10.6

520Logic Pro Instruments
Advanced Sculpture tutorial:electric bass
Electric bass programming in Logic Pro Sculpture
This section concentrates on a single instrument type—the electric bass, including all of
its important variations and articulations. The physical nature of electric basses is not as
complex as their acoustic counterparts. This instrument is therefore an excellent choice for
the sound programming tutorials, the goal of which is to acquaint you with the art of using
Sculpture to accurately reproduce detailed sounds.
Note: To see the settings for these tutorials in the Sculpture window, choose Tutorial
Settings from the Settings pop-up menu.
To build a bass and all its components in Sculpture, you need to understand the basic,
physical process of sound production within the instrument. In general, the electric bass
has four strings. The lowest string is usually tuned to E 0 or E (MIDI note number 28). The
strings above the low E are tuned in fourths—thus A, D, and G. There are basses that have
five, six, or more strings, but because Sculpture has no tonal limits, this is unimportant.
What is much more important for sound programming is the overtone content of the bass
sound, which depends primarily on the qualities of the strings.
• Round wound strings: A very fine wire is wound around a steel cable core, which results
in a metallic sound full of overtones.
• Flat wound strings: The fine wire wrapping is ground down or polished smooth, and the
sound has far fewer overtones in comparison. (These are much less popular today.)
In contrast to guitar strings, the structure and workmanship are the same for all strings in a
set. Sets combining wound and non-wound strings do not exist.
The relationship between string length and string tension has a significant impact on the
overtone content. Disregarding basses that can be adjusted to different scale lengths
(different vibrating string lengths), the actual playing position that is used plays an
important role. When you play D at the tenth fret on the low E string, it sounds more
muffled than the same pitch played on the open D string.
The number of frets differs from bass to bass and depends on the scale length. Don’t
worry about pitches higher than a single ledger line C; the actual functional range of this
instrument is primarily in its two lower octaves—between E 0 and E 2.
Also worth mentioning is the fretless electric bass. Like all instruments of this type, it is
freely tunable and possesses a distinctive, individual sound. See Program a fretless bass
sound in Sculpture.
There are three types of articulations that are discussed:
• Fingered: The strings are played with the alternating index and middle fingers.
• Picked: The strings are played with a pick. See Program a picked bass sound in
Sculpture.
• Thumbed/Slapped: The strings are either played with the side of the thumb on the
fingerboard or plucked strongly with the fingers. See Program a slap bass sound in
Sculpture.