Oscillators, harmonics, and a way to think of synthesized sound

Have you ever wondered what, specifically, makes a square wave sound different from a triangle wave? Come along for an acoustic exploration of the basic waveforms your synthesizer's oscillator makes and the different harmonic content they represent. Along the way you'll learn about Additive synthesis, and you'll watch me botch an experiment. Fun! Then we'll look at some standard ways to make harmonic content vary over time, and finish up with a working patch. Sine waves, Fourier analysis, dual oscilloscopes - this video has it all! :)
00:01:45 - Basic Waveforms
00:03:56 - Harmonics
00:09:56 - Additive Synthesis
00:13:28 - Evolving Harmonics
If you want to review the slides, you can find them here: bit.ly/oscillatorsharmonics
And the background drone is here, if you like that kind of thing: / soundandvoltage

[@omnidivergence9846]

I just watched this again. The videos from this channel are so well put together its like attending university (probably better then that).

[@SoundVoltage]

Thanks! My tuition fees are definitely lower :)

[@brokenscart7989]

I really like the constant drone in the background. Sounds comfy

[@Timebandit1]

Just discovered your channel - it's a goldmine!

[@SoundVoltage]

Thank you so much! I'm hope it's helpful.

[@diymodularsessions6984]

It’s amazing how the world works - clearly based on simple mathematical principles overlaid on one another to form more complex patterns. Love it! Thanks for the videos!

[@rhampton1914]

I really like these educational videos that you do.

[@SoundVoltage]

Thanks! You're a big part of why I started these videos, so it's partly your fault :)

[@michaelbishop.]

Just about understood this,which was a shock. Brilliant.

[@SoundVoltage]

Excellent!

[@synthseeker]

Teachers are a blessing to the world. Carry on. ;)

[@taidi4038]

Very interesting Video! I really like how well you visualized the construction of the classic waveforms with the increasing number of harmonics. The weirdly distorted sine wave output of the nonlinearcircuits oscillator is most likely not your fault ;-) Many analog oscillators don't accually generate a true sine wave, but rather use triange or sawtooth wave at it's core and distort it into a sine wave (In fact not sure a single analog synth with a true sine wave generator even exists). The circuit in the NLC CEM3340 VCO is a very simple sine shaper that only uses clipping diodes, which is simple to build and uses fewer components, but is also less precise and is missing trimpots to fine-tune the shape of the sine wave.

[@superultramegarobot]

Not to be argumentative, but there are plenty of ways to create pure analog sine waves, generally using feedback and integration - many oscillating circuits wish to produce sinewaves as their natural response, since this is the response of an undamped 2nd-order differential equation (for example, consider the Wein Bridge oscillator). Just thought I'd share.

[@taidi4038]

@@superultramegarobot Yes you definitly have a point. The main issue with many of those circuits is controlling the frequency accurately with voltage, which is why it's uncommon among analog synths. But now that I think of it, you could argue that a self-oscillating filter is a pure sine wave generator.

[@nopenottelling]

AWESOME video and explanation; thank you! Among other things, I really appreciate that you took the time to actually add in a decently huge number of harmonics to the waves so that they’d actually turn into the final waveform instead of just doing the obligatory 4 or 10 and then telling me to trust you that it’d totally become the final wave eventually you swear

[@samliske1482]

Man, these videos are really reigniting that love of synthesis I had when I got my minilogue at the beginning of college. Keep it up!

[@cmyk8964]

Power chords (very important in rock/metal guitar) are a part audio illusion, part distortion trickery, to make the sound sound lower. This is typically done by playing the root, the fifth, and the octave, which approximates a 2:3:4 ratio. This makes the sound wave repeat in a cycle the LCM of the individual wave period, which is half of the base note. Especially when you apply distortion to add higher harmonics and increase energy, it sounds like one note an octave down.

[@omnidivergence9846]

Modular is a great exercise in problem-solving. This is another fantastic video. Keep up the good work.

