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Chapter 13 Sculpture 321
Advanced Sculpture tutorial: synthesizer sounds
Synthetic sound programming overview
The Electric bass programming overview on page 303 section covers programming of natural
bass sounds by authentically reproducing the real physical interaction that occurs between
a string and the exciting agent that acts upon it. While producing such lifelike models is
undoubtedly a forte of Sculpture’s architecture, its sonic capabilities extend to the creation of
very dierent sounds as well.
Sculpture contains a number of functions you can use to create new and novel synthesized
sounds. This includes the Morph Pad, which can be automated, as well as recordable and
programmable envelopes that can be used in a rhythmic context. See Create morphed sounds
in Sculpture.
Such features are usually unnecessary when reproducing natural bass sounds, because no
electric bass that exists can alter the tonal characteristics of the string during the decay phase
of a note—perhaps from wood to metal—and rhythmically synchronize this change to the
tempo of the project. These functions are useful, however, when creating sustained, atmospheric
sounds where slow and interesting modulations help them come alive. See Create a sustained
synthesizer sound with Sculpture.
Create a sustained synthesizer sound with Sculpture
First, load Sculpture’s default setting—the very simple sound consisting of a plucked string
that vibrates and fades away. This sound needs some drastic changes to become a sustained or
extended pad sound.
Examine the three objects. Notice that only Object 1 is active, and acts on the string with an
Impulse object type: the string is briey excited when the note is played, then the sound decays.
A sustained pad sound requires an exciting agent that constantly acts upon the string. The
appropriate object types are Bow or Bow wide (the string is played with either short bow strokes
or long, extended bow strokes), Noise (excited by a random noise signal), or Blow (excited by
being blown—much like a clarinet or ute).
Test the above mentioned object types one after the other. Drag the Object 1 Pickup slider,
responsible for the exact position of the exciting agent, up and down the string while you’re
playing. You will come to two conclusions: First, the sound is now sustained for as long as you
hold down a key. Second, dragging the Object 1 slider with the Bow type selected results in
the most pronounced sonic changes. This setting promises the most rewarding possibilities for
varying the sound, and that’s why this type has been chosen.
The sonic variations created by the Bow type are very appealing when the virtual bow stroke is
moved along the string. You can control this movement by using an envelope, thus creating the
foundation of your pad sound.
It makes more sense and is more convenient to record the envelope rather than program it, even
if it is easy to program it with the graphic display.