.
• Color: the pad's color.

Two-Finger Latch

Touch a pad with two fingers to change its Latch while you play, with no visit to the Pad tab.

The pad before the touch	After the touch
Latch off	Latch on. The pad plays on after you let go.
Latch on, not playing	Latch stays on. The pad starts, as with one finger.
Latch on, playing	Latch off. The pad stops.

• Use it to keep a glitch that you like: hold the pad with one finger, then add a second finger and let go.
• To stop the pad and make it a hold pad again, touch it with two fingers one more time.
• The change is the same as the Latch button: the pad shows "L", and the setting is saved with the preset.
• Both fingers must be on the same pad. A touch only does this; a MIDI note does not.
• Turn it off with Two-Finger Latch in Settings > Pads.

Examples

• Glitch everything: Inputs All, Output 1.
• Glitch only the drums (on In 3): Inputs 3, Output 3. The other tracks play on.
• Glitch drums and bass together: Inputs 1 and 2, Output 1.
• Send the glitch to its own track (to add your own reverb): Output 8, and set Out 8's Dry to 0 in the Mixer.

Mixer Tab

One strip for each of the 8 channels. All patterns share the mixer.

• In: the input volume, up to +6 dB.
• Dry: the volume of the normal audio. At 0%, you hear this channel only while a pad glitches it.
• Out: the output volume, up to +6 dB.
• The meter shows the input level (after In) and the output level (after Out).

Playing Several Pads

• Pads play together. All 64 can play at once, also when they use the same input.
• Pads on the same input layer: each one plays its own effect on that input, and none stops another. The dry signal of the input stays off until the last of them lets go.
• Pads on the same output add up on it, so many pads are louder. GlitchBud has no limiter: turn down the pads' Gain or the mixer's Out if the output is too hot.
• Layers play side by side, not one after the other: a Gater and a Roll on the same input give a gated input plus a roll, not a gated roll.
• Mono (Settings > Pads) plays one pad at a time: a new pad releases the pad that plays. Use it to slide between Roll lengths, or to let a Tape Stop take over a latched pad. A pad with Grid on takes over at its grid line. Mono is saved with the preset.

Patterns

GlitchBud has 4 patterns (A–D). Each one is a page of 16 pads, and all 64 pads are live.

• Tap a pattern to show its page. Nothing stops: a latched pad plays on, and a held pad plays until you let it go.
• A pattern with a bright border has a pad that plays. Go to that page to find it.
• Long press a pattern to Copy or Paste it, or to Release All Pads (on every page).
• Paste copies the pads but keeps the MIDI notes of the page, so each pad keeps its own note.
• In a host, you can automate the Pattern parameter, or map it to a MIDI controller if your host supports that. It changes the page you see, not the sound.

MIDI

• Each pad plays from one MIDI note. By default each of the 64 pads has its own note: pattern A is notes 36–51, B is 52–67, C is 68–83 and D is 84–99. Octave names vary by host, so use the MIDI number if the displayed note name differs.
• Channel: Omni (any channel, the default) or 1–16.
• Note on starts the pad, note off stops it. With Latch on, each note on switches the pad on or off, and note off does nothing.
• How hard you play does not change the sound.
• Every pad on every pattern plays from MIDI, not only the page you see. GlitchBud receives MIDI on the routed input in a host or on an open MIDI In port in the standalone app. It does not send MIDI notes or CC.
• Note groups: give the same note and channel to two or more pads (on any pages), and one note starts them all. A touch always plays only the pad you touch. With Mono on, a shared note plays only the first of its pads (pattern A before B, pad 1 before pad 16).
• MIDI CC: a knob of a MIDI controller can turn the knobs of the editor. See MIDI Learn.

MIDI Learn

Your host can automate only Bypass and Pattern: the effect knobs change with each pad and each effect, so they are not host parameters. MIDI Learn connects them to your MIDI controller in GlitchBud itself.

Map a Knob

1. Open ⚙️ Settings and tap MIDI Learn > Start MIDI Learn. The settings close and the editor opens.
2. Tap a pad to select it.
3. Touch a knob in the editor. It gets a frame in the accent color.
4. Turn a knob (or move a fader) on your MIDI controller. The editor knob follows it. The waveform shows the mapping, for example "Speed · Pad 5: CC 74 Ch 1".
5. Touch the next knob and move the next control. Do this for all the knobs you want.
6. Tap Stop (top right, on the waveform) to end MIDI Learn. You can also tap Settings > MIDI Learn > Stop MIDI Learn.

