Oscillator waveforms: sine, saw, square and triangle
Hear sine, triangle, square, saw and pulse waves on a live synth, see their harmonics on a scope and spectrum, and learn which wave to start each sound from.
What is a filter envelope?
Learn what a filter envelope does on a synth: cutoff, envelope amount and filter decay explained with real numbers and a playable synth lab you can hear.
What is FM synthesis?
Learn what FM synthesis is: carrier, modulator, ratio, modulation index and sidebands explained with real numbers, a playable two-operator FM lab and a quiz.
What is wavetable synthesis?
Learn what wavetable synthesis is: frames, wavetable position and how envelopes and LFOs move it, with a playable wavetable synth lab and an ear-training quiz.
What are unison and detune?
Learn what unison and detune do on a synth: voices, cents, stereo width, mono checks and how to make a supersaw, with a playable unison lab and an ear quiz.
White, pink and brown noise
White, pink and brown noise explained: what each colour means in dB per octave, how they sound and where to use them, with a live noise lab and ear quiz.
How pitch shifting and time stretching work
How pitch shifting and time stretching work: varispeed, grains, WSOLA, formants and DAW warp modes, with a lab that stretches and pitches real loops as you listen.
Subtractive vs FM vs wavetable synthesis
Subtractive filters a bright wave, FM bends sine waves to add partials, wavetable blends stored shapes. Hear all three at matched level and learn when to use each.
Time stretching vs pitch shifting
Time stretching changes tempo and keeps the key; pitch shifting changes the key and keeps the tempo. Hear both, plus varispeed, and learn which fits each job.
What is an ADSR envelope?
Learn what an ADSR envelope does on a synth: attack, decay, sustain and release explained with times in ms, a playable synth lab and an ear-training quiz.
What is granular synthesis? Explained with grains you can move
Granular synthesis explained by doing: drag position, grain size, density and jitter on a live grain cloud and watch what each one changes.