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364 Chapter 24 Sculpture
Inner Loss Scale Release
Values above 1.0 cause the inner losses to increase when the key is released. This is
quite unnatural, as this would mean that the string material would change after the
note was released.
In practice, however, the use of this parameter in combination with Media Loss Scale
Release allows a natural simulation of strings that are dampened at note-off time.
To adjust, first select the Release button, then click-hold on the blue Release line, and
drag up/down to the desired position.
Stiffness (morphable)
Controls the stiffness (rigidity) of the string. In reality, this is determined by the string
material and diameter (or to be more precise: by its geometrical moment of inertia).
Stiff strings exhibit an inharmonic vibration, where overtones are not integer multiples
of the base frequency. Rather, they have higher frequencies.
In effect, an increase in Stiffness turns the string into a solid metal bar.
Simply click-hold, and drag, the Inner Loss and Stiffness “ball” to the desired position.
Note that as you do so, the thickness of the “string”—the green horizontal line in the
Pickup window—will change.
Stiffness Scale Low/High
Allows independent adjustments to the key tracking of the stiffness parameter, for
notes above and below C3.
To adjust Stiffness keyscaling, first select the Keyscale button, then click-hold the green
vertical line for low notes or the blue vertical line for high notes, and drag left/right to
the desired position.
You can also simultaneously adjust both Stiffness and Inner Loss keyscaling by dragging
the diamond that intersects the green lines.
Low Stiffness values combined with low Inner Loss values lead to “metallic” sounds.
Increasing the Stiffness makes the sound become more “bell” or “glass”-like.
Increasing the Inner Loss value, while maintaining a low Stiffness level, corresponds to
nylon or catgut strings.
High Stiffness values combined with high Inner Loss values simulate “wood”-like
materials.