Instability

Make Your Sounds Come Alive

Instability is a random modulator of pitch and amplitude that can breathe life into any sound. You can create crazy, chaotic warbling messes, produce pretty chorus-like effects with a huge stereo image, or make your sounds as if they've played through an old tape recorder for that lo-fi aesthetic.

A demo version is available free of charge, so you can try before you buy.

See how Instability can be used in the video below (or watch on YouTube).

Engineered Randomness

Instability has two parts: pitch and amplitude. The pitch section applies a pitch shift, controlled by random modulation. The amplitude section changes the volume of the sound, also with random modulation. Each part has a stereo control, which will make the left and right channel be modulated differently.

For modulation, Instability uses a smooth random signal. It is not any old signal though - we've made sure that it has exactly the right kind of random behavior. The random signal Instability uses has tempo control and can be tweaked to produce both incredibly slow evolving textures or quick warbly messes.

Spotless User Interface

The user interface of Instability is clean and pragmatic, without any visual gimmicks. The plug-in also features a dark UI or "night mode" for those late-night sessions.

Free Demo

If you'd like to try Instability before you buy, I have a free demo available. The demo does everything the full version does, except saving is disabled. Get it here:

Audio Samples

Æsthetic Moves

Vaporwave kinda track. I first made an 80's style beat with Ableton Live's "Analog" and LD drum kit and used Intability on the main chords as a chorus effect - slow, subtle pitch modulation with 100% stereo and no amplitude modulation. Similar settings are used on the synth string sound.

I then exported the 80's beat was exported at 22050Hz sample rate after which I chopped it up and applied a bunch of effects. Instability is used for a tape/VHS-like, first for a bit of flavor, and with automation towards the end of the track, for an extreme warbling sound.

Lo-fi Vibes

Lo-fi hip-hop track. Here I used Ableton Live's "Electric" for the e-piano sound with some reverb, delay distortion, equalizer, and two instances of Instability. One with default speed and amount, no stereo, for a tape-like effect (which was also used on the synth sound). The other one with slow and subtle modulation of pitch, with 100% stereo for chorusing effect.

Sweet Chords

Bedroom pop-rock type of song. I recorded some electric guitar directly into Ableton Live and applied Reverb, Amp, Cabinet, Glue Compressor, equalizer, and Instability, which is used with pitch only, low and slow modulation for a chorus effect. Much the same effect is applied to the lead guitar.

Vintage Atmospheres

Downtempo electronica track. I made all the sounds with Ableton Live's Analog with some distortion and equalizer (and delay for the brassy lead sound). Instability is used two times on the main chords for a tape and chorus-like effect, on the bass, as an amplitude only tape effect, and on the brassy lead as a tape effect.

Instability is also used twice on the master, both times as a tape-like effect, one with fast and one with slow modulation.

Compatibility

Tonerig Instability is available as a 64 bit VST3 and AU (audio unit 2) plug-in and requires a compatible DAW (digital audio workstation) to be used. Most modern DAWs (Live, FL Studio, Logic, etc.) should support Instability, but please check with your DAW vendor before purchasing. From version 6 onwards, Instability for macOS is compatible with both Apple Silicon and Intel processors.