Mission 008
Detune & Unison
Why supersaws sound enormous.
Same wave, slightly out of tune with itself. The defining trick of modern leads.
+50 XP
// WHAT IT DOES
Detune means deliberately tuning two oscillators slightly apart — usually measured in cents, where 100 cents = 1 . A few cents off and the two waves in and out of phase, creating that big chorused 'two singers' effect.
Unison is the synth feature that does this for you automatically: stack 3, 5, 7 copies of the same oscillator and spread them across a small pitch range.
It's the foundation of the 'supersaw' — 7 detuned saws panned wide. Half of mainstream dance music's lead sounds.
Think of it like → Detune is a choir. One singer is a note. Seven singers slightly off-pitch is a sound you can feel in your chest.
▸ WHY YOU CARE
- • Detune turns a thin oscillator into a 'wide' one without any stereo effects.
- • It's the cheapest possible way to make a patch feel modern.
- • Knowing how much detune is 'enough' is one of the cleanest taste-judgement skills in synthesis.
// SEE & HEAR IT
▸ Two oscillators blend to one waveform. Detune fattens by making them slightly out of tune.
▸ HOW IT WORKS
▸ Signal flow — watch the dot
▸ SIGNAL FLOW
Glowing dot = your signal travelling through Live.
▸ LISTEN FOR
- • Slow beating at small detune (1-2 beats per second).
- • Faster, more audible warble at wide detune.
- • Width on unison that collapses if you go mono.
▸ WALKTHROUGH (4 steps)
- 1. DO: Set Osc 1 to saw. Add Osc 2 same saw at 0 ¢. Play C3.▸ LISTEN: One louder saw, no movement.
- 2. DO: Set Osc 2 detune to +7 ¢.▸ LISTEN: Slow shimmer / .
- 3. DO: Push to +25 ¢.▸ LISTEN: Notably wider, slight beating.
- 4. DO: Engage unison 7 voices with moderate detune.▸ LISTEN: The supersaw.
▸ COMMON MISTAKES
- ✗ Using unison on bass — it makes the bottom mushy.
- ✗ Stacking unison on a polyphonic chord patch and surprising your CPU.
// QUIZ (QUICK)
Question 1 / 30 correct
1 cent equals