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Sculpture overview
This section contains key information and concepts that you need to understand before taking a
look at Sculpture features and parameters. If you’re new to synthesizers, it might be best to start
o with Synthesizer basics overview on page 471, which will introduce you to the terminology
and give you an overview of dierent synthesis methods and how they work.
Sculpture is a synthesizer that generates sounds by simulating the physical properties of a
vibrating string. This approach to tone generation is called component modeling. It enables you
to create a virtual model of an acoustic instrument, such as a violin or cello. Components such as
the length of the neck, the material the instrument is made of—wood or metal, for example—
the diameter, tension, and material of the strings—nylon or steel, for example—and the size of
the instrument body can be modeled.
In addition to the physical properties of the instrument, you can determine how and where it is
played—softly bowed, or plucked, on top of a mountain, or under the sea. Other aspects such as
nger noise and vibrato can also be emulated. You can even hit your virtual instrument’s strings
with a stick, or emulate dropping a coin onto the bridge.
Sculpture is not limited to recreating real-world instruments. You are free to combine
components in any way, leading to bizarre hybrids such as a six-foot-long guitar with a bronze
bell for a body—played with a felt hammer.
You can also create more traditional synthesizer tones in Sculpture. These benet from the
modeling process itself, which tends to add a level of richness and an organic quality to sounds.
The end results are lush, warm pads, deep and round synthesizer basses, and powerful lead
sounds. If you need to create an endlessly evolving texture for a lm soundtrack, or a spaceship
takeo sound, Sculpture is the perfect instrument for the job.
Like a real instrument, Sculpture generates sounds by using an object, such as a ngertip, wind,
drumstick, or violin bow, to stimulate another object, such as a guitar string or reed.
Note: For clarity, the stimulated object is always referred to as the string.
As with a real instrument, the sound consists of multiple elements. It’s not only the string that is
responsible for the tonal color, but also the objects that stimulate or otherwise aect the string,
and therefore the sound.
For example, imagine a steel-stringed guitar that is alternately strummed with your thumb
and then picked strongly with your ngers. Changing to nylon strings, or 12 strings, would
signicantly change the tone. Now imagine the impact of pressing the strings down onto
the fretboard, which not only changes the chord but also momentarily bends the strings, and
therefore their pitch. Other aspects to consider are the size and material of the guitar body and
how they inuence the resonant characteristics of your sound. Further elements, such as the size
or type of sound hole—round or F-shaped—the nger noise on the strings, and the medium
that the guitar is played in, also have roles to play in the overall sound that you produce.
Sculpture
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