Overview

Current’s wavetable oscillators feature two effect slots that can further manipulate the waveform in various ways. The 40+ effects include spectral processing, formant shifting, harmonic effects, waveshaping, and more. All processing is done in the frequency domain, ensuring an exceptionally clear sound with virtually zero aliasing.

1. Wave Effects

Choose from a variety of different waveform manipulation effects. The WAVE effects range from hard sync and other classic wave-shaping techniques to detuned flanging and bit reduction.

Pitch: Effects that shift the harmonic spectrum up and down to create oscillator sync and harmonic series effects.

• Scan: A unique approach to hard sync, using overlapping grains to achieve smooth oscillator sync with formant-shifting characteristics.
• Series: Shifts up and down the harmonic series. Downward shifts stay locked to the waveform length, resulting in an intriguing formant-shifting effect.
• Sync: Classic hard sync with depth control determining the sync rate.
• Press: A variation on hard sync that separately syncs each half of the waveform, preserving more of its original tonal qualities.

Shape: Phase modulation effects that can be used to create pulse width modulation and other wave-shaping effects.

• Skew: Emulates the classic pulse width modulation found in vintage synthesizers.
• Bend: Similar to pulse width modulation, but it forces the waveform towards the center or outer edges rather than shifting it left or right.
• Pinch: Compresses or expands the waveform toward its center or outer edges, similar to Bend but with a fuller, more aggressive sound.
• Twist: Generates an effect similar to FM feedback using the original waveform to modulate its own phase.

Time: Delay-based effects that produce flanging, detuning, and similar effects:

• Reflect: Uses four copies of the waveform delayed in different directions, creating a sound that blends hard sync with flanging.
• Flange: Classic flanging effect where the wavetable is copied, delayed, and layered with the original waveform.
• Drift: Combines flanging and phase rotation. Modulating this effect can produce detuned oscillator sounds.
• Dense: Multiple copies of the wavetable are delayed and inverted, resulting in a complex effect similar to multiple parallel flangers and phase shifters.

Fold: Zero aliasing wavefolder effects reminiscent of classic "West Coast" synths, along with unique algorithms:

• Asym: Asymmetrical wavefolding generating both even and odd harmonics.
• Sine: Sine wave-based wavefolding that produces a relatively clean odd harmonics.
• Hard: Triangle wave-based wavefolding creating edgier odd harmonics.
• Wrap: Intense hard wrap wavefolding that results in aggressive harmonics with noticeable discontinuities.

Reduce: Zero aliasing bit crushing, sample reduction, and other decimating effects:

• Crush: Classic bit crushing that allows you to either maximize or minimize the waveform’s individual bits.
• Bitwise: Bitwise processing that generates complex waveforms.
• Redux: Sample rate reduction synced to the current waveform length.
• Chop: Zeros out a variable portion of the waveform, producing a sound similar to pulse width modulation but with a distinctly thin character.

2. Warp Effects

Choose from a variety of spectral-based effects in the WARP section. These include spectral filtering, phase manipulation, formant shifting, harmonic effects, distortion, and more.

Filters: Spectral filter effects based on standard filter types:

• Smooth: Lowpass or highpass filter with a gentle slope.
• Steep: Lowpass or highpass filter with an aggressive slope.
• BP: Bandpass filter with adjustable bandwidth.
• Notch: Single notch filter for precise frequency cutting.
• Comb: Spectral version of classic comb filtering.
• Vowel: Formant filter that simulates vocal sounds.

Spectral: Advanced effects that harness the spectral engine for precise harmonic and phase manipulation.

• Parse: Independently manipulates the gain even and odd harmonics to create a complex spectrum.
• Phaser: Spectral phaser effect with exceptionally smooth notches and an even frequency response.
• Ripple: Similar to Phaser, but preserves lower harmonics while rotating the phase of higher harmonics for a wet, dispersion-like sound.
• Data: Creates extreme, evenly spaced notches for a clean, digital spectrum.
• Nerve: Produces a complex phase and frequency responses with many notches and peaks.
• Shuffle: Applies random gain and phase rotation to each harmonic, blurring the originally sound.
• Disperse: Rotates each harmonic’s phase differently, resembling all-pass dispersion. Modulate for detuning effects.

Formant: Effects that alter the waveform’s formants via spectral processing. Note: these effects have no impact on a saw wave due to its perfectly even spectral content.

• Shift: Shifts formants up or down in frequency. Lower harmonics are preserved when shifting up.
• Spread: Shifts even and odd harmonics in opposite directions, creating complex spectrums and vowel-like sounds.
• Contra: Short for Contrast, this effect emphasizes or minimizes the difference between quiet and loud harmonics.

Harmonic: Effects that manipulate individual harmonics in ways reminscent of additive synthesis.

• Stack: Adds a harmonically shifted version of the spectrum to the original. Negative values replace the original spectrum with the shifted one, while positive values layer them together.
• Shift: A unique frequency shifter that adjusts the spectrum without creating inharmonic content, unlike traditional frequency shifters.
• Stretch: Positive values expand harmonics toward higher frequencies, while negative values compress them toward lower frequencies, which also results in a lowpass filter effect.

Distort: Spectral distortion and compression effects with zero aliasing.

• Soft: Positive values apply soft clipping, thickening the sound, while negative values fold the waveform, producing thinner harmonics.
• Hard: Similar to Soft, but with hard clipping for a more aggressive tone.
• Tube: Asymmetrical clipping that generates even harmonics, reminiscent of analog vacuum tubes.
• Maximize: Positive values compress the waveform, and negative values expand it.