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@maru shared this instrument so you can build on it and use it in your DAW.

AvailableInstrument

Oscillator

Two oscillators with independent pitch, level, and stereo position.

A stage of OSC-1. It works the same on its own page as it does in the chain, same parameters, same paths.

About

Two oscillators played from a keyboard or MIDI, each with its own waveform, octave, detune, level and stereo position. It is the simplest source in the catalog and a good place to learn what each of those settings does.

The idea

Two oscillators run at the note you play and are mixed together. There is no unison stack and no filter: two voices, honestly counted. The interest comes from how they relate. A few cents of detune between them makes a slow beat, and that beat is most of what people mean when they call a synth fat. Pan them apart and the same beat becomes width instead of a pulse.

Controls

For each of Osc 1 and Osc 2:

  • Wave: sine, square, sawtooth or triangle. Sawtooth has every harmonic and is the usual starting point; sine has none.
  • Octave transposes in whole octaves, up to three either way. Osc 2 one octave down is the classic sub.
  • Detune offsets the pitch by up to a semitone either way, in cents.
  • Level sets its share of the mix. Keep Osc 2 under Osc 1 and it thickens the sound; match them and you hear two voices.
  • Pan places it in the stereo field.
  • A power switch mutes it without losing its level.

The voice controls choose Polyphonic, Monophonic or Mono Legato playing, which held note wins in mono modes (last, lowest or highest), and a glide time up to two seconds. Polyphonic is the default.

Getting started

Play a few notes on the default patch: a sawtooth and a square, the second detuned by seven cents. Then try turning Osc 2's Detune to zero to hear the two merge into one, and pan the oscillators apart to hear the beat turn into width.

How it works.

Two oscillators run at the note frequency, each offset by its own octave and detune, and sum into the stage output at their respective levels. There is no unison stack and no phase reset - two voices, honestly counted.

The detune default of seven cents is not arbitrary. Two perfectly-tuned oscillators sum into one louder oscillator; a few cents of mismatch produces a slow beat between them, and that beat is most of what people mean when they say a synth sounds fat.

Each oscillator has its own stereo position, applied before the shared filter and envelope. Both default to centre, which sums to the mono signal this stage produced before the pans existed; moving them apart is what puts a genuine stereo image into the chain, and it is the difference between the Stereo Widener having something to widen and having nothing at all.

What would you make with Oscillator?

Describe what you want to make. Build it with the Studio agent.

Goes well with.

Prototype

OSC-1

A complete synth built from separate modules.

Building block

Noise

Add breath and attack to a voice.

Building block

Filter

A resonant low-pass filter for shaping tone.