Harmonic partial sweep

The Harmonic Mutant isolates one partial at a time; an LFO walks Depth so the tone climbs the overtone series.

Why it works

Harmonic mode treats the waveform as a stack of sine partials and lets you emphasize one band at a time. Moving Depth is like sliding a magnifying glass along the harmonic series.

Routing LFO 1 to Mutant Depth makes the sweep cyclic — great for pads and drones that need motion without changing pitch.

On the Hydrasynth Deluxe

1.
Press [INIT] twice. [OSC 1]: Saw or any full harmonic source.
Manual p. 20, 43
2.
Press [MUTANT 1], choose Harmonic. Set Depth around 24 and Dry/Wet 100%.
Manual p. 48
3.
Hold [LFO 1] and press [MUTANT 1]; choose Depth as the destination.
Manual p. 41, 92
4.
Press [LFO 1]: Triangle wave, Rate under 0.2 Hz for a slow scan.
Manual p. 63
5.
Press [ENV 2]: longer Attack and Release if you want a pad envelope.
Manual p. 59

You should hear…

A static chord whose brightness ripples as different overtones take turns in front — ghostly and organ-like.

Variations

Use ENV 1 instead of LFO 1 for a one-shot spectral swell per note.
Stack OSC 2 an octave up with its own Harmonic Mutant for shimmer.
On the hardware, try PhazDiff mode for phase-shift colour instead (p. 49).

Questions

Harmonic vs a filter sweep?: A filter removes energy above a cutoff. Harmonic mode reshapes which partials are present while keeping the pitch fixed — the timbre changes without simply getting darker or brighter.
Does the playground model Harmonic exactly?: It is a teaching approximation of partial emphasis, not a circuit-accurate clone of ASM’s Harmonic Mutant.

Why it works

Harmonic mode treats the waveform as a stack of sine partials and lets you emphasize one band at a time. Moving Depth is like sliding a magnifying glass along the harmonic series.

Routing LFO 1 to Mutant Depth makes the sweep cyclic — great for pads and drones that need motion without changing pitch.

On the Hydrasynth Deluxe

Press [INIT] twice. [OSC 1]: Saw or any full harmonic source.

Manual p. 20, 43

Press [MUTANT 1], choose Harmonic. Set Depth around 24 and Dry/Wet 100%.

Manual p. 48

Hold [LFO 1] and press [MUTANT 1]; choose Depth as the destination.

Manual p. 41, 92

Press [LFO 1]: Triangle wave, Rate under 0.2 Hz for a slow scan.

Manual p. 63

Press [ENV 2]: longer Attack and Release if you want a pad envelope.

Manual p. 59

Questions

Harmonic vs a filter sweep?

A filter removes energy above a cutoff. Harmonic mode reshapes which partials are present while keeping the pitch fixed — the timbre changes without simply getting darker or brighter.

Does the playground model Harmonic exactly?

It is a teaching approximation of partial emphasis, not a circuit-accurate clone of ASM’s Harmonic Mutant.