GAIA Exploring Sound (PDF) - Roland Corporation Australia

Section 3
The Shape Controls
Now we get to the exciting part of the Oscillator section. As you
know we have been referring to this section as the “Pitch”
section, and so far we have proved this to be correct.
What do you see? Something like this?...
Gallery 2.1 Sawtooth Waveform
However, the original Oscillator circuits from those early
synthesizers had another function, perhaps a more powerful
function.
Remember earlier how we suggested that an ocean wave
traveling smoothly across the deep blue sea might sound
completely different to that same wave crashing on a beach. At
the time we were suggesting that the shape of the wave was
involved.
Now recall our early synthesizer circuit that generates a wave,
sent via a speaker to our ear. Would the shape make a
difference?
Back to our new best friend, the Wave Viewer.
This Sawtooth is not mathematically correct, but sounds better
Audio 2.2 Sawtooth Waveform
Initialize the Patch and switch on the Wave Viewer. Play any note
and look at the screen.
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