Free Time-Stretching Plugin – PaulXStretch!

Xenakios recently released a free plugin for stretching audio to experimental dimensions beyond minor warping and adjustment. The key behind the craziness is the PaulStretch algorithm which allows audio to be stretched to the extreme while maintaining sample speed/tempo. Slight distortions will occur but users are encouraged to utilize it creatively! The develop claims that minor adjustments are not the suggested application of the plugin, “The plugin is only suitable for radical transformation of sounds. It is not suitable at all for subtle time corrections and such. Ambient music and sound design are probably the most suitable use cases.”

In any case, the workflow is simple: insert the plugin on a track with the audio you intend to stretch, hit capture to record the audio. Once you’ve captured audio you can isolate any portion of it and stretch accordingly. This plugin can deliver pitch-shifting and time-warping but as mentioned the developer suggests going wild with the sound design and diving into the advanced controls to see what happens.

The developer notes there are some latency issues that are being investigated, but that can be expected with a plugin utilizing an internal audio capture system. PaulXStretch may be the most powerful time-stretching freeware available today, so it is definitely worth checking out if you are into warping audio. The plugin is available only on 64-bit operating systems (Mac and Windows) as a VST or AU. You can download it here for free.