3.5

454MainStage Instruments
For example, imagine a steel-stringed guitar that is alternately strummed with your thumb
and then picked strongly with your fingers. Changing to nylon strings, or 12 strings, would
significantly 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 influence the resonant characteristics of your sound. Further elements,
such as the size or type of sound hole—round or F-shaped—the finger 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 enables you to virtually model the physical consistency and behavior of all
components involved—hence component modeling synthesis.
This figure shows the signal flow of the core Sculpture synthesis engine.
Following the stimulation of the string by various objects, the vibration of the string is
captured by two movable pickups—you can view these as being similar, in concept and
operation, to the electromagnetic pickups found on guitars, electric pianos, or clavinets.
The pickups send the signal to the ADSR-equipped amplitude stage, a Waveshaper
module, and a multimode filter. These all serve to sculpt your sound.
Note: All elements described above exist on a per voice basis.
The sum of all voice signals can then be sent to an EQ-like module (the BodyEQ), which
simulates the spectral shape/body response of your instrument, and then processed by an
integrated delay effect. The resulting signal is then fed to a level limiter section.
A vast number of modulation sources are also available, from tempo-synced LFOs to jitter
generators and recordable envelopes. These can control the string and object properties,
the filter, and other parameters. You can even modulate other modulation sources.
A recordable morph function also allows for smooth or abrupt transitions between up to
five morph points. A morph point is essentially a collection of parameter settings at a given
moment in time.
Important: The interaction between various sections of the component modeling synthesis
engine is more dynamic and more tightly intertwined than that of other synthesis methods.
This can lead to some truly unique sounds, but sometimes even a small parameter change
can deliver dramatically different, and unexpected, results. Sculpture requires a more
measured approach to sound creation than a traditional synthesizer design. Refer to the
flowchart while learning the interface and programming.