-Brading Software Message Board
+--Forum: The Lounge (off-topic)
+---Topic: how to force or replicate sync errors? started by Disposable Hero
Posted by: Disposable Hero on Nov. 27 2002,10:50
Though I find them annoying when they're unexpected and unwanted, I want to use the sound of MP3 sync errors as effects. Sort of a glitch-techno music composition I'm working on. I figure that the "scratchy vinyl" effect is played out, so digital artifacts are a logical next step.
Any ideas for creating or replicating sync and compression errors would be appreciated. And yes, I am hunting down the old Xing encoder
Posted by: thei on Nov. 27 2002,12:35
Use a high-speed CD-ROM, but in PIO mode, on a slow PC, with a ripper which encodes at the same time as ripping...
I have found that to always generate nasty effects.
Creative Playcenter2 was the encoder I used (fraunhofer, abr).
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Nov. 27 2002,18:18
Or why not just open an mp3 file in a hex-editor and write a lot of junk data into it, relatively evenly distributed throughout the file. That should give quite a good set of stuff to sample.
Posted by: Disposable Hero on Nov. 27 2002,21:36
thei: thanks for the thought, but I don't have access to any old PC's
I always give them to friends when I replace them. Good idea though.Magnus: that's a good idea. I was thinking about an app that generates random passwords and dumps out to a txt file. Maybe specifying a bunch of line returns between each password generated, then doing a merge op, just on the chars. None of which has anything to do with musical talent
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Nov. 28 2002,00:21
You cannot play arbitrary files in most mp3 players. They will need to preserve a certain percentage of their mp3 frame headers (and some other data) to be playable at all. That's why I suggested to modify existent mp3 files in the first place.
Anyway, I just wrote a program for you to do exactly this (see below).
It will randomly corrupt a given percentage of the bytes in any given file.I would suggest a relatively low percentage (like 1-5) to get the best results (and the best chance to keep the files in playable state). Also, it's best to remove any tags from the files before processing them, since these can cause crashes in the player's tag parsing code if they are present but corrupted.
Now just don't forget to mention me in the credits when you're a big techno artist, ok?
Posted by: Disposable Hero on Nov. 28 2002,02:28
Sweet - you rock, Magnus.
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Nov. 28 2002,13:50
Posted by: thei on Nov. 29 2002,12:04
---------------------QUOTE BEGIN-------------------
thei: thanks for the thought, but I don't have access to any old PC's
---------------------QUOTE-------------------
Confucious say: to make new PC into old PC, run big program in background.
Incidentally, PIO mode on my Athlon XP2100+ (which is fairly new?) is enough to cripple the system, almost freeze the mouse... and create mp3 errors
But only with a fast CD-Rom.
Posted by: Disposable Hero on Nov. 29 2002,21:12
Perversely, I've found it hard to get my system to falter. PIO mode might do it, but I am loathe to mess with settings once Windows is customized and stable. I got a dual-processor board and RAID 0 specifically to avoid some of the common problems in audio and video editing.
About the only way I can get this box to choke is if I run a few DVD 'utilities' simultaneously
And yet, I am looking forward to getting something yet faster and more capacious
end