Why stop at three? The alarmingly insane LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER has outdone himself with a 100 oscillator ‘MEGA DRONE SYNTH’.
To the uninitiated, an oscillator is the component of a synth that creates sound. Think of it like the heartbeat of the instrument, pumping signal through the audio path.
Most synths will have a few, some get a little more complicated when you add more voices (polyphony). Being the sound source, they have to work together to make a sound that’s pleasing to the ear (if that’s your jam). So, imagine having a hundred to play with…
How many oscillators is too many oscillators? Is there such a thing?
If you’ve never happened across the mad genius of YouTuber LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER, you’ve seriously been missing out. His previous work includes the construction of a pushbike-mounted synth and a frankly disgusting guitar/fidget spinner/synthesiser hybrid.
His latest build is a synth with 100 oscillators. Because one, two or three just doesn’t cut it these days.
Ridiculousness of the build aside, this machine actually sounds pretty righteous. The tone compounds surprisingly well as each oscillator is powered up… I don’t even want to think about what went into tuning this beast.
Watch the video below: