This Is Why Wave Shaping on the Korg Multi‑Poly Is So Powerful

🎛️ Wave Shaping on the Korg Multi-Poly: Full In‑Depth Tutorial
In this extended deep dive, I walk through wave shaping on the Korg Multi‑Poly, exploring how simple waveforms can be folded, pushed, and transformed into harmonically rich tones. After a shorter version of this video got requests for “a longer one,” here it is — a full walkthrough of every major wave shaper type, how they behave, and how to use modulation to bring them to life.
Whether you're into FM‑style tones, additive organ patches, string machines, or electric piano textures, this tutorial shows how far the Multi‑Poly’s wave shaper can go.

✅ What You’ll Learn
• What wave shaping is and how it differs from FM
• How sine, triangle, and pulse‑based shaping affect harmonics
• Using gain, offset, and pulse width to sculpt new timbres
• Exploring the full set of wave shaper types:
• Sine, Triangle, Pulse
• Pickup & Pickup 2
• Tash waveforms
• Additive organ‑style waves
• FM‑like DG and Multi‑Try shapes
• Tube & Diode clipping
• Fuzzy and wavetable‑style
• How to apply envelopes, LFOs, and velocity to shape movement
• Building patches from scratch, including:
• Analog‑style piano
• Chorus organ
• FM bass
• String machine / ensemble
• DX‑style electric piano tones

🧪 Why Wave Shaping Is So Powerful
Wave shaping lets you start with a simple waveform and push it into new harmonic territory — from soft, rounded tones to aggressive FM‑like textures. It’s a flexible alternative to subtractive synthesis and opens up sound‑design possibilities you won’t get from a standard analog oscillator.

⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
00:29 – What is wave shaping?
01:00 – Comparing subtractive vs wave shaping
02:00 – Basic sine shaping
03:00 – Gain, offset & pulse width
04:20 – Triangle & sine combinations
05:30 – FM‑like shaping (Sign 2, Sign 4)
06:10 – Pickup waveforms
07:00 – Tash waveforms
08:00 – Additive organ‑style shaping
09:30 – Octave & Multi‑Try FM shapes
10:30 – DG FM algorithms
11:00 – Tube & diode clipping
12:00 – Fuzzy & wavetable‑style shapes
13:30 – Korg 01/W‑style waves
14:00 – Patch examples (Analog Piano, Chorus Organ, FM Bass)
16:00 – String machine & ensemble
18:00 – Modulating gain with envelopes
20:00 – Velocity‑based shaping
22:00 – Building FM‑style EP patches
25:00 – Layering oscillators
26:00 – Final thoughts & recommendations

📬 Stay Connected
If you enjoy deep‑dive synth tutorials, let me know what you’d like covered next.
👍 Like & Subscribe
📰 Join the newsletter at TheDigitalLifestyle.com