Format For Wavetable Files ?

[lunker]

Section 5.3.2.4 (Wavetable requirements) states: "You can also load in a regular .wav file and Pigments will parse it into a wavetable for you."

The use of the word "also" and the fact the Pigments parses the .wav file into a wavetable leads me to believe that there might be a different file format besides a *.wav file that I can use to import a wavetable.  (hopefully a plain text file?)

The reason I ask is that I know what I want my waveform to look like, but don't have a .wav file of it (and I'm not really sure how to create one).  I can easily use a spreadsheet program like Excel to calculate each of the values for the 2048 points of the waveform I want.  Can I put those numbers into a text file and import it as a wavetable?

If so, what formats are acceptable?  One number per line?  Multiple numbers per line?  Any specific delimiter between the numbers (space, comma, etc.)?

It would be great if I could just put the numbers into a file like this, and then load the file:

  0.00 0.01 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.05 0.08 ... for 2048 points per wave

[Aymara]

Lately I did some research about wavetables and which formats exits and such stuff and by chance I found the following video about a wavetable generator, that might be a solution to build your „dream wavetable“:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZOatL84fxc

[lunker]

Wow.  Thank you!

Now I feel rather foolish.  I've never worked with a wavetable synthesizer before, and in my inexperience I just assumed that Pigments must use some Arturia-specific format for the wavetable files.  It never occurred to me that wavetables might have a standard format, and that I could find more about them by just Google'ing "wavetable file format" or "wavetable editor".

Live and learn ... at least you have put me on the right path.

EDIT: Well, now you've really got me going.  This wavetable editor also looks fun:

  https://www.kvraudio.com/product/serum-fm-wavetable-studio-by-glow-shrimp-software

Different functionality/purpose from the AudioTerm editor mentioned in the video you posted, but could be useful for me down the line.

[Aymara]

I just assumed that Pigments must use some Arturia-specific format for the wavetable files.

You should have read the manual 

You can even import audio recordings in WAV format. I did a voice recording of myself in 24/96 and even used that as a wavetable. Next experiment will be a beat 

Enjoy experimenting!

[lunker]

You should have read the manual 

Well, actually I did (I even quoted it in my first post).

Now that I know more about wavetables, I think my question was quite naive.  The information I was looking for would be found in a "Wavetables For Dummies" manual rather than in the Pigments manual.  Wavetables are quite new to me, and I didn't realize that there was a standard format that can be used with other synthesizers.  (Yes, that's how new I am to wavetables !!!)

But it's all good now.

[Aymara]

I think my question was quite naive.

No, definitely not. I‘m not an expert for synths ... I‘m more a guitarist, ok, multi-instrumentalist ... so I did some research about wavetables lately.

It seems Pigments is more or less special by allowing the import of normal WAV recordings. On the other hand synths exist, that can make wavetables out of images.

Wavetables are quite new to me, and I didn't realize that there was a standard format that can be used with other synthesizers.

I fear, a real standard doesn‘t exist, at least regarding import features and formats.

Do some research yourself ... many compare Pigments with Serum ... and the question, which one is better leads to two factions. We‘ll see for how long, if Arturia should add further features.

[lunker]

... so I did some research about wavetables lately.

Do some research yourself ...

Yes, thank you for your help getting me started in the right direction!  I know a lot more today than I did yesterday, and will keep learning.

I also found some Perl and Lua code for writing WAV files, which looks very useful to me, as that is exactly what I want to do.  If I come up with a list of 2048 numbers for each waveform I want in the table, I can write a Perl or Lua program to string those waveforms together into the required WAV file format for Pigments to read as a wavetable.

But some of the GUI tools you pointed me to also look very nice for accomplishing the task from a different direction.

[Aymara]

Ok, now you need to explain, how you know which values your lists need to create a desired wavetable? The optical building with GUI based tools is complex enough, so why a number based approach?

[lunker]

Sometimes (not always) I like to create "formulaic" waveforms based on some specific equation or principle.  For example, a wave shape based on the Fibonacci sequence (0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, ..).  Or even just a modulated sine wave, where I know the formula better than I can draw the waveform by hand.

A better example might be creating a function Z = f(X, Y) where X is the position along the wave 1 to 2048) and Y is the waveform in the table (1 to 256), and Z is the amplitude value of that point in the table.  I would like to experiment with different functions to see if I can find any that produce a cool sounding wavetable.

This is purely for fun — it may all sound horrible!

[Aymara]

Functions ... oh my ... I should have guessed it 

I fear, though interesting, they may sound boring compared to audio files. But who knows.

[lunker]

Yes, very possible.

For me, it's more about the learning experience and being able to say "I did this.  I understand it!"

If it sounds good, yay!  If not ... there's always the built-in wavetables.