Evolving Wavetable Pad

Sounds like: A pad whose tone keeps changing shape as you hold the note.

Sound type: pad · Genre: IDM, Ambient · Style: slowly morphing wavetable timbre used as a pad's main feature

A pad whose timbre continuously morphs across a wavetable over the length of the held note — the movement itself is the pad's identity, more than any single static tone.

Open this patch in the interactive Patchpad

Digitone II

Exact match: WAVETONE HARM table swept by LFO

SYN page 1 · WAVETONE

• TUN1: 0
• WAV1: 20 (HARM table, swept by MOD page 1)
• PD1: 0
• LEV1: 100
• TUN2: 0
• WAV2: 20 (HARM table)
• PD2: 0
• LEV2: 0

SYN page 2 · WAVETONE

• OFS1: 0
• TBL1: HARM
• MOD: OFF
• RSET: OFF
• OFS2: 0
• TBL2: HARM
• DRIF: 10

FLTR page 1 · Multi-mode

• FREQ: 100
• RESO: 15
• TYPE: 0 (LP)

AMP page

• ATK: 70
• DEC: 50
• SUS: 110
• REL: 100
• MODE: ADSR

FX page

• REV: 30

MOD page 1

• SPD: 8
• WAVE: Triangle
• DEST: SYN: Data entry knob B (WAV1)
• DEP: 40
• MODE: FREE

Digitone II's WAVETONE machine (select with FUNC+SYN). TBL1 is HARM, the long list of waveforms sweeping through harmonic combinations, and MOD page 1 is a slow Triangle LFO on WAV1 (data entry knob B), so the timbre continuously scans through the wavetable while the note is held. DRIF adds slight organic drift.

Syntakt

Exact match: SY CHORD WAVE sweeps the wavetable

SYN — SY CHORD

• TUNE: 0
• WAVE: 60 (swept by LFO PAGE 1)
• PNCH: 0
• DEC: 127
• TYPE: Unison × 2
• BAL: 20
• FENV: 0
• OVER: 0

FLTR PAGE 1

• FREQ: 100
• RESO: 15
• TYPE: Lowpass
• ENV: 20

AMP PAGE 1

• ATK: 70
• DEC: 50
• SUS: 110
• REL: 100
• REV: 25

AMP PAGE 2

• MODE: ADSR

LFO PAGE 1

• SPD: 8
• WAVE: Triangle
• DEST: MACHINE: parameter 2 (WAVE)
• DEP: 40
• MODE: FRE

SY CHORD's WAVE parameter sweeps through the machine's wavetable, so a slow LFO on it is a genuine wavetable-position sweep. TYPE Unison × 2 with a low BAL keeps it to a single voice with slight unison detune. DEC is at maximum, with AMP PAGE 2 set to ADSR so the pad sustains.

Novation Summit

Exact match: OSC 1 WAVE More wavetable

OSCILLATOR 1

• WAVE: More
• WAVEMORE: Swell
• SHAPE AMOUNT: 40
• SHAPE SOURCE: LFO 1
• RANGE: 8'

FILTER

• SHAPE: LP
• SLOPE: 12dB
• FREQUENCY: 105
• RESONANCE: 10
• SOURCE: Amp Env
• ENV DEPTH: 20
• LFO 1 DEPTH: 15

LFO 1

• WAVEFORM: Triangle
• RATE: 15
• FADE TIME: 0

AMP ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 90
• DECAY: 60
• SUSTAIN: 110
• RELEASE: 100

EFFECTS

• REVERB TIME: 70
• REVERB LEVEL: 30

Summit has real wavetables: OSCILLATOR 1's WAVE set to More opens the wavetable list, and WAVEMORE picks the table by name (the manual lists 60, for example Swell, Zing, Harsh, Glassy and Choral). SHAPE with SOURCE LFO 1 (one of Shape's three sources: manual, Mod Env 1 or LFO 1) slowly scans the table, so the timbre morphs while the note is held. LFO 1's hardwired filter Depth is kept low so the borrowed modulation does not also wobble the filter.

Arturia MiniFreak

Exact match: Chords engine wavetable (adds an octave voice)

OSCILLATOR · Osc 1

• TYPE: Harmo
• VOLUME: 0

OSCILLATOR · Osc 2

• TYPE: Chords
• WAVE: Octave (Interval)
• TIMBRE: 0 (Inv/Trsp)
• SHAPE: 70 (Waveform, wavetable region above 50)
• VOLUME: 100

ANALOG FILTER

• TYPE: Low Pass
• CUTOFF: 60
• RESONANCE: 10
• ENV/VELO: 0

ENVELOPE

• ATTACK: 60
• DECAY: 40
• SUSTAIN: 80
• RELEASE: 70

LFO

• SELECT/EDIT: LFO 2
• WAVE/LOAD: Tri
• RATE/TRIG: 0.4 Hz

DIGITAL EFFECTS · FX1

• TYPE: Reverb (Hall)
• TIME (Decay): 50
• INTENSITY (Damping): 30
• AMOUNT (Dry/Wet): 25

