What is the appeal of using wavetables?

[ghostwhistler]

I just get lost in trying to choose one I like. They all tend to sound a bit samey though. Am i missing out?

[chk071]

I just get lost in trying to choose one I like. They all tend to sound a bit samey though.

They don't sound "a bit samey" though.

Unless sawtooths, square waves, triangle waves, or sine waves also sound a bit samey to you.

[Unaspected]

Easily being able to use arbitrary and highly complex waveshapes; such as those of real world sampled sounds - or in recycling of synthetic sounds for further processing: Cross pollination of sounds between different synths; Loading waveforms or even output of one synth into another for further processing or convenience.

[zerocrossing]

I just get lost in trying to choose one I like. They all tend to sound a bit samey though. Am i missing out?

What instruments are you using?

[ghostwhistler]

I just get lost in trying to choose one I like. They all tend to sound a bit samey though. Am i missing out?

What instruments are you using?

Currently? None. I tend to favour emulations. So i mainly use Repro and some arturia stuff.

I have used Pigments (which i'd like to reacquire) and Hive. I also have Vital which is awesome and free and awesome.

My issue is that they all tend to have a 'glassy' quality to them. I enjoy their use in songs like Kiew Mission by Tangerine Dream. That plus I dont' like having to 'audition' tons of wavetables to get the sounds I want. I'm sure familiarity will make that process easier and experienced wavetablers just make sounds very quickly. I never got that far. FM is a bit like that too.

[NAD]

I suggest you try going through the presets and switching out the wavetable with one of the classic oscillator shapes. In some cases it may not make a huge a difference but in many cases it will sound significantly different. This should give you some insight into what made the sound designer choose that particular wavetable.

[melomood]

I like the option of going beyond the usual oscillator shapes,but if it's not working for you,maybe it's just not for you. It's not exactly an 'always go to' for me either

[zerocrossing]

I just get lost in trying to choose one I like. They all tend to sound a bit samey though. Am i missing out?

What instruments are you using?

Currently? None. I tend to favour emulations. So i mainly use Repro and some arturia stuff.

I have used Pigments (which i'd like to reacquire) and Hive. I also have Vital which is awesome and free and awesome.

My issue is that they all tend to have a 'glassy' quality to them. I enjoy their use in songs like Kiew Mission by Tangerine Dream. That plus I dont' like having to 'audition' tons of wavetables to get the sounds I want. I'm sure familiarity will make that process easier and experienced wavetablers just make sounds very quickly. I never got that far. FM is a bit like that too.

I suggest you try an approach where you treat a wavetable synth like you would an analog. Use only one wavetable, even on all the available oscillators, for a week or so. Make as many presets as possible. Then move to the next. Get to know them.

[Unaspected]

I just get lost in trying to choose one I like. They all tend to sound a bit samey though. Am i missing out?

What instruments are you using?

Currently? None. I tend to favour emulations. So i mainly use Repro and some arturia stuff.

I have used Pigments (which i'd like to reacquire) and Hive. I also have Vital which is awesome and free and awesome.

My issue is that they all tend to have a 'glassy' quality to them. I enjoy their use in songs like Kiew Mission by Tangerine Dream. That plus I dont' like having to 'audition' tons of wavetables to get the sounds I want. I'm sure familiarity will make that process easier and experienced wavetablers just make sounds very quickly. I never got that far. FM is a bit like that too.

I suggest you try an approach where you treat a wavetable synth like you would an analog. Use only one wavetable, even on all the available oscillators, for a week or so. Make as many presets as possible. Then move to the next. Get to know them.

This is a good suggestion.

Or, as wavetable synths sold under this feature tend to provide so many wavetables, a patch per wavetable.

Another way to work with them is to use your classic waveforms for the basis of the sound and then use a more complex waveform to add variation in some manner - like a sweetener on the top end.

[ghostwhistler]

What I did was cycle through the wavetable to get a feel of how it would sound modulated. But given there are hundreds of tables that come with these synths that got pretty tiresome.

[HOTF]

The appeal is to to modulate wavetable position so you can easily change the timbre of the sound, make it evolve, etc.

[YoddYarmonics]

wavetables are genius. you get to play with transformed, morphed and distorted sound BEFORE being able to hit those processed again