[sdiy] They aren't sawtooths, they're ramps

[David G. Dixon]

> Well, we don't use relaxation oscillators (ie., RC charge up and
> reset) for electronic music, so it's never going to come up.  I mean,
> if you're using a relaxation oscillator you have probably have more
> important things to worry about than the word used to describe the
> waveform.
> 
> For people who do use relaxation oscillators, "sawtooth" is probably a
> fine term in their context.

We do use them sometimes; just not for VCOs.  They're fairly convenient for
quick-and-dirty LFOs, or for certain clocking applications

>> What does the saw look like on those old Moogs?
> 
> Depends on the model and whether you're measuring it at the cap, after
> the buffer circuit, after a DC blocking cap, or after the VCF and VCA.
> 
> At the cap, it has to be mighty linear for tuning accuracy.

Precisely my point.  If it's coming from a VCO which is supposed to track,
then it will be a very linear ramp or saw.  I just think we should reserve
the term "sawtooth wave" for such linear ramps, which have a certain, fixed
harmonic spectrum.  It's semantics, granted, but sometimes that's important.