27. Combiners
Most synthesis systems provide a means to combine, or mix together, several or even many signal sources. While there is not a generally agreed upon name, modules of this sort are often known as combiners, or mixers. Combiners frequently have a means for the user to control the relative levels of the assorted signals that will be combined.
![Sine, Triangle, Square wave combined and output through a speaker.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/bg.png)
![Sine wave.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/sineWave.png)
![Blue sine wave.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/sineWaveBlue.png)
![Triangle wave](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/triWave.png)
![Blue triangle wave](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/triWaveBlue.png)
![Square wave.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/squareWave.png)
![Blue square wave.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/squareWaveBlue.png)
![Sound wave representation.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/soundWaveLow.png)
![Sound wave representation.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/soundWaveMid.png)
![Sound wave representation.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/soundWaveHigh.png)
![Arrow.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/arrow.png)
![Arrow.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/arrow.png)
![Arrow.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/arrow.png)
![Arrow.](animationFiles/nonFlash/27_1/images/arrow.png)
Example 27-1: A combiner (mixer) will accept multiple signals and combine them into one output signal.
The output of an oscillator can also be combined with the output of a digital recording.
Example 27-2: A combiner (mixer) will accept multiple signals and combine them into one output signal.
There is no rule defining how many signal sources a combiner will accept. Some systems permit only two or three, while others have combiner modules that can handle a virtually unlimited number of inputs.