A newer version of Max is available. Click here to access the latest version of this document.

saw~

Antialiased sawtooth oscillator

Description

saw~ generates a sawtooth wave whose component frequencies are resistant to aliasing.

Arguments

Name Type Opt Description
initial-frequency (Hz) int or float opt Sets the initial frequency of the oscillator. The default is 0.

Messages

int frequency (Hz) [int]
In left inlet: Sets the frequency of the oscillator.
float frequency (Hz) [float]
In left inlet: Sets the frequency of the oscillator.
signal In left inlet: Sets the frequency of the oscillator.

In right inlet: (optional) A sync signal. When the control signal crosses from below 0.5 to above 0.5, the oscillator resets itself. A phasor~ object works well for this purpose. The classic use is to set this control signal to your fundamental frequency and "sweep" the left frequency input in a range somewhere several octaves higher than the fundamental.
synctrig trigger-value [float]
Sets the value which an input signal crosses at which the oscillator will reset itself.

Information for box attributes common to all objects

Output

signal: An antialiased sawtooth waveform. An ideal, straight-line sawtooth wave generated in a computer contains aliased frequencies that can sound irritating. saw~ produces a nice, analog-esque output waveform.

Examples

Spectral comparison of saw~ and phasor~

See Also

Name Description
cycle~ Table lookup oscillator
phasor~ Sawtooth wave generator
rect~ Antialiased rectangular (pulse) oscillator
Antialiased sawtooth oscillator
techno~ Signal-driven step sequencer
tri~ Antialiased triangular oscillator
MSP Tutorial 3: Wavetable Oscillator MSP Tutorial 3: Wavetable Oscillator