Waves propagating through rocks when intersected with joints gets transmitted or reflected. Joints or discontinuities in a rock affect the amplitude and velocity of the transmitted and reflected waves propagating through it. The changes occurring on a transmitted wave is following the properties of the incident wave namely frequency, amplitude, wavelength and the rockmass properties namely joint angle, joint roughness, joint stiffness, number of joints. In the present work, the effect of different parameters on the wave properties is understood with the help of experimental and numerical studies. The experimental study is conducted with the help of ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) test on artificially simulated gypsum samples. The corresponding numerical studies and subsequent extensions are done using the Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC). Both rock mass properties as well as wave characteristics play a significant role in the wave propagation characteristics. Empirical relationships are proposed for the estimation of wave velocity against different rock joint parameters. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd