Modulated Drone Box with Instrument Input — A Sonic Portal to the Abstract
The October Audio Transience isn’t just a pedal—it’s a drone machine, lo-fi synth, signal booster, and inspiration generator all in one beautifully strange box. Built around three droning oscillators, a modulation engine, and an independent input channel, Transience lets you shape shifting ambient textures, decaying mechanical rhythms, and surreal electronic atmospheres.
Whether you’re crafting slow-burning soundscapes or plugging in a guitar to jam along with otherworldly drones, Transience opens up a realm of analog weirdness like nothing else on your board.
Three Oscillators. One Modulator. Infinite Possibilities.
At the core of Transience are three CMOS-based drone oscillators, each tunable across a wide frequency range—from sub bass pulses to near-ultrasonic pitches. Layer them together and you’ll hear undulating beats, pulsating textures, and harmonic interactions that evolve in real time.
A dedicated Starve control allows you to drain power from the oscillators, introducing unstable textures, pitch shifts, and beautiful electronic decay. Paired with the Modulation control—an LFO that rises in intensity as the oscillators are starved—you get rhythmic waves, sputtering beats, and synthetic chaos.
External Input with Gain Stage
Transience features a separate input channel with its own gain control, allowing you to run a guitar, synth, or any instrument into the mix. With the Drone Power toggle switched off, the input channel becomes a powerful clean boostor preamp—perfect for stacking into other effects or pushing your amp.
Mix your live instrument in with the oscillators for truly wild performance possibilities.
Controls Overview
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OSC 1 / 2 / 3 – Set frequency for each drone oscillator (higher frequencies to the right)
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STARVE – Reduces power to oscillators; adds lo-fi character and rhythmic decay
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MOD – Modulation rate control; more pronounced as STARVE is reduced
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DRONE – Master volume for the drone oscillators
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INPUT – Volume for external instrument input
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DRONE POWER – Toggle oscillator power on/off for rhythmic or preamp-only applications
Sound Design Ideas
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Start clean: STARVE full right, MOD at noon, oscillators tuned low
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Get weird: Slowly roll back STARVE to watch the oscillators interact and degrade
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Drone jam: Play guitar or synth over layered drones using the input gain stage
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Rhythmic toggling: Use DRONE POWER switch live to create beat-like pulses
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Swell it: Place Transience before a volume pedal for synth-style fade-ins
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Effect stack: Add reverb, phaser, or delay after for lush soundscapes
Aesthetic & Design
Transience is as artful as it is sonically bold. The graphic design channels the aesthetic of ‘50s–‘60s jazz LPs: black-and-white photography with a moody color wash. The stag in a mall atrium—surrounded by decay, but defiant—is a metaphor for impermanence, rebirth, and beauty in entropy. The look matches the sound: strange, expressive, and timelessly offbeat.
Features at a Glance
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Three droning oscillators with frequency control
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Modulation via LFO with rate control
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Voltage starvation for lo-fi, decaying textures
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Independent input gain stage for external instruments
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Can operate as standalone drone machine or clean boost
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Hand-built in the USA
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Inspired by drone synths, lo-fi electronics, and glitch art
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9V DC power (center-negative)
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True bypass
Perfect For
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Ambient musicians and experimental artists
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Sound designers and synth-inspired players
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Guitarists wanting a unique performance layer
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Fans of drone, lo-fi synths, and modular chaos
The October Audio Transience is a portal into sonic decay and rebirth. Whether you’re building soundscapes, adding motion to ambient sets, or just exploring the limits of analog drone, Transience invites you to dwell in the in-between. Turn the knobs, pull the power, and let the machine sing its electric elegy.
BOOM!
