The synth voice

Detune, unison and noise

Slightly detuned oscillators beat; noise adds air.

Beating

Detune by a few cents and count the wobble.

Try it

  • Detune by about 3 cents
  • Detune by about 15 cents
  • Add a little noise
More on this

Two oscillators slightly out of tune beat against each other. A little makes a sound wide and alive; noise adds air and bite.

Detune the second oscillator by a few cents. The level wobbles at the difference between the two frequencies.

The beat rate is the difference in hertz. On a note at 220 Hz, 10 cents is about 1.3 Hz: one slow wobble a second. Ten cents on a note at 880 Hz is about 5 Hz: a fast shimmer. The same detune sounds busier on high notes.

Unison stacks several detuned voices of the same note, often spread across the stereo field. It thickens, at the cost of a less focused attack and more mud in the low end.