561345_original-9+18-27

Another experiment with digital clipping.

This time I was trying to recreate the kind of waveshape that can be obtained with a multi-fold wave-folder.
A wave-folder is a type of wave-shaping. This kind of effect was initially common as a component of some modular synths. No, of course, also exists in virtual format (VST, etc), either as a separate effect or as part of synths.
In wave-folding, once a wave reaches 0dB volume (or some other set limit), it is 'reflected'. In theory, if the input volume is loud enough, multiple folds can occur, where the wave hits the upper limit and is reflected down but part of the wave extends so far down that hits the low limit and is reflected up again.

I started from this sound:
https://freesound.org/people/SamsterBirdies/sounds/561345/

Created and saved several versions of the sound in Audacity where I boosted the volume to clipping. The volumes were +9dB, +18dB and +27dB. ( I initially tried smaller boosts, but the effect was not noticeable enough. You need to be brutal...)

The I re-loaded the sounds and the original sound into Audacity. I inverted the polarity of the +9dB and the +27dB and mixed all the sounds into a new track to produce this sound.
The waveform is not what I expected and I concluded that starting with a pure sine wound be a better test. to determine if this method could indeed produce the kind of wave shape distortion known as wave-folding.