Mission 002
Pitch vs Amplitude
Two knobs hidden in every sound.
Two knobs hide in every sound: how fast, and how big.
+40 XP
// WHAT IT DOES
Every wiggle has two basic measurements. How fast it repeats decides the pitch. How tall each wiggle is decides the loudness.
On a synth those are controlled in different places. The oscillator section chooses pitch. The amp section chooses loudness — usually with an so it can change over the life of a note.
They're independent. You can play a quiet high note or a loud low one; the synth treats those two properties separately.
Think of it like → Pitch is how fast you wave your hand; volume is how wide. Try waving fast and small, then slow and huge — same arm, two independent variables.
▸ WHY YOU CARE
- • It explains why turning up the volume doesn't change the pitch — they live in different parts of the signal chain.
- • It also explains why -to-volume sounds 'expressive' but -to-pitch sounds 'broken'.
- • When you mix, EQ deals with pitch content and faders deal with loudness — same .
// 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
- • Pitch changes feel like the note is climbing or falling.
- • Loudness changes feel like the note is getting closer or further.
- • The two never bleed into each other on a sane preset.
▸ WALKTHROUGH (4 steps)
- 1. DO: Init the synth. Play and hold a C3.▸ LISTEN: A steady tone at one pitch, one loudness.
- 2. DO: Slowly turn the oscillator pitch up an while held.▸ LISTEN: Loudness doesn't change; only the perceived note moves.
- 3. DO: Return to C3. Slowly pull the amp level down.▸ LISTEN: Pitch doesn't change; only loudness drops.
- 4. DO: Set velocity → amp. Play soft, then hard.▸ LISTEN: Hard hits are louder, with the SAME pitch.
▸ COMMON MISTAKES
- ✗ Confusing 'I made it brighter' with 'I made it louder' — brightness comes from filter/spectrum, not amp.
- ✗ Routing velocity to pitch on a polyphonic patch (creates detune chords).
// QUIZ (QUICK)
Question 1 / 30 correct
Doubling the frequency of a note moves it…