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Chapter 24 Sculpture 411
• Press the Keyscale button at the bottom of the Material Pad “ring”, as shown in the
graphic.
• Strike and hold and/or repeatedly strike middle “C” on your keyboard.
Middle “C” is the default pitch/key of the string.
• While doing so, grab hold of the “ball” on the Material Pad by click-holding on it with
your mouse, and move it around. Listen to the sonic changes as you move between
the Nylon, Wood, Steel, and Glass materials. Keep an eye on the String (the green
horizontal line in the Pickup section, to the left) as you’re doing so.
• Release the mouse button once you’ve found a basic tone that you like.
• Now, experiment with the values of each of the sliders that surround the Material
Pad—namely the Media Loss, Tension Mod and Resolution parameters (while
continuing to strike middle “C”). Take note of the changes that each makes to the
sound, and also the string animation in the Pickup section. Play a few notes above
and below middle “C”, again keeping your eye on the string.
• You probably noticed that moving the Media Loss, Tension Mod and Resolution sliders
also had an impact on the green and blue Keyscale sliders inside and outside the
“ring”. Grab, and drag each of these “keyscale” slider arrowheads to different
positions—one by one—and play a few notes either side of middle “C” as you’re
doing so. Note the changes that happen up/down the keyboard range.
• Once done, press the Release button at the bottom of the Material Pad “ring”, and
adjust the blue Media Loss Release slider while striking notes.
The Objects
Up to three “objects” of different types are used to excite or disturb the vibration of the
string. Each parameter can be explored further in the “String and Object Parameters”
on page 362.
• Please reload your default or “plain vanilla” Setting.
• Now press the (Object) 1 button (so that it turns gray), while striking a key. You’ll note
that you hear nothing. The string itself doesn’t make a sound unless it is “stimulated”
by the objects. Reactivate the button by clicking on it again.
• Now, click-hold on Object 1’s Type pull-down menu, and select each entry in the list.
Strike a note repeatedly while doing so to hear the impact of each object “type” on
the string. As always, keep an eye on the String animation.