Scope & Spectrum

You will spend the rest of this course looking at two instruments, so let's learn to read them properly. They show the same sound from two angles:

• The oscilloscope shows the wave over time: the literal shape of the pressure wiggle. Great for seeing waveform shape and amplitude.
• The spectrum analyzer shows the wave over frequency: the harmonic recipe from the last lesson, live. Each spike is one sine-wave ingredient.

Here are the four classic synthesizer waveforms. Flip between them and study both displays, connecting the shape you see to the spectrum you see to the sound you hear is the core skill of synthesis.

• Sine: one lonely spike. Pure, soft, no harmonics to filter later.
• Triangle: odd harmonics only, fading fast. Like a sine with a little glow.
• Sawtooth: every harmonic, fading slowly. The brightest, richest raw material.
• Square: odd harmonics, strong. Hollow but powerful.