How does audio time stretching work?
To shorten audio, a stretching algorithm has to remove pieces of audio and splice them back together again so they take up less time. This often involves crossfading and other serious DSP voodoo so the audio doesn't sound like, well, pieces were removed and then spliced back together again.
What is speed manipulation in music?
In sound design, one of the most used processes consists in modifying the pitch of a sound, generally by changing its playback speed. This effect is called pitch shifting. This fairly simple manipulation has important consequences on the timbre of the sound.