Learn Synth Fundamentals

The oscillator repeats a wave to create a note. Sine sounds pure; Saw and Square sound brighter because they contain more harmonics.

Hold a note and switch waves. Octave doubles or halves the frequency. The diagram shows the selected wave shape.

Pitch is how high or low a note sounds. Faster vibration means a higher note.

Each step is a semitone. +12 doubles the frequency: one octave up. The display follows the latest held note, or C3 when idle.

Low-pass keeps lows and softens highs. Lower the cutoff to make the sound darker.

Cutoff sets where the filter starts reducing frequencies. Resonance adds a peak near that point.

Choose Saw and lower Cutoff to remove brightness. Switch modes to keep the lows, highs or a narrow band. The curve shows which frequencies pass through.

Attack fades in. Decay falls from the peak to Sustain, the level held while you press the key. Release fades out after you let go.

Try short Attack, long Decay and low Sustain for a pluck. These timing changes apply to the next note.

Poly plays chords. Mono plays only the latest key. Legato changes the note without restarting its envelope while keys overlap.

Hold one key and add another. Release the latest key to return to the previous one. Glide controls the slide between pitches.

A sub oscillator adds a sine wave one octave below the note. It adds weight without adding much brightness.

Raise Level on a bass note. The lower wave completes one cycle for every two cycles of the main oscillator.

Velocity is how hard you strike a MIDI key. Response sets how strongly it affects loudness.

At zero, soft and hard strikes are equally loud. At 100%, soft strikes are quiet. Listen plays a soft test note.

Glide slides between pitches instead of jumping straight to the next note. It is also called portamento.

Raise Time and play two different notes. Each new note slides from the previous note’s pitch; you can still play chords.

A layer adds a second wave to the same note. Both waves share the filter and envelope.

Start with Basic. Raise Layer level to 100% for an equal mix. Add Detune: the waves drift in and out of step, creating a pulse. More detune makes it faster.

The three lines show the base, second layer and their sum. Detune is exaggerated so you can see it.

Unison adds two copies of the main oscillator, tuned slightly below and above it. Together they make a thicker sound.

Raise Amount, then Spread. The three waves slowly drift apart. Unlike Layers, all three use the same waveform.

A filter envelope moves the cutoff automatically when a note starts. It can make a bright attack that quickly becomes darker.

Choose Saw, lower Cutoff, then raise Amount. Decay sets how fast the filter returns. Each new note restarts this shared filter envelope.

An LFO is a slow wave that moves a control. Here it moves pitch up and down: vibrato.

Try Depth at 30 cents and Speed at 2 Hz. Pitch wobbles twice a second. Depth sets how far; Speed sets how fast. Zero depth turns it off.

The curve shows the chosen pitch movement, not an audio waveform. 100 cents is one semitone.

Tracking raises the filter cutoff as you play higher notes. It keeps their brightness more consistent.

At 100%, moving up an octave doubles the cutoff. C4 is the reference; the latest note moves the shared filter.

Noise is random vibration, not a repeating note. It adds breath, hiss or a rough edge.

Raise Level while holding a note. The noise shares the note’s envelope and filter. More level makes the random waveform larger.

A sine wave has one frequency. Other waves add harmonics: frequencies at 2×, 3× and more. These change the tone, not the note.

Listen to Sine, then Saw. Saw sounds brighter. Each bar shows one harmonic before the filter; taller means louder.

Each bar is one harmonic. Taller bars contribute more to the wave.

Drive bends the waveform and creates extra harmonics. A smooth sine becomes more buzzy.

Try Basic and raise Amount. The curve maps input to output: a flatter top means more distortion. Zero leaves the signal unchanged.

Pan places the sound between the left and right speakers. It does not change the note.

Use headphones and move Position. The dot shows where the sound sits between left and right. Zero is the center.

Width changes the difference between left and right. Zero is mono; 100% keeps the original stereo image.

