Clavia lead 2x Guida Utente

The length of the period determines the pitch (frequency) of the sound. The shorter the period, the high-
er the pitch. If you for example make the oscillator play at a frequency of 440Hz, there will be 440 periods 
of identical Sawtooth waves generated per second.

Normally there are three ways to change the frequency of an oscillator:

• By making settings on the front panel. On the Nord Lead 2X for example, you have an “Oct Shift” 

setting for both oscillators and separate Semitone and Fine Tune adjustments for Oscillator 2.

• By playing the keyboard. The keyboard is if course connected to the oscillator so that pressing differ-

ent key produces different pitches. In some cases this connection can be turned off, so that the oscilla-
tor always plays the same pitch, regardless of which key is pressed. In the Nord Lead 2X, this can be 
done for Oscillator 2, by deactivating “Kbd Track”.

• By Modulation. Modulation allows you to make the pitch vary “automatically”. The most common 

example is probably to use an LFO to make pitch go up and down, to create a vibrato. But you can 
also put the pitch under envelope control, or make the pitch vary with your striking force (velocity).

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The waveform of the oscillator affects its harmonic content and thereby its “sound quality” (timbre). The 
three most common waveforms are sawtooth, pulse wave and triangle.

Looking at the shape of a waveform tells very little about how it sounds. Instead, there’s a better way to 
draw it, called a spectrum. Let’s introduce some quick theory:

Mathematically, all waveforms can be considered as built from a number of harmonics, added together.

Each of the harmonics consists of a sine wave, the purest and simple waveform there is (a sine wave has 
no harmonics at all). In other words, if you add a number of sine waves together, each one with its own 
pitch (frequency) and volume (amplitude), then you can build any waveform you like.

The lowest harmonic is called the fundamental. The fundamental determines the basic pitch of the sound. 
If the fundamental has a frequency of 440Hz, we will perceive the entire sound as having a pitch of 
440Hz.

Other harmonics are then added to the fundamental, called overtones. Normally the first overtone appears 
at a frequency twice the fundamental (in our example 880 Hz). The next harmonic appears at a frequency 
three times the fundamental (in our example 1320Hz) and so on.

In a spectral display of a waveform you can see the frequency (pitch) of each harmonic and its amplitude 
(level). This is done by drawing each harmonic as a line raising up from a horizontal scale. 

Each line’s position on this scale indicates the harmonic’s frequency. The line furthest to the left is the 
fundamental, the next is the first harmonic etc. To make life easier, one usually doesn’t label the horizon-
tal scale with frequency in Hz, but rather with the number of the harmonic.