XY Scope — Draw Shapes With Two Waveforms (Lissajous Figures)
A scope plots one signal on X and another on Y. Pick a waveform for each axis, set their frequency ratio and phase, and watch the figure appear — then use the common shapes below to build the same figures in a synth.
X axis (left channel)
Y axis (right channel)
Common shapes — click to load
What is a Lissajous figure?
It is the curve two oscillations trace when one drives the horizontal axis and the other the vertical. When their frequencies form a simple ratio the curve closes into a stable shape — 1:1 is a circle or a line, 1:2 a figure-8, higher whole-number ratios give roses and stars; phase sets how open or rotated it is. On an XY oscilloscope the left channel drives X and the right drives Y, so a stereo signal is a Lissajous figure.
Build these in the BKS Harmonic Synthesizer — the additive synth these recipes target.
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