Program a sustained synthesizer sound in Sculpture in Logic Pro for Mac

1. In Logic Pro, make sure you have loaded the default setting, then drag the Object 1 slider all the way to the left. Starting from this position, where it generates only an overtone-rich scratch, start animating it by using the envelope.

2. Locate the Envelope section in the lower-right corner of the Sculpture window. Select the first of the two envelopes by clicking the envelope 1 button to select it. In the left part of the Envelope section, notice the two routing possibilities that are used to assign a modulation target to the envelope.

3. Click the 1 button to activate the first routing link, and choose Object1 Position from the Target pop-up menu as the modulation target. Drag the amt slider all the way to the right to set the modulation intensity to its maximum value.

   

   The envelope can now be recorded. It is assumed that your MIDI keyboard has a modulation wheel that outputs the corresponding MIDI controller message (CC number 1) and that option 1 ModWhl is selected for control of Envelope 1 (choose 1 ModWhl from the CtrlEnv 1 pop-up menu in the dark bottom edge of the Sculpture window).

4. Click the R button near the top of the Envelope section below Record Trigger, to prepare the envelope for recording. Choose Note + Ctrl Movement from the Record Trigger pop-up menu.

   This option specifies that the recording of the controller messages from the modulation wheel begins the instant the first note is played.

   

5. Play a note when you want to start the recording, and move the modulation wheel slowly upward while keeping the key on the keyboard depressed. Notice the sound variations you create while moving the modulation wheel.

6. At the end of the recording, return the wheel to its initial starting position and, after you release the depressed note, click the R button to deactivate the recording mode.

To give the very dry-sounding “0001 raw pad” setting a little more stereo breadth and chorus effect, modulate the Pickup positions, and assign them to the left and right channels.

1. In Logic Pro, load the “0001 raw pad” setting.

2. Drag the Spread Pickup semicircle upward until the light blue dots come to rest near the line that separates both semicircles.

   This separates the stereo pan positions of the Pickups.

   

3. Click the 1 and 2 buttons to activate both of the modulation links in LFO1.

4. For the first link, choose PickupA Position from the Target pop-up menu, and then drag the amt slider to a small positive value of about 0.03 Hz to modulate the position of Pickup A.

   

5. For the second link, choose PickupB Position from the Target pop-up menu, and then drag the amt slider to a small negative value of about −0.03 Hz to modulate the position of Pickup B.

   You can hear a pleasant beating or chorus effect in the sound, which makes it broader and more full, alleviating the unpleasant, dry character. Another unpleasant aspect is that the sound is too strong in the mid frequency range and could use some equalization. You can use the Body EQ to correct this.

6. Activate the Body EQ, and experiment with the Lo Mid Hi model—the standard setting. Try reducing Mid to −0.5 and dragging the Mid Frequency slider to 0.37.

   

7. To give the pad a little depth, activate the Delay. Set the Delay Time to 1/4 and adjust the Xfeed knob to 30%.

   The pad now has a pleasant and unobtrusive ambience; you can leave the other Delay parameters at their original values.

   

You can make the sound more animated with some subtle modulation, which makes the jitter modulators the perfect tool for the job. The jitter modulators are basically LFOs that use a random waveform.

1. In Logic Pro, click the Jitter button below the LFO section to activate the display for both of the jitter modulators.

2. Click the 1 button to turn on the first link in Jitter 1, and choose Object1 Timbre from the Target pop-up menu.

3. Drag the slider below the Target pop-up menu to −0.40 to adjust the Intensity, and reduce the Rate parameter to 1 Hz. There should be subtle inconsistencies in the pressure applied by the bow to the string. To better recognize this effect, temporarily increase the Intensity level.

   You can use the second jitter modulator for random position deviations with the modulation target Pickup Pos A+B (pickup position A and B).

4. Activate Jitter 2 and choose the Pickup Pos A+B setting from the Target pop-up menu.

   

5. Drag the slider below the Target pop-up menu to an Intensity of about 0.2, and adjust the Rate knob to 1.5 Hz. As you increase the Intensity, the sound develops a distinct clinking or rattling—adjust this effect to taste.

You now have a satisfactory pad sound, which you should leave alone at this point, even though a few Sculpture features such as the Filter and the Waveshaper lie idle—not to mention the two additional Objects—but sometimes it’s a good idea to quit while you’re ahead.