Free multi-effect plug-in Tape Fiasco has been released

Software developer and designer Jonas Eriksson has released a free plug-in called Tape Fiasco that combines three time-based effects in a unique, block-based interface.

Tape Fiasco comprises stretch (granular time-stretching), varispeed (tape-style speed manipulation), and stutter (rhythmic slicing and repetition) effects that can either be worked with separately or banded together.

According to the product notes, the stretch module “captures audio incoming audio into a buffer and plays it back using overlapping grains”, meaning control over playback speed and pitch.

Meanwhile, the varispeed module recreates tape machine speed manipulation, including pitch wobble, tape stop and scratch effects and vintage-sounding warmth and compression.

Then there’s the stutter effect, which captures slices of audio and plays them back rhythmically, with control over pitch-bending and filtering. 

Tape Fiasco is available to pick up in VST3/AU formats for macOS and VST3 for Windows, but as the developer points out, it has only been tested on macOS Sequoia 15.1 with Ableton Live 12.2.

Download it for free here.