KVR Audio

Ap0C552 · Post by **Ap0C552** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:11 am

Ok now the question I should have asked in the beginning. What is wavetable good at doing? Does it create any unique sounds? I know all about additive, subtractive, and FM synthesis, but nothing about wavetable. That is why I set out on this endeavor.

nix808 · Post by **nix808** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:21 am

You can do subtractive and FM synthesis w/-wavetables.
Hmm,
maybe the coolest thing about wavetables is cutting your own ones.
You are never really sure how they will sound until you load them up and filter them.
Perhaps one thing that defines wavetable from sampling is that wavetables are usually band-limited so there r no artifacts in the treble.

Ap0C552 · Post by **Ap0C552** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:56 am

maybe the coolest thing about wavetables is cutting your own ones.
You are never really sure how they will sound until you load them up and filter them.

See now I don't even know what you mean with this.

nix808 · Post by **nix808** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:06 am

it's very similar to sampling.
You cut a very short sample from a piece of audio in an audio editor, say 2048 samples long, which is 1/21 of a second.
This sample is then repeated when you press note-on on ur controller.
So they are just pitch adjusted samples(apart from band-limiting).
There are many different curves you can create with 2048 samples.
It's kind of granular, if u consider your sample a grain or particle.
This plays end on end for as long as you play your note.
So you can create ur own sounds with it, quite easily, by editing a piece of audio- a loop,hit or track

Teksonik · Post by **Teksonik** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:07 am

Lotuzia wrote: Simple +1 : My SQ-80 has transwaves

Don't you mean your VFX has Transwaves?

WIKI: The VFX employed 3 types of synthesis: Transwave Wavetable Synthesis, Sample playback and Subtractive Synthesis. The Transwaves gave the VFX a unique sound as the only other instruments (at the time) using wavetable synthesis were the PPG Wave machines.

ZenPunkHippy · Post by **ZenPunkHippy** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:17 am

What is wavetable good at doing?

A wave table contains multiple waves. Each individual wave in the wave table is like a single oscillator. If the position within the wavetable remains static (still) the timbre will be constant as if using a regular oscillator such as as square, saw or triangle.

The magic happens when the position within the wavetable is modulated by an LFO or envelope while notes are played.

Instead of a constant timbre from a single "oscillator" (wave), the timbre evolves as the wavetable position is updated. 2 or more oscillators sweeping through the same (or different!) wavetables at different rates opens up a new world of sound that is not really possible with a regular oscillator.

Peace,
Andy.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:31 am

Yeah, modulating the wavetable index position is where wavetable synthesis does its magic. It's completely different from anything else out there.

Ap0C552 · Post by **Ap0C552** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:21 am

The magic happens when the position within the wavetable is modulated by an LFO or envelope while notes are played.

Instead of a constant timbre from a single "oscillator" (wave), the timbre evolves as the wavetable position is updated. 2 or more oscillators sweeping through the same (or different!) wavetables at different rates opens up a new world of sound that is not really possible with a regular oscillator.

This is exactly what I want to try out and play with. Can you recommend synth for someone wanting to do just that? I tried out zebralette which has this feature. Are there any other good ones. I read about one called Kubik.

ZenPunkHippy · Post by **ZenPunkHippy** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:38 am

Sorry, I don't know much about free software wavetable synths. I'm sure someone else can help.

For commercial synths, PPG v3 from Waldorf is excellent ... really does a great job of capturing the vibe of the original hardware. NI Massive is another popular choice.

For more info about wavetable synthesis check out this SOS article about the Waldorf Microwave series ... plenty of useful info:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jan03/a ... vetips.asp

Peace,
Andy.

rj0 · Post by **rj0** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 4:24 am

ZenPunkHippy wrote:
What is wavetable good at doing?
A wave table contains multiple waves. Each individual wave in the wave table is like a single oscillator. If the position within the wavetable remains static (still) the timbre will be constant as if using a regular oscillator such as as square, saw or triangle.

The magic happens when the position within the wavetable is modulated by an LFO or envelope while notes are played.

Instead of a constant timbre from a single "oscillator" (wave), the timbre evolves as the wavetable position is updated. 2 or more oscillators sweeping through the same (or different!) wavetables at different rates opens up a new world of sound that is not really possible with a regular oscillator.

Peace,
Andy.

Agreed. That pretty much is the conclusion I've come to ("Each individual wave in the wave table is like a single oscillator."), the wavetable is indexed, with each index position pointing to a full oscillator wave, and that index can be modulated.

Which would pretty much seem to exclude Rapture. Sample-based waves, yes. Wave sequencing maybe, but not wavetable.

Differentiating wavetable from 'wave scanning' is where I struggle. I get the impression that wave scanning synths are not indexed at the "single oscillator" level, but rather at the 16/24bit PCM sample level (more like a pointer that can move forwards or backwards through a sampled wave, like the locator in your audio editor, rather than any kind of wave index through a table of waves).

Thoughts?

pdxindy · Post by **pdxindy** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:19 am

Ap0C552 wrote:Ok now the question I should have asked in the beginning. What is wavetable good at doing? Does it create any unique sounds? I know all about additive, subtractive, and FM synthesis, but nothing about wavetable. That is why I set out on this endeavor.

Here is an example using Zebra. This is a held note and using a step LFO to step through different waves in a single oscillator.

http://draigathar.org/sounds/Zebra6.mp3

Here is another Zebra example. 1 held note, 1 osc, a triangle lfo scanning through the waveforms

http://draigathar.org/sounds/Zebra4.mp3

Shabdahbriah · Post by **Shabdahbriah** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:56 am

Ap0C552 wrote:
maybe the coolest thing about wavetables is cutting your own ones.
You are never really sure how they will sound until you load them up and filter them.
See now I don't even know what you mean with this.

I'd been UP for a couple of days when I groggily did this, but it's the "basics"...

Click THIS: making wavetables 4 VAZ

Go down page about 1/3.

[2c]

ENV1 · Post by **ENV1** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:38 am

EDIT: Tip removed.

Seems like it is practically impossible to get anymore.

Too bad.

Shabdahbriah · Post by **Shabdahbriah** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:49 pm

ENV1 wrote:EDIT: Tip removed.

Seems like it is practically impossible to get anymore.

Too bad.

I was going to ask, but got distracted LOOKING for it.

It is "too bad", for sure.

deleted · Post by **deleted** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:02 am

DELETED

Am I confused about wavetable