Six classic oscillator tricks

Although it’s the most basic type of synthesis, there are still plenty of ways to spice up your sound design when using VA synths. Here are six of them…

01

Sub oscillator Tasked with adding harmonic density and weight to an oscillator’s tone, many VAs feature what’s known as a sub oscillator – a simple waveform (usually a sine, triangle or square) that sits one or two octaves below the pitch of a ‘main’ one.

02

Continuously var iable wav eforms Many subtractive synths only allow you to switch between set waveforms (à la Minimoog), but others allow you to gradually fade between waveforms. This lets you position your waveform selection at the perfect point, but can also be modulated for timbral fun.

03

PWM Aside from the standard square wave, many VA synths only offer switchable non-symmetrical pulse shapes (you again, Minimoog), and many more give you the option to wobble the ‘up and down’ pulse shape – ie, pulse-width modulation. PWM is ideal for strings, pads and brash lead sounds.

04

Hard sync By slaving an oscillator to another, the slave oscillator’s waveform will be retriggered every time the master oscillator repeats its wave cycle. This brash sound is known as hard sync. Sweep or modulate the slave’s pitch to create searing timbre changes.

05

Detuning and unison When the pitch of two oscillators are detuned apart very slightly, the result is a familiar ‘beating’ effect. The further apart the detuning is, the more dissonant and aggressive the wavering will be. Modern VAs allow you to stack oscillator ‘voices’ and detune them apart for a similar thickness.

06

Audio-rate modulation If a low-frequency oscillator can be sped up to rates within the threshold of hearing, using that to sweep another parameter is known as audio-rate modulation. Similarly, cross mod involves one audible oscillator modulating another audible oscillator. Use it to fluctuate pitch, amplitude or filter frequency for distinctive timbral gnarliness.