Working with Sculpture’s Objects
The objects are used to stimulate or otherwise affect the string in some way. The object parameters discussed in this section apply on a per-voice basis. You will note a number of parameter names followed by (morphable). This indicates that the parameters can be morphed between up to five morph points. More details can be found in Getting to Know Sculpture’s Morph Section.
Important: At least one object must be used to excite or disturb the string, because the string itself does not make any sound!
There are a number of different string excite/disturb/damp models available, such as blow, pluck, bow, and so on. These can radically alter the general timbre of the string’s attack phase, making it possible to create bowed or plucked flute and bell sounds, or guitars with a flute-like attack, for example.
Judicious use of the object parameters can deliver very accurate emulations of real-world instruments, or sounds that are altogether more other-worldly.
It is important to note that each additional disturb/damp object that is activated will affect the string. This will in turn alter the interaction of any other active object with the string, often resulting in a completely different character from your sound.
Obviously, changing the sonic character is the reason you would use a new object, but the pluck and blow object combination you chose may sound like fingernails on a blackboard, rather than the plucked pan flute you were going for—depending on other string settings.
Therefore, you need to pay special attention to the model type and strength of objects. You may find that the flavor of the excite object (Object 1), for example, has changed significantly—and you may need to adjust or change the parameters of all objects (and perhaps several string parameter values) after you introduce a new disturb/damp object (2 or 3).
Similarly, the selection of a different type of excite object will affect the disturb/damp objects—and the string itself—thereby changing the character of your sound.
Repositioning objects also changes the timbre of the string. If emulating a guitar, for example, changing an object position would be similar to picking or strumming a string at various spots along the fretboard.
Using Sculpture’s Object Parameters
The following parameters are used to excite, disturb, or dampen the string.
- On/Off buttons (1, 2, and 3): Enables/disables the respective object.
- Type menu: Determines each object type. See Sculpture Excite Table (Objects 1 and 2) and Sculpture Disturb and Damp Table (Objects 2 and 3).
- Gate Mode buttons: Determine when the object is active—in other words, when it disturbs or excites the string. You can choose from:
- KeyOn: Between note on and note off.
- Always: Between note on and the end of the release phase.
- KeyOff: Triggered at note off, and remaining active until the voice is released.
Note: Some object types, such as Gravity Strike, may retrigger the note when you release a key—when in Key On gate mode. If you encounter this artifact, try setting Gate mode to Always and/or reduce the Strength of the object.
- Strength knob (morphable): Sets the intensity of the excitation/disturbance, depending on type. See the table below. A value of 0.0 effectively disables excitation/disturbance. In contrast to the On/Off button of each object, you can fade in the Strength parameter with modulation and/or morphing options.
- Timbre slider (morphable): Determines the timbre (tonal color) of the chosen excitation/disturbance type. Zero (0.0) is the default value for the object. Positive values make the sound brighter, whereas negative values lead to a more mellow sound.
- Variation slider (morphable): An additional timbre parameter, which is also type dependent. See the table below for details regarding its impact on the sound.
- VeloSens slider (Objects 1 and 2 only): Excite objects are velocity sensitive, but this may not be appropriate for all sounds. This parameter, found at the bottom of Objects 1 and 2, allows you to reduce velocity sensitivity to 0.
Note: An object is velocity sensitive only when a type that actively excites the string is selected. The Velocity Slider is available only for objects that are velocity sensitive.
Object 1 is velocity sensitive.
Object 2 can be both, depending on the chosen object type.
Object 3 is not velocity sensitive.
Sculpture Excite Table (Objects 1 and 2)
Before you examine the tables of object types and properties, it is important to note the following:
Object 1 can only make use of the excite types found in the first table.
Object 2 can make use of the types available in both tables.
Object 3 can only make use of the disturb/damp types found in the second table.
The following table lists all excite types available for Objects 1 and 2, and information about the controls available for each object type.
Name | Description | Strength controls | Timbre controls | Variation controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Impulse | A short impulse excitation | Impulse amplitude | Width | Velocity dependence of width |
Strike | Short excitation like a piano hammer or mallet | Hammer start speed (velocity dependent) | Hammer mass | Felt stiffness |
GravStrike | Like hammer but with gravitation towards the string, leading to multiple hammer-string interactions and disturbed string vibrations | Hammer start speed | Felt stiffness | Gravitation |
Pick | Finger or plectrum picking | Pickup force and speed | Force/speed ratio | Plectrum stiffness |
Bow | Bowing of the string | Bow speed | Bow pressure | Slip stick characteristics |
Bow Wide | Same as bow, but wider, resulting in a more mellow tone, especially suited for smooth bow position changes | Bow speed | Bow pressure | Slip stick characteristics |
Noise | Noise injected into the string | Noise level | Noise bandwidth/cutoff frequency | Noise resonance |
Blow | Blow into one end of the string (an air column, or tube). At various positions, starting from 0.0 (far left), move the blowing direction and position from along the string toward one end. The string is blown sideways at the chosen position. | Lip clearance | Blow pressure | Noisiness |
External (available only for Object 2) | Feeds sidechain signal into string. | Level | Cutoff frequency of lowpass filter being used to process sidechain signal | Width (size) of the string area being affected by the side-chained signal |
Sculpture Disturb and Damp Table (Objects 2 and 3)
The following table lists all disturb/damp types available for Objects 2 and 3.
Name | Description | Strength controls | Timbre controls | Variation controls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Disturb | A disturb object that is placed at a fixed distance from the string’s resting position. | The hardness of the object | The distance from the resting position.
| Controls width.
|
Disturb 2-Sided | Somewhat like a ring placed around the string, which limits the string’s vibration in all directions. | The hardness of the ring | The clearance of the ring (the distance between the ring and string)
| No effect |
Bouncing | Emulates a loose object lying or bouncing on, and interacting with, the vibrating string. This is very random by nature and can’t be synchronized. | Controls the gravity constant for the object lying/bouncing on the string. | The stiffness of the object | The damping of the object |
Bound | A boundary that limits and reflects string movement. This is much like a fingerboard that limits string movement when the string is plucked very firmly. | The distance from the boundary center position to the string’s resting position | The slope (steepness) of the boundary. A value of 0.0 places the boundary parallel to the string. Other values will position the boundary closer to the string on one end and farther away on the other. | The amount of reflection at the boundary limits |
Mass | Used to model an additional mass attached to the string. This can lead to inharmonic sounds, and very interesting results, if the position of this mass is modulated along the string. | The mass size/weight | No effect | No effect |
Damp | Localized damper, which is useful for soft damping. | The intensity of the damping | The damping characteristics | The width of the damped string section |