Created by Surreal Machines (the same team behind the excellent Dub Machines Pack), Transient Machines is a new dynamic processor Pack for Live that gives users the ability to deeply reshape the transient signals in their productions using simple controls and an intuitive interface. With Transient Machines, you have the ability to easily punch up the attack on your snares and claps, shorten the decay on boomy kick drums and toms, or just creatively sculpt the transient properties of all types of audio.

Think of Transient Machines as a type of contrast dial for your sounds — you can quickly add more punch, make a sound more distant, take away reverb or rattle, or use the device to achieve a more natural gating effect. Primarily intended for use with drums and percussive loops, Transient Machines can also lead to interesting results when applied to synth lines, vocals, grouped channels or even entire mixes.

Compatible with Push right out of the box, the Transient Machines Pack is split up into two separate tools: Impact, a multi-band drum processing channel strip, and Crack, a more compact transient shaper.

Impact

Impact is designed to help with the more nitty-gritty, detail-oriented aims of transient shaping. The multi-channel processor is switchable between one, two or three bands of transient modification — this means that different frequency bands can be adjusted independently, so that if you wanted to emphasize the attack of some airy hi-hats while, in the same sample, dulling the attack of a low-rumbling kick drum, you could do simply by adjusting the Attack and Sustain controls for each frequency band.

As part of its dynamic processing chain, Impact also includes four switchable styles of analog-modelled saturation, along with a final processing section that includes a clipper, limiter and a maximizer designed specifically to work with transient materials. This ensures that you are not only able to shape your transients exactly how you want, but you can also add some additional character to your sounds in the process.

Crack

Crack is the workhorse of the Transient Machines pack. The compact transient shaper is ideal for more utility purposes, such as adjusting the properties of a single drum sound or quickly adjusting a loop. In addition, Crack also features Dry/Wet signal controls, enabling you to make interesting blends using both the processed audio and the original signal.

Like Impact, Crack features a custom limiter for peak reduction, soft analog-modeled clipping, and a maximizer specially tuned for use with transient materials.