Everything is Lowpassed Saw Waves!

Lowpassed saw waves make up a large majority of popular synthesizer sounds. Saw waves are rich and full-sounding, lowpass filters sound nice when processing a saw wave, especially with modulation, so it makes sense we hear this so often:

• Old-school dubstep wobble basses were little more than two slightly detuned saw waves through a lowpass filter with an LFO modulating cutoff.

• The classic Moog bass is two saw oscillators with a square oscillator an octave below processed by a lowpass with moderate resonance with cutoff modulated by a decay-only envelope.

• The 303 acid bass is a saw wave processed with a high-resonance lowpass, with a decay envelope controlling cutoff, often with distortion after.

• Many pads are simply chords of saw waves run into a lowpass filter.

• Simple arpeggios often use saw waves into decay-modulated lowpass filters.

• A resonant lowpass filter modulated by a slow decay EG processing a saw wave is a common ‘synth fx’ sound.

• Future bass chords use massive chords of supersaws (7 detuned saw waves) with sidechained lowpass filtering.

• Hardstyle leads use lightly lowpassed supersaws with distortion and reverb.

• Trance chords use chords of saw waves with decay EGs controlling lowpass cutoff.

• Future bass chords use supersaws into a lowpass

• Synth plucks use a full-sounding saw into a decay-modulated lowpass

• Electronic Piano can be made by lowpassing saws, and using an LFO to modulate cutoff

• Electronic Basses are similar, just played lower and use more resonance on the filter

• Searing leads are often make using supersaws with vibrato

I think you get the idea. Play around with lowpasses and saw waves and you’ll find a slew of classic, common, simple sounds used everywhere!