Sound and timbre

What makes sounds different?

Play the same note on a piano and on a guitar and you can still tell which is which. That difference is called timbre (you say it “TAM-ber”): the colour or texture of a sound.

Synthesizers make their sounds from simple shapes called waveforms. A sine wave is smooth and soft, like a whistle. A triangle is a little brighter. A square sounds hollow and buzzy, like old video game music. A sawtooth is the brightest and buzziest, the starting point for a lot of EDM leads and basses.

Shaping a sound

A filter changes how bright a sound is. Turn the Cutoff down and the sound gets darker and more muffled, like music from a party next door. Turn it up and it gets bright and clear again. Sweeping it is the classic EDM build-up trick.

Attack is how long a note takes to fade in, and Release is how long it rings after you let go. A short attack sounds plucky and punchy; a long one swells in slowly, like a dreamy pad.

Try every wave, then play with the sliders while you hold down a key.

Quick quiz