zplane.development
| GmbH & Co. KG.[1] | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Consumer audio software and audio software licensing |
| Founded 📆 | January 1, 2000 in Berlin, Germany [2] |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , Berlin , Germany |
Area served 🗺️ | |
Key people | Tim Flohrer, Martin Schwerdtfeger (Founders and Directors) |
| Members | |
Number of employees | 5-10 |
| 🌐 Website | zplane |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Introduction
zplane.developtment, often referred to as zplane, is a research-focused audio technology company based in Berlin, Germany.[3] zplane is known for its time-stretching, pitch-shifting and key detection technologies.[4][5][6]
It licenses a range of SDKs and algorithms to audio technology brands.
Reception and industry adoption
Music Radar praised ELASTIQUE PITCH V2, noting that “zplane are the masterminds behind the élastique Pro pitch‑shifting algorithms used in many of today’s top DAWs”. Reviewers highlighted the plugin’s “extraordinarily smooth and natural” pitch-shifting quality.[7] In a separate article about pitch-shifting plugins, Music Radar also state "As you’d expect from the company behind the pitchshifting built into so many DAWs, zplane’s own offering sounds phenomenal."[8] Mix Online note that many DAWs use zplane's élastique engine.[9] In a 2020 study on the quality of time-scaled modified audio, the proposed objective measure found that zplane's Elastique gives the highest objective quality for Solo instrument and voice signals.[10] In a 2021 interview of DECODA, Paul J Drongowski stated that one of DECODA's drawbacks is that it doesn't offer automatic notation and transcription.[11]
History
zplane initially provided digital signal processing services, before adopting their business model to offer software licensing.[12]
zplane's first consumer product, Vielklang, an intelligent harmonizer and arrangement plugin, was launched in 2007.[13][14] As of June 2025, zplane has 11 software products in the consumer audio market.[15]
Key consumer products
| Name | Release date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DECODA | 9 December 2019[16] | Song deconstruction and analysis |
| ELASTIQUE AAX | 11 May 2017[17] | Polyphonic pitch shifting plugin for Avid Pro Tools |
| ELASTIQUE PITCH V2 | 14 July 2015[18] | Polyphonic pitch shifting |
| PEEL | 18 December 2020[19] | Spectral processing |
| PEEL STEMS | 12 June 2024[20] | Real-time stem separation |
| RETUNE | 1 April 2016[21] | Polyphonic pitch correction |
| TONIC | 3 November 2021[22] | Key and scale analysis |
Licensing
In addition to its range of consumer plugins, zplane also licenses its audio processing and music analysis technology to third-party developers. zplane algorithms are delivered as Software Developer Kits (SDKs). zplane's time-stretching, stem separation, pitch correction, tempo, and beat tracking algorithms, among others, are available for third-party licensing.[23]
zplane's ELASTIQUE algorithm is considered to be a widely-used and state-of-the-art commercial algorithm for time-scale modification.[24][25]
Software and hardware developers that have utilized zplane technology include Ableton[26][27], Akai[28], Avid[29], Bitwig[30], Imageline[31], Native Instruments[32], Numark[33], Steinberg[34], Reaper[35] and Algoriddim's Djay software, [36]
In an episode of Mr. Bill's Podcast, the creator of the Reaper DAW, Justin Frankel, states that "We use zplane’s ELASTIQUE, which everyone considers to be the best for general purpose use.”[37]
After Avid added zplane's ELASTIQUE PRO algorithm to their Pro Tools DAW, Production Expert compared it with other time-stretching algorithms within Pro Tools. They stated that "Elastique PRO however offers superior audio quality and unlike X-Form, can be used as a real time algorithm."[38]
During an interview with zplane, Image-Line's founder and CTO, Jean-Marie Cannie stated that "We were looking for a time-stretching algorithm and Elastique was (and still is) by far the best option out there."[39]
When announcing that stem separation functionality was being added to the MPC, Akai stated that "its stem separation tech is powered by zPlane, meaning that it achieves “superior” sound quality."[40]
Artist and practitioner references
- in a 2024 episode of the Tape Notes Podcast with Bring Me The Horizon, the band's producer, Dan Lancaster, talks about using Elastique Pitch V2 in his productions.[41]
References
- ↑ "zplane-development GmbH + Co. KG". Firmenschau. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ↑ "FENNEK Offers a Fresh New Take at Peak and Loudness Audio Metering and Management". audioxpress.com. 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
- ↑ "zplane.development GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin, Germany". North Data. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ↑ "Alexander Lerch - Associate Dean of Research and Creative Practice". Georgia Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ↑ Lerch, Alexander (2008-10-27). Software-Based Extraction of Objective Parameters from Music Performances (Dr. phil thesis). Humanities of the Technical University of Berlin.