[@SoundVoltage]

Thank you!

[@AaronNickols88]

Your making me wanna synth

[@enthaerter]

Thank you for another excellent learning video

[@thespacekyd]

It's pretty funny cuz I ended up doing pretty much the exact same experiments and went into how different distortion curves add harmonics. One thing I would really like to learn about is how distortion can effect things like saw waves and how we might be able to predict those harmonics. If I remember correctly it's called harmonic modulation theory... maybe you know what I'm talking about. Would love to see a video on that if you do

[@ickebins6948]

This is sooo good. Thanks for sharing this!

[@electricdawn2258]

Very nice educational video. Well done! The only thing that was missing was how your prime number wave sounded. That would've been interesting. :)

[@SoundVoltage]

Thanks! I am not a big 'KZbin Shorts' fan, but I'll figure out how to turn that into a WAV file and post it :)

[@angharadweeks9242]

This is such a great video!!!

[@SoundVoltage]

Thank you!!

[@j0KZZ]

Pure gold, keep it up cap!

[@FriedlichNische]

I absolutely love your videos! So much information packed in and even though I have to watch them at least 3 times to understand you do a fantastic job breaking down these concepts. Thank you!

[@SoundVoltage]

That's how I boost my view counts, making people watch them 3 times each. :)

[@FriedlichNische]

@@SoundVoltage haha great plan!

[@davecgriffith]

Very interesting!

[@snorrevonflake]

Haha, i would love to have a second Mordax Data, looking at whats happening is very often all i do with modular.

[@GareyKennebrew]

Thank You!

[@LeoPerantoni]

Lovely!

[@SoundVoltage]

Thank you!

[@stroads.]

This is taking me back to audio and acoustics class, and it's exactly what I needed right now, as I really wasn't paying attention then. I'm trying to get into Eurorack, and I've been watching you for a while, despite a lot of your videos going way over my head. Will you be continuing your "Eurorack patching for beginners" series at all?

[@SoundVoltage]

I definitely could come back to that -- the first one didn't really get watched all that much for some reason, but I do like doing videos for people just getting into things. Are there any topic in particular you'd like to know more about?

[@stroads.]

@@SoundVoltage oh, well I'll definitely try to share your videos a lot, I think there's definitely an audience for that type of content. But yeah, just literally exactly the route you were going with that first vid. How to route pretty standard/starter setups, that sort of thing.

[@pentalogue_trialogue]

Sine wave: Presence of harmonics: one First harmonic volume: 0 dB Semisine wave: Presence of harmonics: all harmonics of the series of natural numbers First harmonic volume: -1.82 dB Tilt volume by harmonics: -12.04 dB / oct Triangle wave: Presence of harmonics: all harmonics of a series of odd numbers First harmonic volume: -1.82 dB Tilt volume by harmonics: -12.04 dB / oct Sawtooth wave: Presence of harmonics: all harmonics of the series of natural numbers First harmonic volume: -3.92 dB Tilt volume by harmonics: -6.02 dB / oct Square wave: Presence of harmonics: all harmonics of a series of odd numbers First harmonic volume: +2.10 dB Tilt volume by harmonics: -6.02 dB / oct

[@LarsBjerregaard]

Great demo and explanation! For bonus points you could include the pure even harmonics waveform, e.g. Befaco EvenVCO. I don't know why it's so rarely used, I find it quite pleasant.

[@SoundVoltage]

Thanks! And I had no idea that was why it was called the Even VCO! I think I have the PCB/Panel set for it sitting in a drawer, now I have to build it.

[@LarsBjerregaard]

@@SoundVoltage It's a wonderful VCO.

[@flourfree2K]

You must be on dialysis now... A Mordax Data costs a kidney. 2 should cost 2 kidneys.

[@SoundVoltage]

They're not *that* expensive. And for $400 I sure get a lot of use out of mine :)