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Curve
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About This Tool
What is a Lissajous curve?
The path traced when two independent oscillations drive the X and Y axes of a display at the same time — the classic form is x = A·sin(a·t + δ), y = B·sin(b·t), where the ratio of a to b sets the shape. When that ratio is simple (1:1, 2:3, 3:4...) the curve closes into a repeating loop; slightly off it, the shape slowly rotates and never quite repeats — which is what the auto-drift option here does on purpose.
How is this different from a regular oscilloscope?
A normal scope plots amplitude against time. This simulator runs in XY mode instead — plotting one signal's amplitude directly against another's, tracing the shape of their relationship rather than a waveform. Two identical signals draw a straight diagonal line; any frequency or phase difference opens that line into a loop.
What does Live Audio mode show?
It's a real-time microphone visualizer built on the browser's Web Audio API: your mic's left channel drives X, and the right channel drives Y after passing through whichever waveform is selected for Y above (Sine leaves it untouched). Most laptop mics are mono, so with Sine selected you'll see a straight diagonal line — that's correct, both channels are identical. Switching Y to Square, Triangle, or a Custom drawn shape runs that mono signal through a real waveshaping curve, opening the diagonal into an actual figure even without stereo input; a true stereo source will draw the real shape of its stereo field regardless of waveform.
Where else does this show up on the site?
The Resonance Console's own XY Oscilloscope uses the same underlying idea, tapping each sound layer's real stereo output instead of a single math curve or the mic. Anubis draws its own gold wireframe Lissajous visual the same way, and Healing Edition's bowl mandala traces a live stereo Lissajous curve from its own analysers too. Aura takes a different route to the same shape: each axis sums several sine harmonics of a shared parameter, with the harmonics' amplitudes driven live by audio frequency-band analysis instead of two channels plotted directly against each other.