# Databending

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Distortion of digital media

A databent image of a white tiger, introducing unpredictable visual artifacts in the lower half of the frame

**Databending** (or **data bending**) is the process of manipulating a [media file](/source/Media_file) of a certain [format](/source/File_format), using [software](/source/Software) designed to edit files of another format. Distortions in the medium typically occur as a result, and the process is frequently employed in [glitch art](/source/Glitch_art).

## Process and techniques

The term *databending* is derived from [circuit bending](/source/Circuit_bending), in which objects such as children's toys, [effects pedals](/source/Effects_pedal) and electronic keyboards are deliberately [short circuited](/source/Short_circuit) by bending the [circuit board](/source/Circuit_board) to produce erratic and spontaneous sounds. Like circuit bending,[1] databending involves the (often unpredictable) alteration of its target's behavior. Databending achieves this alteration by manipulating the information within a media file of a certain format, using software designed to edit files of a different format; distortions in the medium typically occur as a result.[2][1]

Many techniques exist, including the use of [hex editors](/source/Hex_editor) to manipulate certain components of a [compression algorithm](/source/Compression_algorithm), to comparatively simple methods.[1] [Michael Betancourt](/source/Michael_Betancourt) has posed a short set of instructions, included in the [*Signal Culture Cookbook,*](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Signal_Culture&action=edit&redlink=1) that involves the direct manipulation of the digital file using a hexadecimal editing program. One such method involves the addition of audio effects through [audio editing software](/source/Audio_editing_software) to distort [raw data](/source/Raw_data) interpretations of image files. Some effects produce optical analogues: adding an [echo](/source/Echo) filter duplicated elements of a photo, and inversion contributed to the flipping over of an image. The similarities result from the waveforms corresponding with the layers of pixels in a linear fashion, ordered from top to bottom.[2] Another method, dubbed "the WordPad effect", uses the program [WordPad](/source/WordPad) to manipulate images through converting the raw data to the [Rich Text Format](/source/Rich_Text_Format).[3]

### Categorization

According to the artist Benjamin Berg, different techniques of the process can be grouped into three categories:[3]

- Incorrect editing: Files of a certain format are manipulated using software designed to edit files of a different format.

- Reinterpretation: Files are simply converted from one medium to another.

- Forced errors: Known [software bugs](/source/Software_bug) are exploited to force the program to terminate, usually while writing a file.

The "WordPad effect" would fall under *incorrect editing*, while *reinterpretation* contains a subcategory called *sonification*, in which data other than audio is introduced simultaneously with musical audio data. The last technique is the hardest of the three to accomplish, often yielding highly unpredictable results.[3]

## Usage and reception

Alva Noto uses sonification in his music.

Databending is frequently employed in [glitch art](/source/Glitch_art),[2] and is considered a sub-category of the genre.[1] The *sonification* technique is commonly used by [glitch musicians](/source/Glitch_music) such as [Alva Noto](/source/Alva_Noto).[1] Ahuja and Lu summarized the process through a quote by Adam Clark Estes of *[Gizmodo](/source/Gizmodo)* as "the internet's code-heavy version of graffiti."[2][4] Various groups on [Flickr](/source/Flickr) explore the effects of databending on imagery; an [Internet bot](/source/Internet_bot) named "GlitchBot" was created to scrape [Creative Commons](/source/Creative_Commons)-licensed imagery and apply the process and upload the results.[1] Users on [Vimeo](/source/Vimeo) who deal explicitly with databending and glitch art in general exist, and a [Chicago](/source/Chicago)-based digital art project named GLI.TC/H was funded using [Kickstarter](/source/Kickstarter) in 2011.[5]

## See also

- [Compression artifact](/source/Compression_artifact)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Geere2010_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Geere2010_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Geere2010_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Geere2010_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Geere2010_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Geere2010_1-5) Geere, Duncan (17 August 2010). ["Glitch art created by 'databending'"](https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-08/17/glitch-art-databending). *Wired* (UK ed.). Condé Nast. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20141012203915/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-08/17/glitch-art-databending) from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AhujaLu2014_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AhujaLu2014_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-AhujaLu2014_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-AhujaLu2014_2-3) Ahuja, Masuma; Lu, Denise (23 July 2014). ["What Paris looks like with an echo"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/07/23/what-paris-looks-like-with-an-echo/). *The Washington Post*. Nash Holdings. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140729103539/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2014/07/23/what-paris-looks-like-with-an-echo/) from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Berg2008_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Berg2008_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Berg2008_3-2) Berg, Benjamin (7 August 2008). ["Databending and Glitch Art Primer Part 1: The WordPad Effect"](http://blog.animalswithinanimals.com/2008/08/databending-and-glitch-art-primer-part.html). *stAllio!'s way*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Estes2013_4-0)** Estes, Adam Clark (13 September 2013). ["Create Your Own Broken Masterpieces with This Glitch Art Generator"](https://gizmodo.com/create-your-own-broken-masterpieces-with-this-glitch-ar-1309634963). *Gizmodo*. Gawker Media. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140729042904/http://gizmodo.com/create-your-own-broken-masterpieces-with-this-glitch-ar-1309634963) from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Weber2011_5-0)** Weber, Harrison (21 December 2011). ["ExtraFile: Databending and corrupt files as art"](https://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/12/21/extrafile-databending-and-corrupt-files-as-art/). *The Next Web*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140729043254/http://thenextweb.com/dd/2011/12/21/extrafile-databending-and-corrupt-files-as-art/) from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.

## External links

- [\[1\]](http://www.michaelbetancourt.com/pdf/Cookbook_Databending.pdf) A Simple Protocol for Databending by [Michael Betancourt](/source/Michael_Betancourt)

- [Glitch art application](https://snorpey.github.io/jpg-glitch/) by Georg Fischer

- [GlitchBot](https://www.flickr.com/photos/glitchbot/) on [Flickr](/source/Flickr)

- [Official website](http://gli.tc/) of GLI.TC/H

- [Databending using Audacity](http://www.hellocatfood.com/databending-using-audacity/) by [Antonio Roberts](/source/Antonio_Roberts)

- [Audio databending](https://www.intelligentmachinery.net/projects/databending/) by Intelligent Machinery

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Databending](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Databending) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Databending?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.