While MIDI Learn is on, the knobs that have a mapping show a thin frame. To remove the mapping of the framed knob, tap Clear on the waveform. To learn a different control, move it: the new one replaces the old one.

Set a Pad's Note

While MIDI Learn is on, play a note on your controller. The note and its channel become the Note and Channel of the selected pad (Omni goes off). Tap the next pad, play the next note, and so on. The pad shows its new note at the top right.

If another pad has the same note and channel, the two pads now start together (a note group). Change the note of the other pad if you do not want this.

What You Can Map

Tab	Knobs	A mapping belongs to
FX	The effect knobs and the Sync button	The pad and its effect
FX	Speed, Mutate, Wet, Grid, Lookback	The pad
Pad	Gain	The pad
Mixer	In, Dry, Out	The channel (bus)

• Note, Channel and Color cannot be mapped.
• An effect knob mapping belongs to its effect. When you change the pad's effect, the mapping waits. Select the first effect again and the mapping works again. You can map the same controller knob to both effects of a pad.
• A pad's mapping works on every pattern page, also when you do not see the pad.
• One controller knob can turn many knobs: map it to Speed on four pads, and one turn changes all four. One editor knob has only one controller knob.

How a Mapped Knob Moves

• The controller's range is the knob's full range: CC 0 is the knob at its minimum, CC 127 at its maximum.
• When you move the controller, the knob goes at once to the controller's position.
• For a knob with steps (Grid, Lookback, an effect choice, a synced time), the controller moves through the steps.
• The Sync button, and effect choices that have only two options (for example Tape's Direction), switch at the middle of the controller's range.
• A time knob follows its Sync setting: notes when Sync is on, milliseconds when it is off.
• The mappings work also when the GlitchBud window is closed in your host.

Save and Clear

• The mappings are saved with the preset and with the host project.
• A preset with no mappings (all factory presets) keeps your current mappings when you load it. A preset with mappings brings its own mappings.
• Settings > MIDI Learn > Clear All Mappings removes all of them.

Using GlitchBud in a Host

• GlitchBud is an audio effect. It also takes MIDI to play the pads.
• In hosts that support it, route up to 8 tracks in and 8 channels out. Other hosts use only In 1 and Out 1.
• You can automate Bypass and Pattern. To control the other knobs from a MIDI controller, use MIDI Learn.
• Your settings are saved with the host project.
• Synced times and Grid follow the host's tempo.

Standalone App

• The app uses your device's microphone or audio interface, with one input and one output. For 8 inputs and outputs, use a host.
• The mic is muted while you use the built-in speaker, to stop feedback. Use headphones, or turn it off in Settings (it comes back on at each launch).
• The tempo is 120 BPM, and there is no transport: Grid starts pads at once.
• The app does not save your work when you quit. Save it as a preset first.

Presets

A preset stores everything: all 4 patterns, the mixer and the MIDI Learn mappings.

• Tap 📁 to open presets.
• Factory has 13 presets. A page that a preset does not use holds 16 plain Roll pads: free room for your own pads.
• In User, tap + to save. Swipe a preset to rename or delete it.
• Tap a preset to load it.

Pad colors in the factory presets: a pad that plays one input (or one group) has the color of its output; other pads have the color of their effect family.

General, and for one input (In 1 → Out 1)

• Init: the default kit, on all inputs. A the classic effects, B the stem effects.
• Effect Tour: every effect. A classics, B stem effects, C one pad per input (each on its own output), D groups of inputs and Crossfire pads.
• Blank: 64 plain pads, to build your own kit.
• Drum Breaker: A fills (rolls, ratchets, shuffles, sequences), B gates, half-time, tape stops and endings.
• Texture Bed: latched Freeze, Scan and Smear pads at Wet 60%. Tap one, then play over it.
• Wildcard: every pad has Mutate, so each press sounds different. The bottom row is the most random.
• Hands Free: every pad is latched and starts on the grid. Good with a foot controller (notes 48–63).