MODULATION MATRIX

• Source (row): LFO 2
• Destination (column): Assign 1: Osc 2 Shape
• Amount: +50

Osc 1 is Harmo, an additive engine: Wave is Content (the harmonic table), Timbre is Sculpting and Shape adds chorus. Osc 2 is the Chords engine (Osc 2 only): Interval is Octave (the least intrusive chord), Inv/Trsp is 0, and its Waveform knob (the panel Shape knob) above 50 is a wavetable that morphs between 16 waveforms. Chords cannot be used in Paraphonic mode. LFO 2 runs a Tri wave at 0.4 Hz. Mod Matrix: the LFO 2 row to the Assign 1: Osc 2 Shape column (hold an Assign button and turn that control to assign it) at +50. Values are on MiniFreak's native 0-100 scale.

Dreadbox Typhon

Approximation: No wavetable: LFO on the WAVE knob

FRONT PANEL

• WAVE: ~12 o'clock (VCO1/VCO2 evenly blended, will be swept by M1)
• CUTOFF: ~2-3 o'clock (mostly open)
• RESON: ~7-8 o'clock (low)
• EG LEVEL: ~9 o'clock (light filter envelope amount)
• FILTER TIME: ~9 o'clock (toward the slow end)
• AMP TIME: ~9 o'clock (toward the slow end)
• VOLUME: ~12 o'clock (global, not stored in the preset)

FILTER ADSR

• ATTACK: 60
• DECAY: 50
• SUSTAIN: 100
• RELEASE: 90

AMP ADSR

• ATTACK: 55
• DECAY: 45
• SUSTAIN: 100
• RELEASE: 95

M1

• MODE: LFO
• RATE: 10
• WAVE: Triangle
• FADE: 0
• DEST: WAVE
• LVL: 40

FX3

• TYPE: Cloud Reverb
• TUNE: 10
• SIZE: 70
• FEED: 60
• GRAIN: 6
• MIX: 40

Typhon has no wavetable oscillator, so the genuine onboard equivalent used here is routing M1 (in LFO mode) to DEST WAVE -- the very knob that blends VCO1/VCO2's waveforms and FM relationship -- so the oscillator's own harmonic content continuously drifts through the WAVE knob's labeled positions instead of sitting on one static blend. FX3's Cloud Reverb is a granular effect and adds its own slow, evolving texture on top, reinforcing the same idea rather than just adding space. M2/M3 are left unused since this patch only needs one modulator slot.

ASM Hydrasynth Desktop

Exact match: WaveScan wavetable position

OSCILLATOR 1

• MODE: WaveScan
• WAVESCAN: 1.0
• SEMI: 0
• CENTS: 0
• KEYTRACK: 100%

FILTER 1

• TYPE: LP Fat12
• CUTOFF: 100.0
• RESONANCE: 15.0
• ENV 1 AMOUNT: 0
• LFO 1 AMOUNT: 0
• KEYTRACK: 0%

AMP

• LFO 2 AMOUNT: 0
• VELOCITY: 0
• AMP LEVEL: 100.0

ENVELOPE 2

• DELAY: 0 ms
• ATTACK: 600 ms
• HOLD: 0 ms
• DECAY: 400 ms
• SUSTAIN: 100.0
• RELEASE: 900 ms

LFO 3

• WAVE: Triangle
• RATE: 0.05 Hz
• DELAY: 0 ms
• PHASE: 0°
• LEVEL: 100.0

MOD MATRIX

• SOURCE: LFO 3
• DESTINATION: Osc 1 WaveScan
• DEPTH: 90

REVERB

• TYPE: Hall
• PREDELAY: 20 ms
• TIME: 4.0 s
• TONE: 0
• HI DAMP: 30.0
• LO DAMP: 40.0
• DRY/WET: 30%

LFO 3 is a free-assign LFO (not pre-wired like LFO 1/2), routed via the Mod Matrix directly to WAVESCAN at a very slow rate and strong depth so the position crawls across the full 1.0-8.0 range over the length of a held note. Filter 1 is kept static and open (no envelope or LFO routing) so nothing competes with the WaveScan movement.

Compared with other synths: Hydrasynth's WaveScan mode is a genuine hardware wavetable-position sweep -- unlike every other synth in this patch, no substitute mechanism is needed.

How the synths compare

Real wavetable sweeps on Hydrasynth (WaveScan), Digitone II (WAVETONE HARM table), Syntakt (SY CHORD WAVE), Summit (OSC 1 WAVE More with Shape modulation) and MiniFreak (Chords engine, Osc 2). Typhon has no wavetable, so its guide modulates the WAVE knob's oscillator blend.

Patchpad is a free reference of drum patterns and synth patches written for real hardware: Digitakt II, Digitone II, Syntakt, Novation Summit, Arturia MiniFreak, Dreadbox Typhon and ASM Hydrasynth Desktop.