Waveshapers

This is a bit of basic Synthesis... I'm writing this for a friend who is starting his journey.

All about wavefolders, wave multipliers, transfer functions etc etc.

You will see wave shapers in a lot of "west Coast" synths. Serge & Don Buchla used them extensively.

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The Serge TWS and WM are classic waveshaping modules.

Wave shaping is one of the fundamental parts of oscillator designs as well as being one way to achieve distortion and design new waveforms from existing waveforms. When building a oscillator core, often waveshapers are used to derive additional waveforms from a single saw or triangle core.
+ Oscillator cores & Exponential Converters

The timbre circuit from the Buchla 259 is another example of the early use of waveshapers.

I understand that Don's Harmonic Oscillator from the Buchla 100 series used waveshapers to add harmonics to the core oscillator. 

 There are lots of modern manufacturers of waveshaping modules in many formats.

Basically waveshapers map the input and the output of the waveform. They then apply a mathematical equation to that waveform (commonly known as the “shaping or transfer function”) that alters it's final shape.

If the original input signal is called x and the new output signal  is called y.
This function is called the transfer function.
y = f(x)

This is a really simple function but the basic idea is the same no matter how complicated things get.
 
The transfer function can be done either the old fashioned analog way with op-amps, diodes, etc or digitally where "look up tables" are implemented.

Don Buchla used both digital & analog waveshapers.
His Touche from 1978 had digital waveshaping. It had 16 digital oscillators that could be combined into eight voices.

Grant Richter used waveshapers in his Anti-osc & the Mega wave
The Malekko/Wiard Anti-osc is a triangle-core oscillator with voltage-controllable waveshaping.

The Megawave can be used as an audio wave shaper

To be continued ............