Wave Table Shape Breakdown - What each wave is Commonly Used For?

F

FLyPno

Divina Soundscape
Hey,


Does anyone have a handy breakdown or a great video on what each wave table shape is commonly used for.



For example....
Sine - For Bass and Toms
Saw - For Leads with lazer sounding
Square waves - for hollow sounds plucks

Let me know what you guys think. Really trying to learn sound design to the best of my abilities.
 
Wave forms sound exactly like how they look.
Wavetable synthesis is a method for periodic waveform shifting I think.
 
I think you're boxing yourself in if you assign certain types of instruments/sounds to certain waveforms - it's important to know how the basic waveforms (yes, these as waveforms; wavetables and wavetable synthesis are almost completely different things) sound, but beyond that it's up to you to decide what kind of timbre you're going for. Sines are dull because they don't have harmonics at all; squares have that hollow quality; saws are aggressive and well-filterable and triangles are kind of mellow.
 
You know I was actually thinking about this on the drive home... It really isnt the sound that waves make but its more important how you shape it with the adsr. Welp will see how my next song goes. Peace thanks for the words of wisdom.
 
All sounds can be divided up into sine waves of constantly changing frequency and volume. Any single cycle waveform can be divided up into a fundamental frequency sine wave and 'harmonics'- other sine waves that have frequencies that are multiples of the fundamental (i.e. if the fundamental is 440 Hz (A4) then the harmonics will be 880Hz, 1320 Hz etc)

You also can tell the 'loudness' of a wave by looking at it's shape- the more of the wave that is further away from the center, the louder the wave. Square waves are the 'loudest' possible wheras very narrow pulse waves are 'quiet'.

Sawtooth waves have all the harmonics and the higher harmonics get progressively quieter. Square waves have every other harmonic and they also get progressively quieter as they get higher. A sine wave only has the fundamental and a triangle wave also has all the harmonics, but with some subtle phase adjustments to make it sound less 'bright' than a saw.
 
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