For a rig

• Duo: In 1 and In 2. A a row for each input, then both inputs together. B Crossfire between the two, then textures.
• Quad Stems: In 1–4, one column for each input. A and B one effect in each row, C groups (1+2, 3+4, all four).
• Full Rig: In 1–8. A Roll and Gater for each input, B Freeze and Tape Stop for each input, C pairs (1+2, 3+4, 5+6, 7+8), D the whole rig to Out 1.
• Kick Trigger: Crossfire pads. A a hit on In 1 fires In 2, In 3, In 4 or all three. B other keys and targets; the "Self" row needs only In 1.
• Stem Weave: Relay, Stagger, Loom and Scatter, one effect in each row. A In 1–4, B all inputs.
• Send Return: the mixer's Dry is 0 on every bus, so an output has only the glitch. Send a copy of each track to an input. In the standalone app this preset is silent until you play a pad.

Recipes

GlitchBud is one effect for many tracks. That is new for most setups, so here are complete examples to copy. Each one works by itself; the later ones build on the first ones. Start with one recipe, then mix them.

Before You Start

Audio

• Use one GlitchBud in your host (AUM, Loopy Pro, Drambo, ...). Send each track to its own input: drums to In 1, bass to In 2, and so on.
• What comes in on In 3 goes out on Out 3. Send each output back to your mixer, or through other effects first.
• A pad listens to the Inputs you choose and plays on one Output. That is all the routing there is.

MIDI from a sequencer

• A pad plays from its Note (Pad tab). Pattern A is notes 36–51. Set the sequencer to these notes, or set the pads' Notes to the notes the sequencer sends.
• Latch off: the note's length is the glitch's length. Short notes give short cuts, long notes give long holds.
• Latch on: each note switches the pad on or off. Use it for textures, not for rhythm.
• Grid (1/16, for example) puts a loose or random sequence back in time.
• A sequencer plays the notes of its key and scale. Set the pads' Notes to those notes, or give a step its own note where the sequencer lets you.
• Mono (Settings > Pads) lets only one pad play at a time. Turn it on when a busy sequence must not pile up.
• All 64 pads answer to MIDI, also the pages you do not see.

Part 1: Routing

1. One Glitch Box for the Whole Rig

One instance replaces a glitch effect on each track.

• You need: 2 to 8 tracks.
• Route: track 1 → In 1, track 2 → In 2, ... Each Out back to the mixer.
• Pads: for each track, a pad with Inputs N and Output N. Add one pad with Inputs All, Output 1, Tape (Stop), Grid 1 bar.
• Play: hold a track's pad to glitch only that track. Hold two pads to glitch two tracks in two different ways. Hit the Tape Stop pad to stop the whole rig at the bar line.
• Go further: load Full Rig. It has Roll, Gater, Freeze and Tape Stop for each of the 8 inputs.

2. Kick and Bass as One Instrument

Two tracks through one effect stay locked: one roll, one loop, one cut.

• You need: kick (or drums) on In 1, bass on In 2.
• Pads: Inputs 1 and 2, Output 1. Try Roll 1/8, Gater, and Shuffle with Slices 8.
• Play: hold the Roll pad. Kick and bass repeat as one loop, and both come back together when you let go.
• Balance: the pad mixes its inputs before the effect. If the bass is too loud in the glitch, turn down In 2 in the Mixer.
• Go further: Duo has a row for each input and a row for both.

3. Lead, Arp and Bass Play Each Other

The Stems effects need two or more inputs. They do not glitch a mix: they make the tracks take turns.

• You need: lead on In 1, arp on In 2, bass on In 3.
• Pads: Inputs 1, 2 and 3, Output 1, then one effect per pad:
  • Relay, Step 1/16: one track at each step. Three parts become one fast line.
  • Stagger, Step 1/8: the three tracks play as a canon.
  • Loom, First 3, Add 1: the tracks loop on 3, 4 and 5 units. A polyrhythm from your own parts.
  • Scatter: a cloud of grains, each grain from one track.
• Play: hold Relay for one bar at the end of a phrase. Latch Loom for a breakdown.
• Go further: Stem Weave has all four effects on In 1–4 and on all inputs.

4. A Glitch Return with Its Own Effects

Send the glitch to an output that has nothing else on it, and put your effects there. The reverb then gets only the glitch.

• You need: your tracks on In 1–4. Out 8 on its own mixer channel.
• Pads: Inputs 1–4 (or one of them), Output 8. If a track comes in on In 8, set Dry 8 to 0 in the Mixer.
• On Out 8: a reverb or a delay, or one of our effects: SpinBud (rotary speaker), ShapeStage (morphing filter and modulation) or ScratchBud (vinyl scratch).
• Play: each glitch now has a tail of its own, and the tracks come back dry.
• Keep the dry signal: set the pad's Wet to 50%. The tracks play on at half level and the glitch goes to the return.
• Go further: Send Return sets Dry to 0 on every bus.

