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"Sorry mate - there's a limit to the number of lettes you can put into a title, on this forum platform."

Whats the story about the Waldorf wavetable, what make's it so special?

I have always wondered

What makes it... what? I'm intrigued to see the end of that title.

You need to add a Smoother to an LFO and use low percentages of the LFO amount, at a very slow rate on the Oscillator.
That way it sweeps throught the Wavetables and blends it digital flavor really nice with a warm Saw Pad or even Orchestral Strings too.

If you're into Modular you can make a small patch just with a Wally Osc and then try Wavetrip 1, 2, 3 or 4 and it's pretty nice.
Solaris hardware synth is going to be used this way very soon....
Until then any stock CW synth and Waldorf patch works well.

Some audio demos of Quantum Wave here :

http://sonic-core.net/joomla.soniccore/ ... 30&lang=us

Hmm being a pad man though I like the Rotor EX demoes the best on that page (reminds me of the lush spaceous intro pads they used in the first Unreal game intro), and its the cheapest. Tempting. There goes my savings towards Kontakt....

Nice tricks there X4L!
And the effect you describe there is exactly what I like about them as well, especially for designing evolving ambient pads etc.
I've found that both the Vectron and the Quantum Wave are particularly good tools for "evolving ambient pads", and my guess is that the wavetable technology plays a big part in this.

But what I was really asking was, what are those special qualities to the Waldarf Wavetable Library that makes it "more interesting" than other wave tables? Is it just hype or is the library an example of particularly well designed or chosen wavetables?
If yes, what are the special qualities that are worth noticing compared to other wavetable libraries?

it's because it is the first and it is part of music history due to the number of famous tunes/hits that were made in the 80's (with the PPG synth).
if you try waldorf's Largo or the new version of PPG sofsynths, you may hear sounds that were used in famous tunes.
Just the same as Rob Papen synths and Gladiator which are making the sound of the 2000/2010 dancefloor era, unmistakenably....

petal wrote: ...But what I was really asking was, what are those special qualities to the Waldarf Wavetable Library that makes it "more interesting" than other wave tables? Is it just hype or is the library an example of particularly well designed or chosen wavetables?
If yes, what are the special qualities that are worth noticing compared to other wavetable libraries?

looks like you're on the wrong track regarding Wavetable Synthesis
That article points out the difference.

cheers, Tom

spacef wrote:it's because it is the first and it is part of music history due to the number of famous tunes/hits that were made in the 80's (with the PPG synth).
if you try waldorf's Largo or the new version of PPG sofsynths, you may hear sounds that were used in famous tunes.
Just the same as Rob Papen synths and Gladiator which are making the sound of the 2000/2010 dancefloor era, unmistakenably....

So it is all hype?...

astroman wrote:
looks like you're on the wrong track regarding Wavetable Synthesis
That article points out the difference.

cheers, Tom

I'm not sure I'm completely off track here, but maybe "simplifying" the different "wavetable" techniques into only one?

petal wrote:

spacef wrote:it's because it is the first and it is part of music history due to the number of famous tunes/hits that were made in the 80's (with the PPG synth).
if you try waldorf's Largo or the new version of PPG sofsynths, you may hear sounds that were used in famous tunes.
Just the same as Rob Papen synths and Gladiator which are making the sound of the 2000/2010 dancefloor era, unmistakenably....

So it is all hype?...

of course !! But hype is not the right term, because hype is temporal and made up, it comes and go, it's fashion, while "legendary" is a consequence of the past and not necessarily something that was sought after in the first place. Any product is legitimated amongst prospective users by how legitimate are previous users, or who conveys a message about this product. Making a tune to the charts with new sounds is certainly a very powerful message about the qualities of a product (this applies to any product in any sector of any industry). When Eva longoria makes an add for a shampoo, it is exactly the same. Even we are defined like that: when you look for a job, people want to know your resume and past achievements as well as receive recommendations from your past employers, because they are taken as tangible proofs of your present/future performances.

It doesn't mean those qualities are artificial, but it doesn't mean neither that such and such products are necessarily the best and that there is nothing better in the world... but if the world doesn't know, then it doesn't give a damn about it

sorry i digress about "hype"
so much has been done with the PPG which was kind of revolutionary at the time, that it became a legend that will survive for a long time....

mr spacef! that is well put.

petal wrote: I'm not sure I'm completely off track here, but maybe "simplifying" the different "wavetable" techniques into only one?

sorry I couldn't post any papers about the original wavetable stuff. (at least I didn't find the 'usual' suspects anymore)
Looks like they are in some archive which only provides access for cash...
Imho the PPG/Waldorf method is not even remotely related to Creative Labs sample playback that was named identically.
They do completely different things with those samples, as with the 'table object' itself.

cheers, Tom

Maybe of interrest.http://www.ppg.synth.net/

And for the record.If you have the chance to get a Waldorf Microwave 1-2 buy it.The only hardwaresynth left at my home.Its irreplacablle.And the mw2´s are often going for silly cheap.I got mine for 110€.The modulation matrix wth math functions alone is pure porn.Thats a synth that will impress for years.

yeah, a Microwave One is still on my private gear radar, even looks like some good investment...

cheers, Tom

The cem filter in the mw 1 can get very close to a ppg.Make sure to get a good controller for it tho,its a sysex only synth and programming from the panel gets very very frustrating very fast.If you want one, get one now as the prices raise already into silly hype heaven.And the mw2 or xt is ime so close to the mw1 with tweaking that i was really hard pressed to decide.Price helped at the end....