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Tensol faceplate in Studies
Free in Studies

Tensol

Tension Resonator Repeater

Part of Studies

One of the ten free devices in Studies. Download Studies and it works right away, no account needed.

Free in Studies

Or own the plugin

Price: $20

The original plugin with its own interface, as a one-time purchase.

 See the standalone interface

Description

Tensol is a sound design tool built on a string tension resonator, a granular chopper and stretcher, and a delay line. It runs your sound through the resonator, then chops, warps and reorganizes everything. You can pitch the results in semitones or scale them tape-style, and the delay bounces the repeats between left and right.

We built it for experimenting more than mixing. Run a melody or a drum loop through it and it'll give you ideas about phrasing and harmonic content you wouldn't have come to on your own. STRESS and STRETCH make the biggest difference.

Tensol in the Handbook

Signal path

The resonator comes first and fills a short recording buffer. The grains play from that buffer, then go through the delay to BLEND.

  1. String resonator

    STRING
    Tunes the resonator, from 100 Hz to 5 kHz.
    STRESS
    Sets how strongly it rings. There's no resonance at the center; turn it either way for more. Each side has its own harmonic color.

  2. Segment grains

    SEGMENT
    Sets how many one-second grains start each second, from 0.5 to 3.
    STRETCH
    Sets how fast the grains move through the recording, and in which direction. At the center they stay in one place; left of center they move backward, right of center forward.
    LENGTH
    Sets how much of the recording the grains loop through, from 0.1 to 1 second.

  3. Grain pitch

    PITCH
    Pitches the grains up or down by as much as 12 semitones. Works when MODE is on PITCH.
    SCALE
    Changes the grains' playback speed like tape, from −2 to +2, when MODE is on SCALE. Below zero the grains play backward; close to zero they nearly stop.
    MODE
    Switches between PITCH (lower half) and SCALE (upper half).

  4. Feedback delay

    TIME
    Sets the time between repeats, up to 2 seconds. The two delay lines feed each other, so the repeats bounce between left and right.
    FEEDBACK
    Sets how many times the repeats come back.

  5. Master

    BLEND
    Sets the mix between your dry sound and the effect.
    GAIN
    Sets the output level, from silent up to double. The middle is unity.

  6. Try this

    METAL
    Turn STRESS well away from the center and slowly sweep STRING on a drum loop. The chopped pieces pick up a pitched, metallic ring.
    REVERSE
    Put MODE on SCALE, set SCALE to −1 and LENGTH long. The grains play backward at normal speed.
Demo
This video shows the standalone plugin.
Good to know

In Studies

Tensol is in Studies Effects, under Glitch and Pitch & Time.

Standalone

The standalone plugin has its own panel, shown further down the page, and a Jumble button that randomizes every control, for combinations you'd never have thought of.

Formats
Studies: Audio Units, VST2 and VST3 on Mac, VST3 on Windows · Apple silicon native
Systems
Current macOS and Windows 10/11 x64
Tensol | Tension Resonator Repeater

Standalone version

The original plugin with its own interface, as a one-time purchase.

AU · VST2 · VST3 · macOS · Windows