From the course: Learning Modular Synthesis: Eurorack Expansion

RS Wave Multipliers: Wavefolding (odd harmonics)

From the course: Learning Modular Synthesis: Eurorack Expansion

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RS Wave Multipliers: Wavefolding (odd harmonics)

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(hypnotic blaring long beeps) - [Instructor] The middle section of the Random Source Surge Wave Multipliers is a wave folder. Which is one of the fairer types of modules for West Coast synthesis. People who follow the Bucler or Surge approach to synthesis. I'm going to switch back to my sign wave as my output. Cause sign waves have very few harmonics and wave folding adds a lot of harmonics to them. I move down to my input here. These two inputs are mixed together. So, if you have two oscillators, you can mix them at the module without needing another mixer module. Move my envelope over to the voltage control for this middle module then turn this level down for now. And take my output. Here's my sign wave. (long low beep) But as I increase the fold amount, you'll see some interesting distortions happen in the wave form and more harmonics be added into the output. (long low beep) Starts to get squared up. Our saturated sound ... But then the top and bottoms get folded in on themselves. (long low beep) Until they double up and then when those new indents reach their limits, they start folding again. (long low beep intensifies) Now as you can guess from me turning that knob, that'd be really cool enveloped. (double beep) Set the sustain for the amount of folding while the note's being held down. (electronic melodic beeps) Now that's started to sound that you don't get out of normal filter. Wave folding really creates quite a different type of sound. Focusing on creating odd harmonics. (synthesized beeps) You could also put that underneath things like after touch or a mod wheel or a slider to get sort of an overblown approach while you're holding down a note. Let's go ahead and do that really quick here. Put that on the mod wheel. (synthesized melody) And if we envelope it, it's really fun to pair up with an enveloped filter after it. (playful synthesized melody) And it also fattens up nicely when you layer it with another oscillator. (blaring synthesized melody) There's lots of wave folder designs out there. And you may think that they all do the same thing. But actually the sounds are quite different. Just for quick comparison, I'm going to pull up mode on our DIN sync down here underneath all these cables because one of this basic modes is a wave folder as well. Matter of fact, mode 2D on it, uses input X and output A as a wave folder. But you hear quite a different sound. I'll go into X here. I'll put A down here. Turn down my amount of folding. (blaring synthesized beeps) The DIN sync has a much harsher sounding wave folder than the smoothly rounded one coming out of the surge. So it's worth listening to a few different wave folders to see which one has this sort of timbrel change that you like. Do you like it harsher like this? (blaring synthesized beeps) Or do you like something that's a bit more mellow like this? (intensified synthesized beeps)

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