In electronic music, a stutter edit is a musical production technique. This technique entails rapidly repeating small audio segments. Stutter Edit® is also the name of a software plugin for audio editing that creates this effect. This effect’s sound is frequently unexpected and jarring, and when an electronic musician employs it, the goal is usually to surprise and shake up the listener.
Since the mid-1970s, stutter edits have been widely used in electronic music. In audio editing programs, the technique for creating a stutter in an audio waveform can be done manually and is fairly simple. To create the stutter edit effect, first select the desired audio segment, then copy and paste it multiple times within another audio track in most audio programs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a stutter edit, and the final product is entirely dependent on the electronic musician’s editing talent and skill.
Between the pieces of repeated audio, tiny segments of silence are occasionally introduced, giving the sequence a distinct percussive effect. The segments repeat faster when the beats per minute (BPM) on the track is increased, and if the passage is played fast enough, the repeated segments blend into a single tone. When a stutter edit is played at a faster speed, it sounds like a higher note than when it is played at a slower, but still extremely fast, speed. Some computer musicians use this technique to create their own tones for electronic instruments.
A stutter edit sequence can be very long, with many repetitions, or it can be very short, with only one repetition. The stutter edit can have an effect similar to computer generated 1980s icon Max Headroom® when used on vocals with few repetitions. The sample chosen for repetition is usually very short, but long enough for the listener to recognize the sound that is being stuttered.
Software programs that make glitch editing techniques like stutter edits easier to use have made electronic music more accessible to newcomers. Stutter Edit®, a plugin for audio editing programs created by Brian Transeau, a popular electronic musician known by the stage name BT, is the most well-known program for creating this effect. Because he is so well-known for using this effect, it is sometimes referred to as the BT Stutter. Unlike the manual editing method, this program allows a live electronic musician to use this effect onstage.