5. A Different Effect for Each Glitch

Pads layer, and each pad has its own output. So one input can feed many effect chains.

• Pads, all with Inputs 1:
  • Roll 1/16 → Output 6, with a delay on Out 6.
  • Freeze → Output 7, with a long reverb on Out 7.
  • Reverse → Output 8, with a filter or SpinBud on Out 8.
• Play: each pad is now a glitch and an effect in one touch. Hold two of them for a layer.
• Level: pads on the same input add up. Use the pads' Gain to match them.

Part 2: Multi-Out Instruments

A multi-out instrument gives you its parts on separate outputs. With GlitchBud after it, you can glitch each part alone.

6. BreakBud, Taken Apart

BreakBud is our breakbeat drum synth with six voices. In a host, its Out 1 is the full mix and Out 2–7 are the voices alone: kick, snare, closed hat, open hat, rim and FM hit.

• Route: load BreakBud as a multi-out instrument and turn on Out 2–7 in the host. Out 2 (kick) → In 1, Out 3 (snare) → In 2, Out 4 (closed hat) → In 3, Out 5 (open hat) → In 4, Out 6 (rim) → In 5, Out 7 (FM hit) → In 6. Do not use Out 1, or you hear the drums twice.
• Pads:
  • Inputs 3 and 4, Output 3, Roll 1/32: a hat roll. Kick and snare play on.
  • Inputs 2, Output 2, Stutter with Accel up: a snare rush.
  • Inputs 1, Output 1, Gater with a few steps off: a new kick pattern.
  • Inputs 1–6, Output 1, Shuffle, Mutate 40%: the whole break in a new order, different each time.
  • Inputs 2–6, Output 2, Reverse: the top of the kit goes backward and the kick holds the floor.
• Play: let BreakBud's sequencer run and play the pads as fills.
• Go further: each drum has its own Out, so put a reverb only on the snare's output and a saturator only on the kick's.

7. The Kick Plays the Band

Crossfire listens to one input and fires pieces of the others. The Key input is only listened to: it plays on, untouched.

• You need: the kick alone on In 1 (BreakBud's Out 2 is ideal), a pad sound on In 2, a vocal or lead on In 3.
• Pads: Crossfire, Key In 1, Inputs 2 and 3, Output 2, Latch on. Fragment 1/16, Repeats 2.
• Play: latch the pad. Each kick now throws a short piece of the pad sound and the vocal. Change the kick pattern and the chops follow.
• Tune: Sens down if ghost notes fire it, up if it misses hits. Back takes older pieces.
• Go further: use a hat as the Key for a fast chop. Kick Trigger has more of these.

8. A Choir of Witches

Speaking of Witch turns typed text into playable speech on 16 pads, with 8 outputs. Give each voice its own output.

• Route: in Speaking of Witch, set four pads to Bus 1–4. In the host, Bus 1–4 → In 1–4.
• Pads:
  • Inputs 1–4, Output 1, Relay, Step 1/16, Order Ping-Pong: the voices pass the sentence around.
  • Inputs 1–4, Output 1, Stagger, Step 1/8: one sentence, said as a round.
  • Inputs 1, Output 8, Freeze, Latch on: a held vowel. Put a long reverb on Out 8 for a drone.
  • Inputs 1–4, Output 1, Smear, Spread 7, Tail 3000 ms: the words become a chord that rings on.
• Play: trigger the speech, then catch a word with Freeze and talk over it.
• Go further: Roll with Lookback 1/4 repeats the word you just heard.

Part 3: Sequenced and Generative

Your hands are not the only way to play the pads. A MIDI sequencer can play them: in a strict rhythm, or in a way that you cannot predict. In the host, send the sequencer's MIDI to GlitchBud.

9. A Written Glitch Part

StepBud is a step sequencer with as many steps as you want, and each step has its own length.

