Audio Damage’s Automaton applies the same ideas to sound.

Automaton is a unique look at buffer effects, allowing you to experiment with artificial life within your DAW. With four separate effects (Stutter, Modulate, Bitcrush, and Replicate) driven by a cellular automata sequencer, Automaton is capable of adding subtle seemingly random fills and “humanizing” effects, but if you like, you can crank the sequencer up to eleven, and watch as your DAW becomes a petri dish while Automaton makes complete hay of the track you’ve inserted it to.

Here are a couple of video demos of Automaton in action:

Overview of the Automaton’s sequencer functions

Overview of the effects

Automaton Feature:

• Cellular automata sequencer with host tempo-sync, five different musically useful rulesets (including a step sequencer), extensive randomization features, and a life of its own.
• Four sequencer-driven effects, including Stutter (a buffer delay for extremely short loop slices), Modulate (a self-modulating ring modulator), Bitcrush (sample rate and bit depth reduction, and our own “Error” effect), and Replicate (a special version of AD’s Replicant effect, tuned for use with the cellular automata sequencer).
• Master section allows extensive mixing capabilities, enabling Automaton to excel at either adding subtlety (like an occasional extra hi-hat) or complete self-generating IDM madness.
• MIDI Learn for hardware control of most parameters (VST only)

Here’s a demo from Corn Warning’s Kent Williams, Automaton mangling Julie Andrews:

 

 Julie Andrews Gets Mangled [2:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

More demos are available at the Audio Damage site.

Automaton retails for $49, and is available for Mac VST & AU and Windows VST.

Game of Life script via bitstorm.org; see also Disquiet.com and CDM.

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