Sonosaurus has ported its extreme time stretch processor plugin PaulXStretch to iOS and released it as a free app with AUv3 support.
iOS as a music production platform is growing and growing. It is noticeable that fewer new apps are coming onto the market. Compared to 2 years ago, the market has settled at a good level. However, the quality of the new releases is significantly higher. This is due to more mature engines that have the depth of VSTs, but also that many plugin developers are venturing into the iOS world.
The latest newcomer in the iOS world is Unfiltered Audio, who have ported 6 of their creative effect plugins to the mobile world. And from what you can hear it was a success. It’s clear because they got many factors right: kept them affordable, no annoying subscription, AUv3 support, same engines… With Sonosaurus, another developer is going the iOS way. The developer of the well-known free PaulXStretch plugin has now ported his extreme time stretch processor to iOS. And that for free.
PaulXStretch iOS
Time Stretch is a functionality that cannot be missing in any DAW. It’s a process that allows you to change the speed or duration of an audio signal without affecting its original pitch. PaulXStretch uses this technique but takes it to extremes.
The core is based on the PaulStretch algorithm, (Paul’s Extreme Time Stretch, originally developed by Nasca Octavian Paul), and specifically the PaulXStretch version from Xenakios. The app allows you to manipulate audio materials in a very creative and experimental way, unlike classic time stretching. Without destroying the quality of the audio, PaulXStretch, either on iOS or macOS/Win, can cleanly take a 10 seconds clip and turn it into an epic hour-long soundscape.
The app version of PaulXStretch has the same engine and thus has the same parameters allowing you to delve deep into time-stretched audio spheres. You also get the same audio waveform display you know from the macOS/Windows version.
Sonosaurus says that the app/AUv3 plugin is most suitable for radical transformations of sounds. It is *not* designed for subtle time or pitch corrections! Ambient music and sound design are probably the most suitable use cases. I totally agree with him there. For experimental musicians, the app is great fun.
Audio In/Out
How do I get audio in the app? Well, this can be done in different ways. If you use the standalone app, you can either use the capture feature or load an existing audio file from the Apple file manager. It becomes more interesting if you use the AUv3 version. In addition to the possibility of using multiple instances of it, you can feed in live input of your choice.
Once the audio is inside the app, you can start tweaking all the parameters, choose the portion of the audio to use and loop over, etc. To get your audio out, you can do an offline render of the output to a file (where all parameters are fixed), or you can do a live recording of your session to capture the output as you hear it.
Another app highlight from 2022. I am happy to see that this is now also available for iOS.
PaulXStretch is available now as a free download from the Apple AppStore and it runs on iPhone and iPad as a standalone app or AUv3 plugin.
More information here: Sonosaurus
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