3.5

521MainStage Instruments
Create the proper working environment for design of your own bass sound in
Sculpture
1. In MainStage, make sure the range from C 0 to C 3 is available on your keyboard by
either transposing your master keyboard, or by using the Transpose function in the
Region parameters of your host application.
Note: You can, of course, transpose sounds within Sculpture, but this isn’t the best
solution in this case, for the following reason:Sounds would not be compatible with
MIDI regions in which note number 60 as middleC is considered to be the measure of
all things.
2. Choose the #default setting from the Settings pop-up menu in Sculpture.
Recreate the sound characteristics of a typical bass instrument in Sculpture
1. In MainStage, set the Attack value of the amplitude envelope to its minimum value
(0.00ms). The A(ttack) slider is just to the right of the Material Pad.
2. Shorten the Release time of the amplitude envelope to a value between 4 and 5ms.
Play a key on your keyboard. The note should stop abruptly when you release the key
and should be free of artifacts (a digital crackle or snap). If you encounter any artifacts,
carefully increase the Release time.
3. Play some sustained notes in the range above E 0. These die away too quickly. Correct
this quick die-out with the Media Loss parameter by dragging the slider to the left of
the Material Pad almost all the way down to the bottom. Note that the low E string on a
high-quality bass can sound for over a minute.
Your basic bass should simulate a fingered articulation, which means that the sound is
created by striking the strings with fingers.
4. Choose Pick from the Type pop-up menu of Object1.
Don’t be confused by the name of the object type; despite the name pick, this model is
appropriate for simulating the playing of strings with your fingers.
Play some notes in the lower range. You’ll hear that the sound is very muffled, hollow,
and distorted. Before you adjust further parameters in Object1, you need to set the
position of the pickup.
This is accomplished in the Pickup display to the left of the Material Pad. You’ll find
three arrow-shaped sliders, representing Objects1 to 3. The two transparent bell-
shaped curves help you to visualize the position and width of PickupA and PickupB.
On electric basses the pickups are found quite a way off to the side and near the bridge.
This particular bass has only a single pickup.
The behavior of a single pickup is simulated by placing both pickups at exactly the
same position.