[sdiy] Wavetable info

[Scott Gravenhorst]

Hi all, and Happy New Year.

I've often thought that it would be interesting to do waveform drawing,
but I've also wondered just how useful it is ?  For what I know, a static
waveform is just a pile of harmonics, regardless of whether it's generated
by a waveform specific VCO or a hand drawn deal.  If the harmonics don't
change in some way over time, then the waveform itself is not interesting.
 If one could draw several waveforms and then morph through them, this
might give an interest dynamic change over time, but increases the
complexity of the software required.  Then I ask myself, how would this
differ from using modulated VCFs, modulated waveshapers, or any of the
other common (and simple) methods for making interesting dynamic sounds? 
Also, there seems no correlation between a waveform that 'looks cool' and
one that sounds cool.  Watching a scope, I see some pretty 'ugly'
waveforms that sound very nice.  So how can one then visually design good
waveforms without wasting a lot of time?

David Cornutt <cornutt at hiwaay.net> wrote:
>
>On Thursday, January 1, 2004, at 02:31  AM, Tom Arnold wrote:
>
>>
>> I bought some 1024x480 tablet LCDs and have been playing with some code
>> for them to allow drawing one wave ala a wavetable entry...
>>
>
>Another alternative for doing this: If you can get your hands
>on a Roland S-750 or 770 sampler with an RGB cable and
>a monitor, it has a waveform draw capability.  I've been able to
>do some very nasty (e.g., wildly asymmetrical) waveforms
>this way.  These are currently unloved by collectors; Prepal
>says that the average going price for the 750 is only about
>$250.  So you might be able to pick one cheap.  Just be sure
>you have a way to connect a monitor; the OS doesn't support
>waveform draw on the built-in LCD.  There is a utility floating
>around (I've got a link somewhere) for converting S-750 disks
>to Akai, etc. format, or you can suck out the sample (slowly)
>via MIDI sample dump.
>

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