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440 Chapter 24 Sculpture
Let’s adjust Object 2’s parameters to the following settings:
1 Set Timbre to 0.39. This corresponds to a fingerboard that runs almost parallel to the
string.
2 Set the Strength parameter to 0.33.
Note: Try some higher values as well. You’ll see that the sound becomes softer and
softer until it’s completely dampened by the obstacle.
3 An appropriate value for Variation is 0.64. Despite the overtone-rich reflection, the
string can still vibrate freely.
Note: Try some negative values: you’ll see that the reflections can no longer develop in
an unhindered fashion.
4 Set the Level dial to −3 dB; the Bound obstacle has made the sound softer.
5 The sound is still too smooth for a real slap bass; so let us direct our attention to the
Body EQ again. Switch it on, and adjust the parameters to the following
settings: Low = 0.25, Mid Frequency = 0.59, Mid = 0.43, High = 0.51.
6 Save this sound as “Slap Bass Basic#1”.
Fretless Bass
With the exception of shared playing techniques, the fretless bass differs from a
“normal” bass through its buzzing, singing sound. As the frets on the fingerboard of a
standard bass function as a collection of “mini-bridges” and allow the string to vibrate
in an unobstructed fashion, the direct “collision” of the string’s antenode with the
fingerboard on a fretless bass is responsible for its “typical” sound. The string length on
a fretless bass is markedly shorter than that of an acoustic double bass. The upshot of
this is that a “controlled buzzing” is produced, even when played with a weak attack.
This “buzzing” can be consistently reproduced in the high register, even on fretless
basses that have very short string lengths. The use of the comparatively soft tip of your
finger, instead of a hard, metallic fret, to divide or shorten the string also plays a role.
This is how you program a fretless bass:
1 Load the “E-Bass Fingered Basic EQ1” Setting.
2 Turn Object 3 off. We’ll come back to it later.
3 Choose the Object 2 Disturb Type menu option.
Tip: The Disturb model functions in the following way: the Timbre parameter
determines how far the string is deflected from its resting position by the obstacle.
Positive values precipitate no deflection of the vibration from its resting position.
Variation defines the length of the string section that is “disturbed”: positive values
correspond to a longer section of string, negative values to a correspondingly shorter
string section.