Sottovoce DSP - The Beginning

Hey there! After about ten years of working in start-ups, I thought I would finally try my own hand at making software..

After about ten months of work, where I essentially learned Juce on my own, but really 'multithreading audio programming' in C++, I managed to get my first project over the line.

It's a speed changing plugin. You see, it's quite annoying to change the speed of audio in Ableton and FL Studio, even Pro Tools. Time stretching and pitching together in the same ratio requires a calculator, and every time you want to change one variable, you must recompute the other. SpeedShift by Sottovoce DSP makes this easy, and if I dare say, even fun.

I am also not a fan of HalfTime by CableGuys.. It makes a big promise, but delivers very little for making music beyond trap. I also think that iZotope vinyl missed the actual Wow of sampling a vinyl record. It’s not just the static and crackle; it’s the little 33⅓ button that takes you to another dimension.

I originally wanted to put out a simple calculator version of the plugin, but I had watched a video of Steve Duda talking about how he made Serum in a year. I want to make something real like he did. Something that feels cohesive, complete, and big enough that you couldn't ignore it.

As the product evolved, the UX/UI needed to change to overcome the software engineering challenges. I ended up essentially making a Slowed + Reverb plugin, where you can instantly change the speed to get a Nightcore/Slowed/Screwed vibe with a simple slider. Best of all, you always know what key you've arrived at, so you know how to continue building the song.

So yeah! This is my baby, though I guess I can't call the company Baby Audio! Sottovoce (whisper in Italian) is a name I always tend to use a lot in projects. My original inspiration came from when I was younger listening to Erica Mou's song, and I had a desire to travel around Italy; to be free to travel the world. I still believe in that today.

I have a lot of plugin ideas, and I want to give away a lot of them too because that's what this community is about.

If you're interested in what I am doing here, or if you'd like to work on something together, feel free to drop me a line.

Satty