It should be recognized that the transformation we are after through the compost method should be a thorough one. We do not simply slow down a song and then loop it with some sloppy chops hither and thither. for these nutrients to be usable in the new crop, total transformation is required.
Try to view the thing as a waveform in a synthesizer; a sine wave is boring on it's own but through the additional circuitry of the device, we are capable of making interesting timbres and textures and everything else into a nearly unrecognisable new thing. (this is a conceptual comparison that could use further analysis in conceiving ways to create new sound)
According to mathematics, all periodic functions (like audio waveforms) are the summation of an infinite series of trigonometric sines and cosines. This applies to all waveforms, no matter how complex. A squarewave is a rich collection of frequencies, which can be broken down into a series of harmonically related sines. Thus, the synthesizer, using filtering, can use a single square oscillator to create many other waves.
So, too, is the waveform of a piece of audio very complex, containing many harmonics that can be manipulated in various ways. we can add distortion to increase the richness of those harmonics. or we can add filtering to accentuate or de-accentuate certain frequencies. we can add phase and pitch modulations to destructively or constructively interfere with various harmonics to bring out things that weren't audible previously. Delay can add rhythmic interplay into the mix, which introduces previously non-existent freqs into the waveform.
When we chop the sample up into bits and rearrange them, we are adding new waveforms into the mix. There may be a new sub freqs brought about by the nature of the cut-up and reattachment of the bits. Not even audible as sound but a series of clicks and pops. you can keep those in, or you can manipulate them for further modification. You can filter them out completely if you wish.
You can filter a thing down to only a few frequencies, to get a throbbing undertow or until it is a migraine inducing knife in the ear.
And all these new spectral components you are adding and creating will interact with each other to further mutate the sounds.
GOBACK