# Sources

The audio engine provides a variety of sound sources. Use the `sound` word (or `s` for short) to select one.

## Basic Oscillators

| Name | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `sine` | Pure sinusoid, smooth and mellow |
| `tri` | Triangle wave, warmer than sine, naturally band-limited |
| `saw` | Bright sawtooth with anti-aliasing, rich in harmonics |
| `zaw` | Raw sawtooth without anti-aliasing, lo-fi character |
| `pulse`, `square` | Variable-width pulse wave with anti-aliasing |
| `pulze`, `zquare` | Raw pulse without anti-aliasing, 8-bit feel |

`pulse` and `pulze` respond to the `pw` parameter (0.0-1.0) for pulse width. At 0.5 you get a square wave.

### Phase Shaping

All oscillators support phase shaping for timbral variation:

| Parameter | Range | Effect |
|-----------|-------|--------|
| `size` | 0-256 | Phase quantization (lo-fi, chiptune). |
| `mult` | 0.25-16 | Phase multiplier (harmonic overtones). |
| `warp` | -1 to 1 | Power curve asymmetry. |
| `mirror` | 0-1 | Phase reflection point. |

These are super useful to get the most out of your oscillators.

### Sub Oscillator

Add a sub oscillator layer to any basic oscillator:

| Parameter | Range | Effect |
|-----------|-------|--------|
| `sub` | 0-1 | Mix level |
| `suboct` | 1-3 | Octaves below main. |
| `subwave` | tri/sine/square | Sub waveform. |

## Noise

| Name | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `white` | Equal energy across all frequencies, bright and hissy. |
| `pink` | -3dB/octave rolloff, equal energy per octave, natural. |
| `brown` | -6dB/octave rolloff, deep rumbling, random walk. |

Noise sources ignore pitch. Use filters to shape the spectrum.

## Live Input

| Name | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `live`, `livein`, `mic` | Live audio input from microphone or line-in |

All filter and effect parameters apply to the input signal.

## Plaits Engines

The Plaits engines come from Mutable Instruments and provide a range of synthesis methods. Beware, these sources can be quite CPU hungry. All share three control parameters (`0.0`-`1.0`):

| Parameter | Controls |
|-----------|----------|
| `harmonics` | Harmonic content, structure, detuning. |
| `timbre` | Brightness, tonal color. |
| `morph` | Smooth transitions between variations. |

### Pitched

| Name | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `modal` | Struck/plucked resonant bodies (strings, plates, tubes). |
| `va`, `analog` | Virtual analog with waveform sync and crossfading. |
| `ws`, `waveshape` | Waveshaper and wavefolder. |
| `fm2` | Two-operator FM synthesis with feedback. |
| `grain` | Granular formant oscillator (vowel-like). |
| `additive` | Harmonic additive synthesis. |
| `wavetable` | Built-in Plaits wavetables (four 8x8 banks). |
| `chord` | Four-note chord generator. |
| `swarm` | Granular cloud of enveloped sawtooths. |
| `pnoise` | Clocked noise through multimode filter. |

### Percussion

| Name | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `kick`, `bass` | 808-style bass drum. |
| `snare` | Analog snare drum with tone/noise balance. |
| `hihat`, `hat` | Metallic 808-style hi-hat. |

Percussions are super hard to use correctly, because you need to tweak their envelope correctly.