Oscillators & Detune

The oscillator is where every synth sound is born: a circuit (or these days, code) that repeats a waveform at whatever pitch you play. You already know the four shapes. Now let's use them like a synthesist, starting with the oldest trick in the book: using two at once.

When two oscillators play the same note but slightly out of tune, a few cents (hundredths of a semitone) apart, they slowly drift in and out of phase. The result is a wide, shimmering, animated sound. This is the secret behind nearly every classic synth lead and pad, and producers call it detune.

Oscillator Playground
Waveform · time
Spectrum · frequency
Waveform
Osc 2
12 ct
Detune
A
S
D
F
G
H
J
K
L

Play with your mouse, or with your computer keyboard: A S D F G H J K L (W E T Y U O for black keys).

Try this: hold a note with Osc 2 off, static, flat. Turn Osc 2 on with detune at 0, just louder. Now sweep detune up to ~15 cents while holding a note. Hear the slow shimmer? That periodic swell is called beating, and its speed equals the frequency difference between the two oscillators.
Checkpoint
Two detuned oscillators sound 'wider' and 'alive' because…
Challenge · Match the shimmer

Two saws, one detune amount. Listen to how fast the sound swells and fades, that beating speed is your clue.

0 ct
Detune
← Scope & SpectrumComplete & continue →