[Stk] Rawwave files... what are they?

[Gary Scavone]

Hi Matt,

Most of the rawwave files used in STK are in fact wave tables (that is, a single period of a periodic waveform) or impulse responses.  They are used in various synthesis classes, especially the FM classes.  The Mandolin class uses a bunch of the impulse responses to simulate direction dependent sound radiation.  As an STK user, there is likely no reason you would ever want to create your own rawwave files.  In fact, we probably should convert all the rawwave files to a standard “headered" format (WAV or AIF), as we are no longer as concerned with memory limitations as we were in the 1990s.

—gary

On Jan 29, 2014, at 10:54 PM, Matthew Kettlewell <matt at kettlewell.net> wrote:

> Hello - 
> 
> I'm new to STK, and sound generation in general, and as I read through the demo's, examples & documentation, I realize that Rawwave files are used a lot, but I don't really know that their purpose is.  
> 
> I do know that they are sound files with the header information stripped out, so they are just raw standardized sound files, but I don't understand why I'd want to use them.
> 
> How do I create them, how long should they be in duration, do they mix with the instruments   ??? 
> 
> 
> I have a sneaking suspicion that this is a general concept in music/sound mixing/recording and if so, a pointer in the right direction will suffice.
> 
> 
> For me, I'm looking at creating some very specific wave patterns, isochronic tones, and meditative music.... would I need a rawwave file just to create a sine wave?  
> 
> 
> I hope my questions are clear enough to at least point me in a direction.
> 
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Matt
> 
> 
> 
> 
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