We present the results of a combined experimental and numerical study of the generation of internal waves using the novel internal wave generator design of Gostiaux et al. (Exp. Fluids, vol. 42, 2007, pp. 123-130). This mechanism, which involves a tunable source composed of oscillating plates, has so far been used for a few fundamental studies of internal waves, but its full potential is yet to be realized. Our study reveals that this approach is capable of producing a wide variety of two-dimensional wave fields, including plane waves, wave beams and discrete vertical modes in finite-depth stratifications. The effects of discretization by a finite number of plates, forcing amplitude and angle of propagation are investigated, and it is found that the method is remarkably efficient at generating a complete wave field despite forcing only one velocity component in a controllable manner. We furthermore find that the nature of the radiated wave field is well predicted using Fourier transforms of the spatial structure of the wave generator. © 2010 Cambridge University Press.