[sdiy] saw vs ramp, audible?

[Donald Tillman]

>> On Dec 8, 2024, at 1:15 PM, Chris McDowell via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Falling saw vs a rising ramp, is the difference audible? What is the definitive answer? I have believed for years that the difference is not audible, that maximum disconinuity followed by minimum discontinuity is what a saw or ramp is, and inverted but otherwise identical waveforms sound identical. I came across a wealth of traffic online today arguing against that. I'm super skeptical. Folks' arguments were passionate but not complete in a way that could convince me. What is the real deal here? 

> On Dec 8, 2024, at 2:43 PM, Donald Tillman <don at till.com> wrote:
> 
> Note that a sawtooth ramping down has all the harmonics in phase with the fundamental.
> 
> And a sawtooth ramping up has its harmonics alternating in phase (+1, -1/2, +1/3, -1/4,...) from the fundamental.
> 
> So when you want to combine a sawtooth with, say, a square wave, one will make an awful lot more intuitive sense than the other.  This is extremely important to people, like myself, who combine waveforms a lot. 

On the other hand... If you are *not* going to be combining it with any other signals...

A sawtooth on its own is pretty much unlistenable.  The whole point of a sawtooth is to provide lots of harmonic content for low-pass filters to sculpt the timbre.  Ie., subtractive synthesis.  And in that situation, the filters are almost entirely responsible for the musicality of the sound.

This is consistent with the phrase, "the heart of a synthesizer is in the filter", which has been said in one form or another for half a century.

And just like any form of subtractive sculpture, such as woodcarving, the original block of wood is unimportant compared to artistic work of the woodcarver.

  -- Don
--
Donald Tillman, Palo Alto, California
https://till.com

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