Synthesizer Waveform Fundamentals Flashcards
7 cards from real Music & Audio Advice practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Synthesizer Waveform Fundamentals flashcards as text
When two oscillators are detuned slightly from each other, what audible effect is created?
Answer: A thick, beating chorus-like effect
Slight detuning produces beating between the oscillators, thickening the sound.
Setting a pulse wave's duty cycle to exactly 50% produces what?
Answer: A square wave
A 50% duty cycle pulse is symmetrical, which is the definition of a square wave.
Which waveform most closely resembles a sine wave in tone but is easier to generate in analog circuitry?
Answer: Triangle wave
The triangle wave has weak odd harmonics, making it sound close to a sine but simpler to build.
Lowering a duty cycle far below 50% on a pulse wave tends to make the tone sound how?
Answer: Thinner and more nasal
Narrow pulse widths emphasize higher harmonics, producing a thin, nasal, reedy character.
Hard sync of one oscillator to another primarily creates what kind of timbre?
Answer: Aggressive, harmonically complex tearing tones
Oscillator hard sync resets the slave waveform, creating rich, edgy harmonics ideal for leads.
Which basic waveform would best emulate a simple flute-like tone with few overtones?
Answer: Sine or triangle wave
Flutes have very few harmonics, so a sine or triangle wave is the closest match.
What does an oscillator's frequency determine?
Answer: The perceived pitch
The oscillator frequency sets how many cycles occur per second, which we perceive as pitch.