Shardstep: tempo-synced stutter and glitch for 200+ BPM
Shardstep chops, repeats, reverses and tape-stops audio in time with your DAW, with a short crossfade on every slice edge so nothing clicks. Tim Borchert's label Code Chaos Audio made it for hitech and psycore at 200 to 300 BPM. For bands it fits industrial and electronic crossover songs, breakdown fills and transitions where a guitar or drum bus should stutter on the grid.
Hear it: Shardstep
A · Dry: the demo loop without Shardstep (38 s)
B · Shardstep: the same loop with Shardstep (38 s)
The same loop without and with Shardstep. The version with Shardstep measures about 0.6 LU louder (integrated), so keep that in mind when you compare.
Glitch edits that survive mastering
At 250 BPM a 1/32 repeat lasts 30 ms and a 1/64 only 15 ms. Cut audio that short without a fade and every slice edge clicks. In the mix those clicks are easy to miss; after mastering, when the limiter has raised everything, they become audible and they eat headroom like extra transients.
- Slice Fade puts a raised-cosine crossfade from 0.5 to 8 ms on every slice edge and every retrigger. Longer fades are smoother, shorter ones snappier.
- Untouched when idle: when nothing plays (transport stopped, empty pattern, mix at 0 % or a bar the pattern skips), the audio passes through bit for bit. The rest of the song keeps its sound.
- Zero latency: repeats replay audio that has already arrived, so the track stays in time with the rest of the mix.
One practical habit: render or freeze the stutter track before you send stems or a mix to anyone. A pattern that depends on the DAW transport and bar position is easy to change by accident.
Using it in a band mix
Patterns play every bar or only on the last bar of 2, 4 or 8, which is how fills and drops work. Hold a MIDI note to fire an effect by hand (C = 1/8 up to A# = Crush, any octave); a held note overrides the pattern and also works with the transport stopped. Among the 15 factory patterns is one called Bar 8 Breakdown Drop.
Short repeats of a kick (1/64) are shorter than one cycle of the kick and can sit slightly off centre while they play. The signal returns to your untouched audio as soon as the effect ends.
At a glance
| Detail | Shardstep |
|---|---|
| Price | €15 on Gumroad, free demo available |
| Format | VST3 + Standalone (the Standalone has no transport, so you play the effects with MIDI notes there) |
| Windows | Windows 10/11: VST3 + Standalone |
| macOS | Apple Silicon (arm64) only, no Intel build. VST3 + Standalone, not signed or notarized: macOS blocks it at first, allow it under System Settings → Privacy & Security. |
| AU / Logic Pro | No AU version, so Logic Pro is not supported. |
| Copy protection | No licence server, no login, no online check. |
| Pattern | 16 steps, one bar of sixteenths, synced to host tempo and bar position |
| Effects per step | Repeat 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, 1/8T, 1/16T, 1/32T, Reverse, Tape Stop, Gate, Crush, Tie |
| Repeat Pitch | -24 to +12 semitones |
| Tape stop, gate, crush | Tape stop 1/16 to one bar; gate 1/16, 1/32 or 1/64; bitcrush 3 to 16 bit with 1 to 32x downsampling |
| Presets | 15 factory patterns |
| Testing | Automated checks on every pattern at 150, 200 and 260 BPM, including tempo ramps and transport stops. Not tried in every DAW yet. |
| Demo | The free demo is the complete plugin; it plays a short noise burst every 45 seconds. |
Checkout, payment and any applicable taxes are handled by Gumroad. Polished only links to it.
Tool, mix or master?
Effects like these are the moments a mastering engineer listens to twice: drops, stops and fills are where clicks, level jumps and limiter pumping show up first. The written audio audit at Polished lists them with timestamps before the master is made.
Mastering at Polished starts at €79 per track, all prices incl. 19% VAT, pay after delivery if you like. Request an audio audit.
Shardstep FAQ
Does Shardstep run on a Mac?
Is there a free trial?
Does Shardstep work below 200 BPM?
More tools
Try Shardstep free.
The free demo is the complete plugin; it plays a short noise burst every 45 seconds. Buying and downloading happens on Gumroad, under Code Chaos Audio.