Web/API/OscillatorNode/type

The type property of the OscillatorNode interface specifies what shape of waveform the oscillator will output. There are several common waveforms available, as well as an option to specify a custom waveform shape. The shape of the waveform will affect the tone that is produced.

Syntax

OscillatorNode.type = type;

Value

A DOMString specifying the shape of oscillator wave. The different available values are:

sine: A sine wave. This is the default value.
square: A square wave with a duty cycle of 0.5; that is, the signal is "high" for half of each period.
sawtooth: A sawtooth wave.
triangle: A triangle wave.
custom: A custom waveform. You never set type to custom manually; instead, use the setPeriodicWave() method to provide the data representing the waveform. Doing so automatically sets the type to custom.

Exceptions

InvalidStateError: The value custom was specified. To set a custom waveform, just call setPeriodicWave(). Doing so automatically sets the type for you.

Example

The following example shows basic usage of an AudioContext to create an oscillator node. For an applied example, check out our [[../../../../../../../mdn.github.io/violent-theremin/index|Violent Theremin demo]] (see app.js for relevant code).

// create web audio api context
var audioCtx = new (window.AudioContext || window.webkitAudioContext)();

// create Oscillator node
var oscillator = audioCtx.createOscillator();

oscillator.type = 'square';
oscillator.frequency.setValueAtTime(440, audioCtx.currentTime); // value in hertz
oscillator.start();

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Web Audio APIThe definition of 'type' in that specification.	Working Draft

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`type`	Chrome Full support 14	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 25	IE No support No	Opera Full support 15	Safari Full support 6	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 26	Opera Android Full support 14	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support