2009

Using Sculpture’s Basic Material Pad Parameters
The Material Pad works as a matrix of Stiffness (x-axis) and Inner Loss (y-axis) values.
Inner Loss axis
Stiffness axis
Material Pad ball
Inner Loss is used to emulate damping of the string, as caused by the string material—steel,
glass, nylon, or wood. These are frequency-dependent losses that cause the sound to
become more mellow during the decay phase.
Stiffness sets the rigidity of the string. In reality, this is determined by the string material
and diameter—or, to be more precise, by its geometrical moment of inertia. Increasing
the Stiffness parameter to the maximum value turns the string into a solid metal bar.
Stiffer strings also exhibit an inharmonic vibration, where overtones are not integer
multiples of the base frequency. Rather, they have higher frequencies, which can make
upper/lower notes sound somewhat out of tune with each other.
The four corners of the Material Pad show different material names. These each represent
a combination of maximum/minimum Stiffness and Inner Loss values. The combination
of the Inner Loss and Stiffness parameter positions determine the string material and,
therefore, the general timbre of your sound. Here are examples of how Inner Loss and
Stiffness Settings can change the tonal color:
• Low Stiffness values, combined with low Inner Loss values, lead to metallic sounds.
• Higher Stiffness values, combined with low Inner Loss values, make the sound become
more bell- or glass-like.
• Higher Inner Loss values, combined with a low Stiffness level, correspond to nylon or
catgut strings.
• High Stiffness values, combined with high Inner Loss values, simulate wood-like
materials.
326 Chapter 14 Sculpture