Pitch randomisation
Also said as Round robin, Variation, Random container
Playing a repeated sound slightly higher or lower each time, or cycling through several recordings of it, which is called round robin. The two are usually used together.
The ear spots an identical sound repeated at once, and a rifle turns into a stutter: the machine-gun effect. Small variations hide it, and cost almost nothing.
Say it
“Every footstep picks one of six samples, never the same one twice running, and shifts pitch by up to 1.5 semitones either way. Do the same for gunfire.”
Not to be confused with musical feedback
Randomising hides the pattern in a repeated sound. Musical feedback makes a pattern on purpose, so that the repeats climb and mean something.