• Sequencer: one step for each glitch. In Notes mode, choose the pad's note. In Rate mode, set how long the step is, and in Gate mode how much of it the pad is held. Disable a step for a rest.
• Pads: Latch off. For example a Roll on the drums, a Reverse on the lead and a Tape Stop on all inputs for the last step.
• Play: press play. The glitches come at the same places in each round, as a written part of the song.
• Two pads on one step: double-tap a step to open the Note Designer and select two or more notes. This also reaches a pad whose note is not in the scale.
• Go further: Ratchet fires a pad 2 to 4 times in its step. Probability makes a step play only now and then. Set Seq to Random to play the same glitches in a new order.

10. A Polyrhythmic Glitch Lane

PolyBud is a sequencer where each lane of a track has its own length.

• Sequencer: one note track. Give the Note lane 3 steps (three pads), the Gate lane 5 steps (five glitch lengths) and the Probability lane 7 steps (some at 100%, some at 0%).
• Pads: three pads with Latch off, on different inputs. For example Roll 1/32 on the hats, Gater on the bass, Reverse on the lead.
• Play: press play. Which pad, how long and if it plays change on each step, and the full pattern repeats only after 105 steps.
• Go further: add a second note track with another Rate and another MIDI channel, and set the Channel of a second group of pads to it. Now two glitch lanes run at two speeds.

11. A Path Through the Pads

SnakeBud has a 4x4 grid of cells and a snake that visits them in an order you choose. A pad page is 4x4 too: one cell for one pad.

• Sequencer: set each cell's note to the Note of the pad in the same place. Enable only the cells you want: the snake skips the others. Choose a snake order and a rate.
• Pads: a page of different effects on the same input, with Latch off. Effect Tour pattern A is a good start: turn Latch off on its pads.
• Play: the snake walks from pad to pad, and the track goes through one glitch after another. A new snake order plays the same pads as a new phrase.
• Chance: lower a cell's Probability and its pad plays only on some visits. The cell's Gate sets how long its glitch is.
• Go further: set Wet to 60% on all pads to keep the track under the glitches.

12. Glitches by Chance

MuseBud picks each note by probability. You set the chances, not the notes.

• Sequencer: in MuseBud, raise only one Octave fader. Set the Notes of 7 pads to the scale notes of that octave. Raise the Rest fader high: the glitches become rare. Raise the faders of the pads you want to hear more often.
• Pads: Latch off, Grid 1/16, Mutate 30–50%.
• Play: let it run under your jam. A glitch comes now and then, in time, and never the same twice. MuseBud's Duration faders set how long the glitches are.
• Go further: other sources of unplanned notes are BounceBud (bouncing balls), Wind Chimes (a wind simulation), FuncBud (math functions) and MelodyBud (steps with probability). For strict rhythms, try Binarhythmic.

13. One Note, a Whole Scene

Pads with the same Note start together, on any page. So one note can fire a prepared scene.

• Pads: give the same Note to a Gater on the drums (In 1 → Out 1), a Freeze on the pad sound (In 3 → Out 3) and a Reverse on the lead (In 4 → Out 4). Keep Mono off.
• Play: one key, one foot switch or one sequencer step fires all three. Each track gets its own glitch at the same moment.
• Go further: make one scene per note: a breakdown, a build-up, an ending. To repeat a pad performance, record the notes of your controller with LoopBud and loop them into GlitchBud.

Part 4: All Together

14. The Full Rig

One GlitchBud in the middle of the session: multi-out instruments in, effects out, sequencers on the pads.

In	Source	Out goes to
1	BreakBud kick	Mixer
2	BreakBud snare	A short room reverb
3	BreakBud closed hat	Mixer
4	Bass synth	Mixer
5	Lead synth	A delay
6	Speaking of Witch, voice 1	Mixer
7	Speaking of Witch, voice 2	Mixer
8	Nothing	A long reverb or SpinBud (the glitch return)

Pattern	Pads	Played by
A	One pad per input: Roll, Gater, Reverse	Your hands
B	Kick + bass (1 and 4), all drums (1–3), Crossfire with Key In 1 on 5–7	Your hands
C	Short Roll and Stutter pads on the hats, the snare and the lead	PolyBud, lanes of 3, 5 and 7 steps
D	Freeze, Scan and Smear on the voices, Output 8, Mutate 40%	MuseBud, with a high Rest fader

• Give patterns C and D their own MIDI Channel on the pads, and send each sequencer on its channel. Then the two sequencers and your controller do not cross.
• You play pages A and B while C and D play themselves. Tap a pattern to see what plays there; long press it and choose Release All Pads to clear everything.
• Save the result as a User preset. The routing is the instrument.

