◆GLITCH CRUSHER

A free bit crusher and glitch stutter. Crush the bit depth and sample rate, add drive, chop the signal into tempo-synced stutters and shape it with a filter. Every knob is automatable.

WINDOWS · 1.0.5

⬇ DOWNLOAD FOR WINDOWS (7 MB)

MAC · 1.0.5

⬇ DOWNLOAD FOR MAC (16 MB)

HOW TO OPEN ON MAC

macOS 15 and later says “Apple could not verify CMPLXTY-Glitch-Crusher-Setup-1.0.5-mac.pkg is free of malware.” That is because this Mac download is not signed with an Apple Developer ID yet, not because anything is wrong with it (check the SHA256 above). Click Done (not Move to Trash), then use one of these:

Option A, Terminal (macOS 13 to 26). Paste this, then double-click the file:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/CMPLXTY-Glitch-Crusher-Setup-1.0.5-mac.pkgCOPY

Option B, Settings: open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll to Security and click Open Anyway next to “CMPLXTY-Glitch-Crusher-Setup-1.0.5-mac.pkg was blocked”, then enter your Mac password. The button only stays for about an hour after the blocked attempt. If it is not there, use Option A.

HOW TO OPEN

WINDOWS: “WINDOWS PROTECTED YOUR PC”

Our Windows installer isn’t code-signed yet, so Windows may warn you the first time. The file is built in public on GitHub, and you can check it against the SHA-256 shown on this page.

1. Double-click CMPLXTY-Glitch-Crusher-Setup-1.0.5-win.exe.
2. If you see “Windows protected your PC”, click More info.
3. Click Run anyway, then follow the installer.

If your browser flags the download, choose Keep, or Keep anyway under “Show more”.

MAC: “APPLE COULD NOT VERIFY…”

Our Mac installer isn’t notarized by Apple yet, so macOS blocks it the first time.

Easiest: open Terminal and paste this, then enter your Mac password when asked. No warning appears.

curl -fsSL https://cmplxty.music/install-mac.sh | bash -s glitch-crusherCOPY

Already downloaded it? In Terminal run this, then double-click the file:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/CMPLXTY-Glitch-Crusher-Setup-1.0.5-mac.pkgCOPY

Or use System Settings: double-click the file and click Done (not Move to Trash). Then go to Apple menu > System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll to Security, click Open Anyway next to the blocked file, enter your password and click Open. The button only shows for about an hour after the warning. If it isn’t there, use the Terminal line above.

WHAT IT DOES

• Presets (new in 1.0.3): Factory presets with a preset browser (prev/next and a menu), plus Save as and Load for your own presets. Presets never take the keyboard, so Space still drives your DAW.
• Crush: bit depth 1 to 16 (fractional), downsample 1 to 64x, tanh drive. The section has an on/off switch with a click-free cross-fade.
• Glitch: tempo-synced stutter slices (1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32), glitch probability, and forward, reverse or random-reverse playback. It follows the host transport.
• Filter: low-pass or high-pass with cutoff and resonance. The section has an on/off switch.
• Out: dry/wet mix and output gain.
• All controls and the three section switches are host-automatable. Double-click a knob to reset it. Right-click for a menu (reset, type a value, copy and paste, init all) with shortcut letters.
• Optional update notice, at most once every 24 hours. Nothing about you is sent and nothing downloads on its own. You can switch it off for good.
• Real-time safe DSP (no allocation on the audio thread), any sample rate, up to 8 channels.

INSTALL

1. Run CMPLXTY-Glitch-Crusher-Setup-1.0.5-win.exe. One setup program, nothing to unzip.
2. It installs for all users (UAC prompt) to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 and ...\CLAP. If you decline the prompt it installs for the current user only.
3. In your DAW rescan plugins. In FL Studio: Options > Manage plugins > Find installed plugins.

Installing a newer version over an older one just works, and your settings are kept. Uninstall from Windows Apps & features.

CHANGELOG

• 1.0.3
  New presets: Factory presets with a preset browser (prev/next and a menu), plus Save as and Load for your own presets. Presets never take the keyboard, so Space still drives your DAW. Windows and Mac.
• 1.0.2
  New monochrome look: black, white and greys only. No sound changes. On a Mac, the update check now reads the Mac installer link. Windows and Mac.
• 1.0.1 (Windows)
  Fix: after you click or drag a knob, Space and the other DAW transport keys now still play and pause your DAW. The right-click menu shortcuts and typing a value still work, and both hand the keyboard back to your DAW when they close. Trade-off: Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y inside the plugin window no longer fire right after a knob click. No sound, parameter or saved-state changes. The Mac build is still 1.0.0 for now.
• 1.0.0
  First release: bit crusher, sample-rate reducer, tempo-synced glitch stutter, state-variable filter, mix and output gain. VST3 + CLAP for Windows x64. Setup program with upgrade-in-place and uninstaller. In-plugin update notice with an off switch.

OTHER DOWNLOADS

Source code (GPLv3, GitHub) SHA256SUMS

Installer SHA256 above. The source is in the glitch-crusher folder of the GitHub repository.

HONEST STATUS

Glitch Crusher was built and tested on Linux and under Wine (plugin load, editor, install, upgrade, uninstall). It has not been tested on a real Windows machine or in FL Studio yet, which includes the 1.0.1 Space-key fix (tested under Wine only). Keep a backup of your project the first time you use it, and tell me what breaks. The Mac installer is unsigned (or only ad-hoc signed) and has not been tested on a real Mac yet.

LICENSE

GNU General Public License v3. Free to use, share and modify. The full corresponding source, including the patched JUCE 9.0.4, clap-juce-extensions, build scripts, patches and installer script, is in the glitch-crusher folder of the GitHub repository linked above. Third party: JUCE (GPLv3), VST3 interface (GPLv3 / Steinberg), CLAP and clap-juce-extensions (MIT), Barlow font (SIL OFL 1.1). VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

◆ CMPLXTY