Tides' entire function set reduces to one principle: voltage goes up (flow), then comes back down (ebb)

The Mutable Instruments Tides module is built around a single underlying concept: flow (voltage rises) and ebb (voltage returns to its initial level). All of Tides’ functions — envelopes, LFOs, VCOs — are variations on this single theme. Make ebb and flow cyclic and you have an LFO or VCO. Do it once in response to a trigger and you have an attack/decay or attack-sustain-release envelope. Understanding that all function-generator behavior is a variation of one rise-and-fall pattern makes Tides’ controls predictable across all operating modes.

Examples

In LFO mode (cyclic): voltage continuously rises and falls. In AD envelope mode (one-shot): voltage rises on trigger, then falls. The same controls (FREQUENCY, SLOPE) have the same meaning in both cases.

Assessment

Given the ebb-and-flow framing, explain what distinguishes Tides’ LFO mode from its AD envelope mode in terms of the ebb-flow pattern.