39 MB

TugPhonon — Vintage Rotating Tape Delay Plugin

TugPhonon simulates a rotating magnetic disk with 8 playback heads — a concept pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer and Jacques Poullin in the early 1950s. Audio is continuously written onto a virtual tape loop. The 8 heads read back from different positions on that loop simultaneously, each with its own filter, effects chain, and spatial placement. The result is somewhere between a tape delay, a granular texture machine, and a spectral decomposition tool.

Version 1.3.0. DEMOS

A digital recreation of the Poullin / Schaeffer phonogène, 1951

TugPhonon is a modern software recreation of the legendary rotating magnetic disk delay machines pioneered by Jacques Poullin and Pierre Schaeffer at GRM Paris in 1951. This is not a simple delay — it is a sound transformation instrument.

A virtual magnetic disk spins continuously. Eight independent playback heads are positioned around it, each reading from a different point in time. The result is a rich, swirling web of echoes, textures, and timbres that no conventional delay can produce.

Features

• 8 independent playback heads — each with its own delay position, volume, pan, and feedback

• Per-head band-pass filter — sculpt the tone of each echo independently

• Physical modelling resonators per head — choose from 8 resonator types:

Karplus-Strong, Comb, Bell, Pipe, Marimba, Beam, and Membrane

(based on real acoustic physics: Bessel functions, Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, measured bell partial ratios)

• Host-sync or free-running loop — from 1/128 triplet to double whole note

• Modulation section — LFO with multiple waveforms applied to head positions

• Animated disk visualizer — see the virtual disk and heads in real time

• Preset system — save, load, and delete your own presets

• AU and VST3 — Apple Silicon native (arm64), macOS 12+

• Signed and notarized by Apple

What is TugPhonon?

TugPhonon simulates a rotating magnetic disk with 8 playback heads — a concept pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer and Jacques Poullin in the early 1950s. Audio is continuously written onto a virtual tape loop. The 8 heads read back from different positions on that loop simultaneously, each with its own filter, effects chain, and spatial placement. The result is somewhere between a tape delay, a granular texture machine, and a spectral decomposition tool.

Visit Developer Site

TugPhonon.1.3.0  ( 43 MB )