Taking the pulse
There are many elements to be found lurking in the control section of a synthesiser that may alter the sound you hear. One such element is incredibly popular and very useful. You may well see the acronym PWM lurking somewhere near your oscillator section. This stands for pulse width modulation, and is predominantly linked to the square waveform. In essence, altering this control will narrow or widen the width of the pulse, which is what you would see on an oscilloscope if you altered PWM in real time. It can create a very reedy sound, which can add bite. It is also incredibly common to apply modulation from an LFO to create movement in the waveform.