Free Time-Stretching VST Plugin Released By ToneCarver!

ToneCarver has released a free beta version of tcStretch, a time-stretching and pitch shifting tool in VSTi plugin format for Windows based host applications.

tcStretch works as a sample player which is capable of time-stretching and pitch shifting the loaded samples. The plugin can load audio material in WAV and AIFF audio formats, which is pretty neat. Simply load some of your favorite samples with tcStretch and you can start mangling them right away.

The plugin responds to the host application’s transport controls and there’s no way to trigger the loaded sound via MIDI note messages. This is still a beta version though, so hopefully MIDI notes functionality will be introduced in future versions of the plugin. Even in its current beta state, the plugin is a great tool for offline sound design (you can render your work and then load it in another sampler or project). It would be neat if some future version could be played as an instrument, though (triggered via MIDI notes).

tcStretch can time-stretch the processed audio material up to 1000 times. The interesting thing is that the plugin also supports non-linear time-stretching (which was recently discussed in our recent sound design tips article) by turning on the transient controls. This way, the plugin will detect the transients in the processed audio material and play them at a faster rate. This is incredibly useful when processing percussive sounds, because the time-stretched version of the sound will still have some of the original envelope and punch.

Another useful feature found in tcStretch is “bluring”, which slightly randomizes the sound on the output. This results in somewhat more natural sounding results, although getting natural sounding results with extreme time-stretching is hardly to be expected. The processed signal can also be pitch shifted up or down by one octave.

If you’re looking for similar freeware sound mangling tools, take a look at the STRETCHA time-stretching utility and the incredibly cool Thesis 2 granular delay effect by Lukas Blersch. Another really good one is the HYSTERESIS delay effect by Glitchmachines.

Download

tcStretch is available for free download via ToneCarver (1.1 MB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VSTi plugin format for Windows, includes a user manual in PDF format).