Window Transform Function WTF Oscillator morphs waveforms in unique ways

10 Jul 2018 by Robin Vincent | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

Dove Audio WTF Oscillator · Source: Dove Audio

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New in on Kickstarter is the misleadingly named WTF Oscillator. WTF, in this case, stands for Window Transform Function and it’s a method of morphing between two waveforms that we’ve not seen before. Paula Maddox from Dove Audio (previously from Modal Electronics) has fashioned the technology into a Eurorack and Moog Unit module and are looking for pre-orders up to a goal of just over £15,000 to bring it to market.

WTF Oscillator

The name suggests that this is going to be a wild, punky module that’s sticking its middle finger up at regular oscillators when actually this is quite a sober and serious sounding piece of wave morphing oscillation. The idea behind Window Transform Function is that you have two waveforms, one in front and one behind separated by, let’s say a pane of glass. As you open a “window” between the two waveforms the one at the back replaces the one in the front. This has the effect of superimposing a sawtooth on top of a sine wave, or a complex wave on top of a triangle, and this creates all sorts of harmonics and interesting tones. It’s much easier to understand once you’ve seen the video.

Within the WTF Oscillator there are 32 waveforms plus noise and you can morph between any two. You have all the usual suspects plus some formants, metallic and distorted waves. You can select them manually or let CV do it for you. The noise is tunable so you can adjust the frequency and you can also invert the rear waveform to produce a whole new load of tones. It has a neat PWM facility where if you use a DC level as the rear waveform it can apply a PWM type result to whatever waveform you want to use. Finally, there’s a Dual Window mode where you open two windows are once effecting two points on the waveform.

I’m really taken with the simplicity of the module – two waveforms, morphing in a sonically interesting wave with lots of room for modulation and sound crafting. If you’re quick you could snag yourself an early bird Eurorack WTF for £285 otherwise it’s £325 or you can pay a bit more for some customisation. The MU version will cost £425. They are hoping to deliver in October.