Program classic synthesizer sounds in Sculpture in MainStage

One strength of Sculpture is the ability to create endlessly evolving pad and atmospheric sounds. It can also generate fat synth basses, powerful leads, and other types of typical synthesizer sounds.

Sculpture has an advantage over traditional synthesizers in that its core synthesis engine produces a wider variety of basic tones, and these tones have an organic quality and richness to them.

The tasks below provide programming guidelines, tips, tricks, and information to assist you in creating classic synthesizer sounds in Sculpture.

Create a basic synthesizer pad sound in Sculpture

In MainStage, load the #default (or your vanilla) setting file.
Set the Voices parameter to 16.
Set Object 1 type to Bow.
Set Object 2 type to “Bow wide.”
Drag the Material Pad ball to a position at the extreme left of the Pad, exactly halfway between the top and bottom—on a line with the Material label.
Play a C chord (middle C).
You’ll hear a pad sound.
Move Pickup A to a position around 0.75.
The pad is a little sweeter.
Move Object 1 position to a value of 0.84.
Move Object 2 position to a value of 0.34.
Click the Points icon that has five dots in the Morph Pad section.
Drag the Int slider in the Morph Pad Randomize section to a value of 25%, for example.
Click the Morph Rnd button one time.
Choose File > Save Setting As, and enter a new name, such as “vanilla pad,” for example.

You’ll be using this basic pad sound for several other examples. Don’t be shy about doctoring the “vanilla pad”—anything goes, so make use of any of the Filter, Delay, EQ, and Waveshaper parameters to quickly create new sounds.

Create an evolving synthesizer pad sound in Sculpture

In MainStage, load the #default (or your “vanilla pad”) setting file.
Click the LFO 1 button at the bottom left of the interface.
Click the 1 button, and play the keyboard.
The difference you hear is subtle.
While holding down a chord, drag the amt slider left and right. Finally settle on a value of 0.15.
Choose Object 1 Strength from the Target pop-up menu near the 1 button.
You’ll hear a fluttering sound.
Click the sync button, and adjust the Rate knob to a value of 1/8t.
Activate the second LFO 1 object by clicking the 2 button, and then choose Object 1 Position from the Target pop-up menu by the 2 button.
If you play the keyboard, little is different.
Choose Velocity from the via pop-up menu near the 2 button.
Play the keyboard at different velocities, and you’ll hear some shifting of the Object 1 pickup position.
Choose Sample&Hold from the Waveform pop-up menu, then play the keyboard at different velocities. If you’ve got a sustain pedal, use it. Listen to the endlessly evolving sound.
You might want to experiment with the project tempo and the LFO rate.
You may want to alter the Spread Pickup value, and introduce LFO 2 or the other modulators.

Create a morphed synthesizer sound in Sculpture

In MainStage, load the #default (or your vanilla) setting file.
Click the R(ecord) button in the Morph Trigger section.
Play a chord on the keyboard, and drag the Morph Pad ball in a circle.
When you’re done, click the R(ecord) button again.
Now change the Morph Mode to Env only, and you should see your Morph circle.
Play the keyboard. There’s your morphed pad.
Feel free to adjust the morph envelope parameters.

If you created and saved the vanilla pad setting discussed in “Create a basic synthesizer pad sound”, you were asked to use the Morph Points, Intensity, and Rnd parameters as part of the setting. This was to ensure that there would be several morph points already available for your use when morphing.

You can, if you like, retain the path of your morphed pad, and continue to click the Rnd button and adjust the Int(ensity) slider for an endless variety of sounds.

Download the guides:

MainStage User Guide: PDF

MainStage Instruments: PDF

MainStage Effects: PDF

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