- ↑ Tauscher, Jan-Phillip (2012-01-23). Audio Resynthesis on the Dancefloor: A Music Structural Approach (Bachelor thesis). Computer Graphics Lab, TU Braunschweig.
- ↑ "zplane Elastique Pitch 2 review". musicradar.com. 2015-07-15. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ↑ "10 of the best creative pitchshifting plugins". musicradar.com. 2015-08-13. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ↑ "Mini Review: zplane Élastique Pitch Plug-In". mixonline.com. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2025-07-10.
- ↑ Roberts, Timothy; Paliwal, Kuldip K. (2020-06-12). "An objective measure of quality for time-scale modification of audio". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 149 (3): 1843–1854. arXiv:2006.06153. doi:10.1121/10.0003753. PMID 33765787 Check
|pmid=value (help). - ↑ "Review: zplane deCoda". sandsoftwaresound.net. 2021-05-10. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
- ↑ "Inside zplane: 25 Years of Shaping Modern Music Production". soundbridge.io. 2025-09-11. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
- ↑ "TEST: ZPLANE VIELKLANG". amazona.de. 2007-07-23. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ↑ "zplane.development Releases vielklang Harmonization Plug-In". synthtopia.com. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ↑ "zplane Web Shop". zplane.de. 19 February 2025. Retrieved 2025-06-11.
- ↑ "Zplane deCoda helps you transcribe and learn songs". gearnews.de. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ↑ "zplane.development releases élastiqueAAX Time & Pitch Manipulation Plugin". musicradar.com. 2017-05-11. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ↑ "zplane releases tuned-up Elastique Pitch 2 pitch-shifting plugin". musicradar.com. 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ↑ "Zplane PEEL Spectral Isolator EQ Plugin Released". production-expert.com. 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ↑ ""A completely new and intuitive tool for audio manipulation": zplane's Peel Stems plugin brings realtime stem separation to "almost every DAW"". musicradar.com. 2024-06-12. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ↑ "reTune your audio to any key using zplane's new plugin". musicradar.com. 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ↑ "Zplane's Tonic is a "music theory plugin" that detects the key and scale of any recording". musicradar.com. 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ↑ Walden, John (2020-11-01). "zplane deCoda - Song Deconstruction Software". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ Roberts, Timothy; Paliwal, Kuldip K (2020-07-17). "A Time-Scale Modification Dataset with Subjective Quality Labels". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 148 (1): 201–210. arXiv:2006.00848. Bibcode:2020ASAJ..148..201R. doi:10.1121/10.0001567. PMID 32752758 Check
|pmid=value (help). - ↑ Driedger, Jonathan; Müller, Meinard (2014-09-01). "TSM Toolbox: Matlab Implementations of Time-scale Modification Algorithms". [International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx) International Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx)] Check
|conference-url=value (help)|conference-url=missing title (help). Proceedings of DAFx: 249–256.|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ↑ "Live 11 Release Notes". ableton.com. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ Paterson, Justin (November 2008). "Cutting Tracks, Making CDs: A Comparative Study Of Audio Time-Correction Techniques In The Desktop Age". Journal on the Art of Record Production. University of Massachusetts Lowell.
- ↑ "Akai Professional unveils MPC stems: a new era of sampling precision". akaipro.com. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "Pro Tools 2023.3 delivers qualified native Apple Silicon support, sonic drop content program, playcell instrument, new elastic audio options, and more". avid.com. 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "Bitwig Sudio 2.3". bitwig.com. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "FL Studio Reference Manual - Time Stretch / Pitch Shift Tool". image-line.com. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "Disclaimer Third Parties". native-instruments.com. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "Numark Mixstream Pro User Guide" (PDF). numark.com. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "Cubasis: Mobile Music Creation App For iOS, Android And Chrome OS". steinberg.net. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
- ↑ "Cockos Reaper 2.4". soundonsound.com. January 2009. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
- ↑ "Algoriddim reveals next-gen djay for Apple Vision Pro, now with complete Apple Music integration". mixmagmena.com. 2024-02-04. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
- ↑ Mr. Bill (2025-08-28). "MBP #176 Justin Frankel". youtube.com (Podcast). Event occurs at 28:30. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
- ↑ "Elastic Audio With Elastique PRO - How Much Better Is It?". production-expert.com. 2023-04-25. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
- ↑ "zplane Interviews Jean-Marie Cannie, Founder, IMAGE-LINE". zplane.de. 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2025-09-16.
- ↑ "Akai unveils stem separation for legendary sampler, MPC Stems". djmag.com. 2024-03-26. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
- ↑ John Kennedy (2024-12-11). "Bring Me The Horizon's New Favourite Plugin: The "New" AlterBoy (But Better)" (Podcast). Event occurs at 0:55. Retrieved 2025-06-18.
This article "Zplane.development" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Zplane.development. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
