Wavetable synthesis

Wavetable synthesis plays short, looping single-cycle waveforms from a table and sweeps across them to change timbre while pitch holds still.

A wavetable holds a stack of single-cycle frames, and as the playing position moves through the stack — under an envelope, LFO, or direct control — the oscillator's harmonic content changes while its pitch stays put. Because each frame loops like a classic table-lookup oscillator, the technique delivers complex, evolving tones at very low CPU cost, which is why it appears in instruments like Serum and Vital and across hardware synthesizers.