10.6

521Logic Pro Instruments
The vibration of the strings is captured by an electromagnetic pickup. When the string is
vibrating, its steel core affects the magnetic field. The pickups are almost always found
some distance to the side, nearer to the bridge and stop tailpiece. There are different
pickup concepts for electric basses, and often two or more pickups are combined to make
the sound. To avoid getting into too much detail at this point, there is a rule of thumb that
applies: The farther you move the pickup toward the middle of the string, the bassier the
sound becomes and the more hollow it sounds. The farther you move the pickup toward
the end of the string, the more overtone content is heard, becoming more dense and
compact. The sound has more mid-range frequencies, or buzz, and less bass. If the pickup
is positioned at the very end of the string, the sound becomes very thin. This behavior
mirrors the actual playing position of a real string:If you play more toward the middle of
the string, you get a smooth, even, and powerful sound that contains limited harmonic
denseness (overtones). If the string is played at the bridge, the sound develops a nasal
twang and features more buzz and more overtones.
Now to the body of the instrument, and its resonant properties. Almost all electric basses
have a steel rod running through the neck, to strengthen it, and a body made of solid wood.
This construction allows the strings to vibrate relatively freely (sustain), even though very
little direct sound is generated. The pickups and the amplifier and speaker systems are
responsible for the actual sound of the instrument.
The acoustic interaction between body, strings, and external sound sources is much less
complex than with pure acoustic instruments.
The vibration of the strings is, of course, naturally hampered by several physical
factors:the radius of motion of the string (the antinode) is impeded by the left bridge or
by the first fret that’s pressed down upon, and the frets in between. This can lead to the
development of overtones that can take the form of anything from a slight humming or
buzzing to a strong scraping or scratching sound.
In addition, factors such as the material properties of the strings and the instrument, as
well as the softness of your fingertips, also serve to dampen the vibration of the string.
Program a basic bass sound in Logic Pro Sculpture
This section covers programming of a basic bass sound which serves as the foundation
for a number of different bass sound examples. See Program a picked bass sound in
Sculpture, Program a slap bass sound in Sculpture, and Program a fretless bass sound in
Sculpture.
Sequentially follow the tasks in this section and Refine the basic Sculpture bass sound to
learn how different components can be modeled and to gain a fuller understanding of how
Sculpture parameters interact.
Create the proper working environment for design of your own bass sound in
Sculpture
1. In Logic Pro, make sure the range from C 0 to C 3 is available on your keyboard by
either transposing your master keyboard, or by using the Transpose function in the
Region parameters of your host application.
Note: You can, of course, transpose sounds within Sculpture, but this isn’t the best
solution in this case, for the following reason:Sounds would not be compatible with MIDI
regions in which note number 60 as middleC is considered to be the measure of all things.
2. Choose the #default setting from the Settings pop-up menu in Sculpture.