Try it with Reverb and headphones. A centered mono sound will not widen by itself. This is different from Pan, which moves the whole sound.

Chorus mixes in a slightly delayed copy whose timing moves slowly. This gives the sound a soft, wavering thickness.

Raise Level on a held note. Speed controls how quickly the short delay moves. Unlike Unison, Chorus works on the combined sound.

Reverb adds many tiny reflections that fade together, like sound in a room. Echo gives separate repeats; reverb gives a smooth tail.

Raise Level and play a short note. The shaded shape represents the room’s fading reflections, not the output waveform.

Echo repeats the sound after a delay. Each repeat is quieter than the last.

Raise Level and play a short note. Time sets the gap between repeats. Each line is a repeat. Wider gaps mean more delay; taller lines mean louder echoes.

Tremolo moves volume up and down. Unlike vibrato, it does not change pitch.

Raise Depth, then adjust Speed. The curve shows volume rising and falling. At 2 Hz it pulses twice per second.

PWM changes how long a pulse stays high. Half-and-half sounds like a square wave; a narrow pulse sounds thinner.

Enable it, then move Width. It replaces the main wave, not the second layer. Sync and Wavetable take priority if enabled.

A wavetable stores different wave shapes. This small table morphs from Sine through Triangle to Saw.

Enable it and move Position to change tone continuously. It replaces the main wave. Sync takes priority if enabled.

Sample & Hold chooses a random value and holds it until the next step. Here it moves the filter cutoff in steps.

Raise Amount on Saw. Speed sets changes per second. The example loops a stored set of random steps.

Sync restarts one oscillator every time another completes a cycle. The reset adds harmonics while the main note stays fixed.

Raise Ratio to fit more slave cycles before each reset. This example uses a sine slave and a band-limited repeating wave.

A phaser combines the sound with a phase-shifted copy. Some frequencies cancel, creating moving notches.

Raise Level on Saw, then adjust Speed. The diagram illustrates the moving notches, not the output spectrum.

Flanger mixes in a very short moving delay. It creates a brighter, metallic sweep than Chorus.

Raise Level and hold a note. The diagram shows the changing gap between original and delayed waves.

FM moves the main oscillator’s frequency fast enough to create new tones, not a slow vibrato.

Start with Sine and raise Depth. Ratio sets the modulator frequency relative to the note. Integer ratios tend to sound more harmonic.

Ring modulation multiplies the sound by another wave. It creates frequencies at the sum and difference of the originals.

Try a sine note and raise Amount. Frequency changes the metallic side tones. At full amount the original is replaced.

Bit depth controls how many amplitude levels a signal can use. Fewer levels create grainy distortion.

Lower Bits on a held note. Sixteen bypasses this effect; this example reduces amplitude resolution, not sample rate.

A wavefolder folds peaks back inward rather than clipping them flat. The folds create extra harmonics.

Try Sine and raise Amount. The curve maps the input to the folded output.

A compressor reduces changes in loudness. Above Threshold, the signal gets quieter than it would without compression.

At 4:1, an extra 4 dB above the threshold becomes 1 dB at the output. Lower Threshold while playing. Ratio 1:1 bypasses this stage; the output safety compressor stays active.

Boost or cut the low end below 200 Hz. Positive values add weight; negative values make room for other instruments.

At 0 dB the sound is unchanged. The curve shows the gain across frequencies, not the current sound level.

Boost or cut the high end above 3 kHz. Positive values add brightness; negative values soften the sound.

At 0 dB the sound is unchanged. The curve shows the gain across frequencies, not the current sound level.

Auto Pan moves the sound between your left and right speakers. Depth controls how far; Rate controls how fast. At 1 Hz, one round trip takes a second.

Try Warm pad, Depth 70% and Rate 0.5 Hz with headphones. The curve shows the movement range; the dot moves while notes play. Pan sets the center, so movement narrows near either edge. Depth 0 switches the effect off.