Arturia KORG MS-20 V User Manual page 118

Second, the Detune setting (on the MS-20, Pitch) allows you to tune the oscillator
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more precisely, from tiny amounts to intervals like a fourth or fifth.
The waveform, which determines the harmonic richness of the audio signal. On
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KORG MS-20 V, three waveforms are available:
The sawtooth presents the richest audio signal of the 4 waveforms (it contains all
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of the harmonics at decreasing volume levels in higher frequencies). Its sound is
ideal for brass sounds, percussive bass sounds, or rich accompaniments. In the
case of KORG MS-20 V, a sawtooth wave is available on both VCOs and the MG.
The pulse possesses a hollower sound than the sawtooth (it only contains odd
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harmonics). Nonetheless, its rich sound (notably at lower frequencies) can be
used for bass sounds that will come out well in the mix (the pulse oscillator is
often set an octave below that of the sawtooth), 'woody' sounds (like a clarinet, if
the square signal is filtered), etc.
A square wave is a special kind of pulse wave, where the voltage is 'high' half the
time and 'low' half the time.
Shape and harmonic content of a square wave (a pulse wave with 50% pulse width)
Pulse Width (PW), also called the duty cycle , refers to how much of its cycle
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a pulse wave spends 'up' vs. how much it spends 'down'. A square wave has
a pulse width of 50%. Changing the pulse width causes a change in harmonic
content to make the sound "thinner".
Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) changes the pulse width over time, causing a
sweeping change in harmonic content. The change can be controlled with an
envelope to have it happen once per note, or an LFO to have it happen in a
repeating cycle.
On KORG MS-20 V, a pulse wave is available on both VCOs and the MG, but VCO1
has only two fixed pulse widths available, while the MG's pulse width is variable
and VC)1's pulse width has PWM.
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Shape and harmonic content of a sawtooth wave
Arturia - User Manual KORG MS-20 V - The Basics of Subtractive Synthesis