CD40106 drone · One of a kind
Hive Drone
Six oscillators on one CD40106, a pitch knob for each, summed into one drone, on my own Hive Drone stripboard layout, boxed upright in neon green. Set the six close together and they beat against each other; spread them out and it is a chord that never resolves. A power toggle with a light to say it is on, and the jacks on the top edge so it stands shoulder to shoulder with the other boxes.
- TypeSix-voice CD40106 drone, on stripboard
- BoardMy own layout, the free Hive Drone guide
- ControlsSix knobs, one pitch per voice. One power toggle. One LED
- OutputOutput jack on the top edge
- Enclosure125B, stood upright, neon green, the name hand-lettered down the side
- Power9V DC, barrel jack on the top edge
- BuiltSeptember 2026
- StatusOne of a kind. When it is gone it is gone
What it is
The CD40106 is six Schmitt-trigger inverters in one chip, and each one with a resistor and a capacitor around it is an oscillator. This box uses all six. Each voice has its own pitch knob, and the six square waves are summed into one output, so what comes out is one thick drone that you shape by moving the voices against each other.
Two voices tuned close together beat slowly; six tuned close together shimmer and churn. Pull one up an octave and it sits on top like a whistle. Pull one right down and it turns into a click that chops the rest. There is no wrong setting, and there is no setting it will hold still on for long, which is the point of a drone box.
The controls
The six chrome knobs are the six voices, one pitch each, in two columns of three. The toggle at the top is power, and the LED beside it comes on with it. That is all of it: no volume, no mix, six pitches and a switch.
The box
A 125B stood on end, neon green, the name hand-lettered down the side in purple. The output jack and the DC jack are on the top edge rather than the face, so the cables leave upward and the box can stand right up against its neighbors. The same upright format as the Dragonfly and the Devil's Triangle.
Demo
Demo video coming soon - it's on the bench being filmed.
Or build it yourself
The layout, the parts list and the netlist are the free Hive Drone guide, with the file you can open in Copper Bottom. The guide has two drill templates for this upright box, one with the jacks on the face and one with them on the top edge like this one.