wavetable

Wavetable is a sound synthesis method used in audio technology to improve sound reproduction. Unlike other synthesis techniques such as waveguide or FM synthesis, wavetable synthesis stores sounds from different instruments in memory and recalls them as needed.

The wavetable technique stores instrument sounds as patterns and uses them for sound generation, and the quality of the generated sounds is more realistic than that of synthetically generated sounds.

Most sound cards have a wavetable for the stored sounds. Wavetable technology is used, among other things, in computer games to generate realistic sounds. With MIDI complete arrangements can be created from wavetables.