Ring Modulator

Multiplies two audio signals together, producing the metallic, clangorous, bell-like tones that ring modulation is famous for. Feed it two oscillators and you get inharmonic sidebands no filter can make — the sound of robot voices, dissonant gongs, and classic sci-fi textures.

How it works

The output is simply one input times the other, sample by sample. Multiplying two tones generates new frequencies at their sum and difference rather than the originals, so the result rarely sits on a tidy harmonic series — that's where the clang comes from. When the two pitches are close you get slow tremolo and beating; push them apart and it turns harsh and inharmonic.

Inputs & outputs

• A and B — the two signals to multiply; their order doesn't matter. Patch audio for classic ring mod, or send slow CV into one to use the other as a voltage-controlled amplitude.
• Out — the product of A and B, clamped to a safe range.

Tips

• Hard-sync or detune the two sources for ever-shifting inharmonic spectra; tune them to a wide interval for aggressive, bell-metal timbres.
• Send a sine into B and an audio signal into A for the cleanest, most controllable ring-mod character — complex waveforms muddy the sidebands.