Audio Sources

OSC-1 can drive its XY display from many different audio sources. Audio source selection lives in Settings → Audio in every mode. The tab opens on the current source, including its stereo levels and correlation. Click CHANGE to open the source chooser, then choose one focused setup screen. The left Sources panel stays focused on generators, imported shapes, performance tools, video, and laser output.

Tab / System Audio — No Setup

To visualize YouTube, Spotify Web Player, SoundCloud, or another browser source:

1. Play music in another Chrome or Edge tab.
2. Open Settings → Audio and click CHANGE.
3. Choose TAB / SYSTEM AUDIO, then click SHARE TAB AUDIO.
4. Choose the tab that is playing music.
5. Keep Also share tab audio enabled, then click Share.

The current-source card changes to TAB AUDIO · LIVE, and the L/R meters confirm that both channels are arriving. Music keeps playing from the shared tab; OSC-1 analyzes it without playing a delayed second copy through its own speakers. Muting OSC-1 speaker output does not stop the visualization. Stop from OSC-1 or the browser's own sharing bar. If you share a window or screen without audio, OSC-1 explains how to choose the tab instead.

Track Library

Choose Settings → Audio → CHANGE → DEMO TRACK to open the built-in Track Library. It contains curated stereo audio where the left channel drives X and the right channel drives Y, organized into four groups:

• Test Tones — calibration and reference signals
• Demos — showcase content
• Shapes — geometric XY figures
• Oscilloscope Music — music composed for XY display

Open the dropdown, pick a track, and it loads immediately. The bundled tracks are 96 kHz — higher sample rates produce sharper Lissajous figures because they capture more of the high-frequency XY detail. See Why your oscilloscope image is blurry for the 44.1 to 192 kHz ladder on real text.

Where to Get More Oscilloscope Music

The built-in library is a starting point. For a deeper catalog, load your own files via File Import below — here's where to find them:

• oscilloscopemusic.com — the genre's home base, run by Jerobeam Fenderson and Hansi Raber. Download full tracks as uncompressed audio to play through OSC-1 or a real oscilloscope.
• Oscilloscope Music catalog — browse Oscilloscope Music, N-Spheres, and other releases with audiovisual previews and uncompressed audio downloads.
• Oscilloscope Music — Remixes — a compilation of other artists working in the genre (Ivo Francx, Sophiaaaahjkl;8901, Re-lay, Jesus Raves, Opcion, and more), a good next stop once you've heard the originals.

File Import

Drag any audio file onto the OSC-1 window, or choose Settings → Audio → CHANGE → AUDIO FILE and click LOAD AUDIO FILE.

Supported formats: WAV, FLAC, MP3, OGG, M4A, AAC

Best results from:

• WAV/FLAC at 96kHz or 192kHz (oscilloscope music masters)
• Properly recorded stereo XY files (left = X, right = Y)
• Clean electronic music with sharp transients

Stereo pop/rock/hip-hop will display as reactive Lissajous patterns (interesting, but not oscilloscope-music optimized). Any audio works — the result depends on your source material.

Standard uncompressed PCM WAV files retain their original sample rate for playback and the XY display, including 96kHz and 192kHz masters. Full-length tracks can take more memory than their file size suggests. If a file exceeds the available import limit, OSC-1 explains the problem instead of replacing the current source.

If a WAV file is incomplete, its audio header is invalid, or its sample rate is unsupported by your browser, OSC-1 leaves the current source in place and reports that the file could not be loaded. Stop any active recording before loading a track with a different sample rate.

Live Microphone / Audio Interface

Open Settings → Audio → CHANGE → MICROPHONE, choose a device, and click START LIVE INPUT to switch to real-time capture from your computer's microphone or audio interface. Choose VIRTUAL AUDIO DEVICE instead when routing a DAW or mixer through BlackHole, Loopback, or another virtual input. When a generator is active, BLEND INPUT mixes that live input additively instead of replacing the generator.

For best live results:

• Use a low-latency audio interface at 96kHz or higher
• Route instrument or synthesizer output directly (not through speakers → mic)
• Select your audio device in the browser's permission dialog — make sure the interface is selected, not the built-in mic

On macOS, grant Chrome microphone access in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone.

Signal Generators (Creator Mode)

Five mathematically-defined XY generators, available in Mode 2 and above:

Oscillator Generator

The simplest generator — a raw stereo oscillator:

• Waveform — SINE or SQUARE
• Frequency — 20 to 2000 Hz
• Phase Offset — independent X (Left) and Y (Right) phase, 0–360°
• Shape presets — CIRCLE (90° phase difference), LINE (0°, diagonal), ELLIPSE (45°)

Lissajous Generator

Generates classic Lissajous figures from ratio controls:

• Freq X / Freq Y (1–8) — integer ratios create closed figures; the live Ratio readout shows the reduced ratio (3:2 is a fifth)
• Phase X / Phase Y — rotate the figure
• Amp X / Amp Y — scale X and Y independently
• Speed — how fast the figure is drawn
• PRESET — classic ratios in one click

Where the ratios come from, musically: Where oscilloscope music's chords come from.

Spirograph Generator

Generates hypotrochoid/epitrochoid spirograph patterns using the classic two-circle analogy. Adjust the outer/inner radius ratio and tracing arm length.

Fractal Generator

Build connected XY fractals with six L-system presets: Koch Snowflake, Dragon Curve, Hilbert Curve, Sierpinski Arrowhead, Fractal Plant, and Gosper Curve.

• Detail — chooses how many times the production rules repeat
• Frequency — sets how many times per second the completed path is drawn
• Angle, Size, and Rotation — shape and frame the result
• Loop Return — retrace the path in reverse or close it with one direct line
• System — edit the axiom, two production rules, and the letters that draw visible segments

Detail, Frequency, Angle, Size, and Rotation each include MIDI Learn and OSC Learn assignment buttons when those buttons are enabled in Settings.

Very detailed systems can contain more points than the selected frequency can draw cleanly. When that happens, OSC-1 automatically simplifies the path and shows an APPROXIMATION ACTIVE notice with the source and output point counts.

Expression Generator

Enter custom mathematical expressions for X and Y as functions of time t:

• X = sin(2*t), Y = cos(3*t) → Lissajous figure
• X = t*cos(t), Y = t*sin(t) → spiral

Expressions use a safe math language, not full JavaScript. Available: the variables t, n, a, b, constants PI and E, standard math functions (sin, cos, tan, abs, sqrt, pow, exp, log, floor, ceil, round, min, max, and friends), waveform helpers (saw, triangle, square, pulse, noise), and utilities (clamp, lerp, smoothstep, mod, fract). Anything outside this whitelist is rejected.

Use this to create exact geometric patterns that pure audio can't produce.

Viktor NV-1 Synthesizer (Creator Mode)

The built-in synthesizer generates XY audio in real-time. Play it with the virtual keyboard, a MIDI controller, or the step sequencer.

See Viktor NV-1 Synthesizer for a complete guide.

Virtual Keyboard (Creator Mode)

A polyphonic QWERTY keyboard mapped to two octaves of musical notes:

• Lower octave (from C3): Z X C V B N M — white keys; S D G H J — black keys
• Upper octave (from C4): Q W E R T Y U — white keys; 2 3 5 6 7 — black keys
• Extended upper range (from C5): I O P — white keys; 9 0 — black keys

You can also click keys with the mouse, and drag across keys to trigger a run of notes.

The keyboard plays the active synthesizer preset. For best XY visuals, use chords — the harmonic content creates complex Lissajous interference patterns.

Video Source (Creator Mode)

Convert webcam or screen capture to XY vector output in real-time. See Video Source for the full guide.