WaveShaperNode

The WaveShaperNode interface represents a non-linear distorter. It is an AudioNode that uses a curve to apply a wave shaping distortion to the signal. Beside obvious distortion effects, it is often used to add a warm feeling to the signal.

A WaveShaperNode always has exactly one input and one output.

Number of inputs 1
Number of outputs 1
Channel count mode "max"
Channel count 2 (not used in the default count mode)
Channel interpretation "speakers"

Properties

Inherits properties from its parent, AudioNode.

WaveShaperNode.curve
Is a Float32Array of numbers describing the distortion to apply.
WaveShaperNode.oversample
Is an enumerated value indicating if oversampling must be used. Oversampling is a technique for creating more samples (up-sampling) before applying the distortion effect to the audio signal.

Methods

No specific method; inherits methods from its parent, AudioNode.

Example

The following example shows basic usage of an AudioContext to create a wave shaper node. For applied examples/information, check out our Voice-change-O-matic demo (see app.js for relevant code).

Note: Distortion curves are not the easiest thing to work out, and you will probably need to look around to find such algorithms. We found the below distortion curve code on Stack Overflow.

JavaScript
var audioCtx = new (window.AudioContext || window.webkitAudioContext)();
var distortion = audioCtx.createWaveShaper();

  ...

function makeDistortionCurve(amount) {
  var k = typeof amount === 'number' ? amount : 50,
    n_samples = 44100,
    curve = new Float32Array(n_samples),
    deg = Math.PI / 180,
    i = 0,
    x;
  for ( ; i < n_samples; ++i ) {
    x = i * 2 / n_samples - 1;
    curve[i] = ( 3 + k ) * x * 20 * deg / ( Math.PI + k * Math.abs(x) );
  }
  return curve;
};

  ...

distortion.curve = makeDistortionCurve(400);
distortion.oversample = '4x';

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
Web Audio API
The definition of 'WaveShaperNode' in that specification.
Working Draft  

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari (WebKit)
Basic support 10.0webkit 25.0 (25.0)  Not supported 15.0webkit
22 (unprefixed)
6.0webkit
oversample ? 26.0 (26.0) Not supported ? ?
Feature Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) Firefox OS IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile Chrome for Android
Basic support ? 26.0 (26.0) 1.2 Not supported ? ? 33.0
oversample ? 26.0 (26.0) 1.2 Not supported ? ? ?

See also

License

© 2016 Mozilla Contributors
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-us/docs/web/api/waveshapernode

API Interface Reference WaveShaperNode Web Audio API