Binary-coded decimal. Each digit encoded in four bits. Each bit a state. Each state a waveform. Each waveform a meditation on the boundary between the continuous and the discrete.
PURE SINE
The fundamental frequency. A single oscillation, pure and unadorned. In binary-coded decimal, the first bit carries the weight of one. This sine wave breathes at the rate of the simplest question: on or off, one or zero, present or absent.
BINARY SQUARE
The square wave: binary in its purest visual form. High or low. True or false. The second bit position carries a weight of two, doubling the resolution of what can be expressed.
HARMONIC OVERLAY
Three frequencies superimposed: fundamental, second, and third harmonic. The interference creates patterns of constructive and destructive beauty. Three in BCD is 0011, the first number requiring multiple bits.
SAWTOOTH RAMP
The sawtooth: a relentless climb followed by an instantaneous reset. Like counting in binary, each ramp accumulates value until the register overflows. The four-bit carries the weight of four.
PULSE WIDTH
Pulse width modulation: the square wave made expressive. The duty cycle shifts with your cursor position. Five in BCD is 0101, a palindrome in bits, perfectly balanced between presence and absence.
LISSAJOUS
The Lissajous curve: two perpendicular sine waves traced simultaneously, their frequency ratio of 3:2 producing a figure that slowly rotates over 45 seconds. Six in BCD is 0110, the inner bits active, the outer bits silent.
NOISE + COMPOSITE
Seven: 0111. Three bits high, one silent. The noise wave overlaid on the ghosts of all previous waveforms. The composite: the sum of all patterns, the residue of all encodings. The penultimate breath before the next order of magnitude.