{"id":90829,"date":"2022-11-24T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-24T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=90829"},"modified":"2022-12-09T10:15:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T10:15:29","slug":"what-is-wave-synthesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/what-is-wave-synthesis\/","title":{"rendered":"What is wavetable synthesis? A guide for budding producers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today, wavetable synthesis is the most popular technique of sound design among electronic music producers.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wavetable synthesis was born in the ’80s, but Native Instruments’ Massive wavetable software synth<\/a><\/strong><\/span> led the way for the explosion in popularity in 2007. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, numerous electronic genres utilize wavetable synthesis every day. Skrillex’s infamous Dubstep growls, Rollers DnB drone bass sounds, and so much more find their origins in wavetable synthesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how does this popular synthesis technique work? And why is it so popular? Let’s break it down, or should I say cut it up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What is a wavetable?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A wavetable is a waveform broken down into a group of individual waves that sit at different stages in the waveform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can think of a waveform as a lemon. Not literally, of course, but figuratively. Now figuratively grab a knife and start slicing your waveform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each slice of your waveform originally sat in a different part of the lemon. Those slices are your wavetables! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, a wavetable is a stack of individual waveforms – known as subtables<\/strong> or frames<\/strong> – and a synth can stack up to 256 of them in an oscillator. Wavetable synths can use a recorded sound as a source in their oscillators, and some even let you draw your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, wavetable synths are unlike traditional samplers because you can use automation to morph between different wavetables in the waveform and evolve the sound with LFO or envelope modulation<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, a wavetable synthesizer cuts a waveform up into pieces. Those pieces are wavetables, and you select and choose between different wavetable positions to hear a different wavetable of the waveform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wavetable
Wavetable position in Vital<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Automating the wavetable position allows the synthesizer to morph the sound over time. As a result, you can cycle through the multiple wavetables of a sound through the duration of a note. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wavetable synthesizers like Serum and Vital allow you to insert audio samples into their oscillators too. Consequently, the synth cuts the sample up into a stack of wavetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
Additive vs subtractive synthesis: sound design and synthesis for beginners<\/a><\/blockquote>