Musical software developer Sonosaurus has recently announced an update of their time-stretching software PaulStretch. The newest iteration of the app is called PaulXStretch.
The update includes many of the same features as the original with the addition of an updated user interface, adaptability to modern screen sizes, and functionality with the latest DAWs and operating systems.
As the name implies, PaulXStretch was designed to stretch audio, not just a little bit, but a lot!
The app takes small pieces of an audio clip and expands it to whatever duration you need.
Creator of PaulXStretch, Paul Nasca, was interviewed by NPR and explained how exactly the app works:
“The idea of it is pretty simple. I take a small chunk (usually around 100 milliseconds) of the audio file from the start position, and I smear it. First, I analyze a sound’s frequencies and then randomize a part of the sound’s characteristics and rebuild the chunk. I repeat the same process for another chunk of the audio file, and so on.”
Essentially, his algorithm allows users to generate hours, even days, of organic-sounding audio from even the smallest of audio clips.
The applications for this software are quite broad, and it has potential use for producers across many genres.
In particular, musicians in the ambient and meditative space could find excellent use of PaulXStretch. Users can quickly turn anything from a bell to a vocal chop into an organic pad.
The app’s interface is quite user-friendly, with numerous settings and effects to dial in your desired sound.
Once a clip is imported, there’s an option to stretch the sound and then modify it with pitch/frequency shift, along with a pair of low-pass and high-pass filters.
PaulXStretch allows you to layer in harmonics and determine the frequency spread. After a short amount of time, I was able to take a tiny audio sample and turn it into an epic, ambient pad!
Another benefit of the app is its IOS compatibility- perfect for mobile producers!
PaulXStretch is still in beta testing for IOS, though, so users looking to get this app will be required to install TestFlight and opt-in to be a beta tester!
To download the PaulXStretch plugin, follow the link to the website, select your operating system, and it will immediately start downloading!
PaulXStretch works in macOS X 10.10 and above and in Windows 7 and newer. It is available as a standalone application and AU, VST3, and AAX formats.
Download: PaulXStretch
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21 Comments
Leo
on“latest DAWs and operating systems […]”
What about Linux though?
Jamie
onyes, it’s on Linux – check their website.
Sam
onWas interested in this – then saw the latest Reaper update includes a similar timestretch algorithm RRREEEAAA. Less flexible I’m sure – but sounded interesting.
mx
onwow, why have i never used that before?
this is great, thanks for getting me to know it!
Nik
onThe best vst plugin of all time
Mike D
onI don’t think I’ve seen bpb cover this excellent free plugin. I love shepard tones and this infinite sweep filter pairs perfectly with PaulXStretch.
(can I leave links here? It might be hard to find otherwise)
lese .io /plugin/sweep/
WTFaulkner
onThanks for the link to sweep… I never knew of it and can really use it!
Gavz
onThanks man!
My interest in using Shepard tones in a track was piqued after watching Dunkirk (great film!) where it was put to great use to build tension by the Oscar winning scoring artists (sound engineers?). I think I ended up Googling ‘Shepard tone Ableton rack’ or something in the end and found something, but will give this free tool a try. Great!
As for Paul stretch, doesn’t this effect exist in Audacity? I have never used it but loos for creating drones etc….who is Paul anyway?
Safe.
Gavz
onSorry, meant to write, looks good for creating drones etc.
Tomislav Zlatic
onNever doubt BPB! :) https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2022/04/12/lese-sweep/
Brian Nunez
onThis one takes me backs. Before I even learned music theory or anything, I used to take samples and stretch them, and use those as my Melodie’s. I think this was like 2012/13 when I first heard of this software. Haha. Really brought back many memories.
Kostas
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Gery Zenz
oncool,thank you!!
mx
oni just checked whether the code works, pluginboutique would not accept it. could be a personal code that only works once.
but just start a loopcloud trial, if you are not interested in samples at all you can cancel the trial immediately, or spend some more time first and look for a bunch of nice samples to keep and then cancel the trial.
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the advanced features give more possibilities to shape the signal more precise or more extreme, which makes it a very useful mixing tool for me.
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Febbs
onOh damn a steal!
Michal Ochedowski
onKOSTAS, many thanks for sharing.
Andy
onThanks mate!
Arshan
onThanks for the coupon code. Grateful, I am
Kostas
onDon’t worry my friend we all are a team in this blog 😉
Arshan
onDear BPB team, went through my e-mails and found another suite of freebies from wavDSP.
Link: https://wavdsp.com/magic-suite/
Have a good one!
Scientific_SD
onI downloaded that filter but haven’t experimented with it just yet….looking forward to it now though…