Settings

In the app

• Mute Mic on Speaker: see Standalone App.
• MIDI In / MIDI Out: open or close the listed MIDI ports. GlitchBud receives notes to play pads and CC for MIDI Learn; it does not generate MIDI notes or CC.
• MIDI Panic: stops stuck notes on your MIDI gear. To stop latched pads, tap them again, or long press a pattern and choose Release All Pads.

In the app and in a host

• Appearance > Theme: the colors of the app and the pads (12 themes). Saved with the preset; a new project starts with the theme you chose last.
• Appearance > Glitch Visuals: the waveform glitches while a pad plays: short color splits and tears, loop frames for the Repeat effects, one color per input for the Stems effects. On by default. Kept on this device, not in the preset.
• Pads > Mono: one pad at a time. See Playing Several Pads. Off by default; saved with the preset.
• Pads > Two-Finger Latch: a touch with two fingers on a pad changes its Latch. See Two-Finger Latch. On by default. Kept on this device, not in the preset.
• MIDI Learn > Start MIDI Learn: map your controller's knobs to the editor's knobs, and play notes to set the pads' notes. See MIDI Learn. While MIDI Learn is on, this row is Stop MIDI Learn.
• MIDI Learn > Clear All Mappings: removes all MIDI Learn mappings. The footer shows how many there are.
• About: the pad and channel count, and the app version.
• Support: Tutorial, Manual, Review, Other Apps and Feedback.

Tips

For complete setups with other apps, see Recipes.

• Catch a moment: Roll with Lookback 1/4 and Latch on.
• Keep a glitch: hold a pad, add a second finger on it and let go. It plays on. Two fingers again stop it.
• Hands on the knobs: with MIDI Learn, map one controller knob to Speed on all the pads of a page, and one to Wet. Then hold pads and shape them with the other hand.
• Build-ups: Stutter with Accel up and Grid 1 bar, or pad 16 "Roll Up".
• Endings: Tape Stop with Grid 1 bar on all inputs.
• Drums only: set a pad's Inputs to the drums. The band plays on.
• Always different: Mutate at 30–50% on Shuffle, Sequence or Stutter.
• Plan a set: pattern A for small touches, B for build-ups, C for breaks, D for textures.
• Ambient beds: Freeze or Scan with Latch on and Wet at 50%.

Troubleshooting

A pad makes no sound. Check its Inputs, Wet and Gain, that its inputs have sound, and that its output reaches your mixer. Tape Stop is silent at the end, as it should be.

A pad starts late. Grid is on. Set it to Free.

Grid does nothing. The transport is stopped, or you use the standalone app. Grid waits only while the host plays.

A pad does not stop. Latch is on. Tap it again. A touch with two fingers turns Latch on: if you do not want that, turn off Two-Finger Latch in Settings > Pads. If you cannot see it, it is on another pattern: look for the bright border, or long press a pattern and choose Release All Pads.

MIDI does not play the pads. In a host, send MIDI to GlitchBud. In the app, turn on the MIDI port in Settings. Check the pad's Note and Channel.

A controller knob does not move a knob. Check that the controller's MIDI goes to GlitchBud (as for notes). Open MIDI Learn: a mapped knob has a thin frame. An effect knob mapping works only while the pad has the effect it was learned on. The mapping uses the CC and the channel you learned it with: a controller on a different channel does not move it.

A knob jumps when I touch the controller. A mapped knob goes at once to the controller's position. Move the controller to near the knob's value before you play.

Two pads start together from MIDI. They have the same note and channel (Omni matches every channel), maybe on different patterns. Change the note of one of them.

The output is too loud or distorts. Many pads play on the same output. Turn down their Gain or the mixer's Out.

Only Out 1 has sound. Normal in the app. In a host, check that it supports several outputs and that each one is routed.

The app hears nothing. Allow microphone access, connect an audio interface or use headphones. If you choose the built-in speaker, turn off Mute Mic on Speaker only when you can avoid feedback.

An effect is shorter than its note value. Effect material is limited to 2 seconds. A longer note value plays at half (the knob's name shows the value that plays, for example "Length → 1/2").

My changes are gone. The standalone app does not restore unsaved edits after quitting. Save a User preset before quitting, or save the host project when using the AUv3.

Links

• GlitchBud Website
• GlitchBud on the App Store
• All Cem Olcay Apps

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GlitchBud: glitch your whole rig from one pad grid.