5 Wavetable Tricks You're Probably Not Using

Wavetable shipped with Live 10 and it's one of the most powerful synths in Ableton's arsenal. But most people treat it like a preset machine - scroll through sounds, maybe tweak a filter, call it done.

Here are five techniques that'll change how you use it.

1. Modulate the Wavetable Position with an LFO at Audio Rate

Set an LFO to modulate the wavetable position and crank the rate up past 20Hz. You're now doing something closer to FM synthesis. The timbral variations you get are wild and completely unique to whatever wavetable you've loaded.

2. Use the Sub Oscillator as Your Foundation

Don't sleep on the sub oscillator. Set your main oscillators to something gnarly and experimental, then use the sub to anchor the pitch. You get the best of both worlds - interesting texture on top, solid fundamental underneath.

3. Matrix Modulation is Your Secret Weapon

The mod matrix in Wavetable is absurdly deep. Try routing velocity to wavetable position, aftertouch to filter cutoff, and an envelope to oscillator mix. Suddenly every note you play sounds different.

4. Stack Unison Voices and Detune Aggressively

Push unison to 8 voices with high detune. Yes, it sounds like a wall of sound. That's the point. Then automate the unison amount for transitions - go from thin to massive mid-phrase.

5. Resample Your Patches Back Into Wavetable

Make a patch. Render a few seconds of it. Drag that audio back into Wavetable as a custom wavetable. Now modulate through YOUR OWN sound as a wavetable. Infinite recursion of weirdness.

Come to the April meetup and we'll workshop these techniques live. Bring headphones.