SonicSenses Lab
Frequency and oscillator demo
A single oscillator, one frequency at a time. Move the slider to hear pitch change, and switch waveform to hear how added harmonics change the character at the same pitch.
Frequency and oscillator demo: how this works, in words
- What it does
- Runs one oscillator at a frequency you set, and lets you swap its waveform without changing the note.
- What it accepts
- No input of your own. The tone is generated on this page by your browser's audio engine.
- What you control
- A frequency slider in hertz, a waveform selector (sine, triangle, sawtooth, square), play and stop, and a Level slider.
- What changes
- Audio only. Raising the frequency raises the pitch you hear; changing waveform keeps the same pitch but adds harmonics, so the tone gets brighter or buzzier. The current frequency is printed as text next to the slider.
- What it illustrates
- The difference between frequency (cycles per second, a physical measurement) and timbre (the mix of harmonics that makes two sounds at the same pitch sound different).
- What it does not claim
- It does not measure your hearing and it makes no claim that any particular frequency produces a physical or emotional effect. What you hear also depends on your headphones or speakers, which are rarely flat.
- Keyboard and screen readers
- The frequency and level sliders are native range inputs adjustable with the arrow keys, the waveform choice is a labelled control group, and the current frequency in hertz is announced as text in a polite live region rather than shown only on a graph.
440 Hz
Very low and very high settings can be inaudible on small speakers while still producing real output. Keep the level low, especially above about 4 kHz.
Pitch perception is not linear: doubling the frequency raises the tone by one octave, so the step from 100 to 200 Hz sounds like the same distance as 1,000 to 2,000 Hz. High frequencies also get harder to hear with age, which is normal.
Every Lab demo is generated by your own browser and stops when you leave the page. Start quiet, raise slowly, and see our listening safety guidance. Nothing here is medical advice or a treatment.