Vaultnaemsae Hold Pedal brings audio-freeze guitar textures to desktop and iOS
Vaultnaemsae has released Hold Pedal for desktop and iOS: an audio-freeze effect with optional MIDI triggering and a limited desktop evaluation.
A chord that keeps hanging in the air leaves your hands free to do something else. Vaultnaemsae’s new Hold Pedal puts that idea inside a plug-in—not a physical stompbox.
Version 1.0.0 arrived for macOS and Windows on October 19, 2026; an October 20 update confirmed the iPhone and iPad release. It captures incoming audio and sustains it beneath your playing, without requiring a MIDI instrument.
Hold the sound, not the performance
The controls separate the captured layer from your continuing input: Effect and Dry set their balance, while Attack and Release govern the held sound’s entrance and exit. Momentary and Latch modes provide different triggering approaches. An on-screen control, host automation or an optional MIDI footswitch can activate Hold; MIDI Learn handles controller assignment.
Developer Luke Doyle identifies the Electro-Harmonix Freeze as an influence, but explicitly describes this as his own software interpretation, not a clone. For guitarists already working in a host, the interesting question is how a sustained harmonic layer might change what they play above it—not whether software must imitate a pedal’s enclosure.
Formats, prices and the evaluation
Mac versions support AUv2 and VST3; Windows uses VST3. The mobile edition requires iOS/iPadOS 15 or later and a compatible AUv3 host.
Desktop licences are listed at AUD$39.99 per operating system or AUD$59.99 for both. The US App Store price is US$9.99, with regional pricing varying. A free desktop evaluation allows 20 minutes of active audio per host session, renewed when the host restarts. These are developer-listed details, not a hands-on performance verdict.
Want to explore the hardware idea behind this approach? Read our Electro-Harmonix Freeze Sound Retainer guide.
