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What is a waveform?

A waveform is an identifiable sequence of samples.

If the computer program picked four numbers between $\pm 32767$ (30000, -20000, 16000, and -5000 in the example below), and repeated that sequence, the result might look like this:

$\scalebox {0.6}{\includegraphics*{graphics/square.eps}}$

Assuming a sampling rate of 44100 samples per second:

+30000 is repeated for 20 samples (0.0004 sec.)
-20000 is repeated for 30 samples (0.0006 sec.)
+16000 is repeated for 10 samples (0.0002 sec.)
-5000 is repeated for for 40 samples (0.0008 sec.)

A ``waveform'' is a single iteration of this sequence (100 samples long, 0.002 seconds long). Repetition of this sequence produces a sound.

Next: How do Wigout and Up: The Synthesis Algorithms Used Previous: What is a sample?

Arun Chandra
arunc@evergreen.edu