A geometrical waveform, typically generated by an oscillator, resembling a series of ramps. Sawtooth waves sound the same whether they rise left to right or fall left to right or a are series of alternating patterns (where the wave is sometimes called a ramp wave.) The sawtooth waveform contains all possible harmonics, both odd and even, giving a powerful and brassy timbre. The magnitude of each harmonic is the reciprocal of its number in the series, e.g., the fifth harmonic is 1/5 the amplitude of the first.
See Appendix C.