Apple MainStage 3 Instruments - MainStage 3 Instruments

Create a guitar sound
Guitar, lute, mandolin, and other plucked-type instruments, including harps, can be created from
this basic setting.
1 Load the #default (or your vanilla) setting file.
2 Set the Voices parameter to a value of 6—there are only six strings on a guitar. Obviously, pick 7
for a banjo, or as many as possible for a harp.
3 Set Object 1’s type to Impulse, if not already chosen.
4 Activate Object 2 and set its type to Pick.
5 Now move Pickup A’s position to the extreme right.
6 Move Object 2’s Pickup position to a value of 0.14.
7 Activate the Body EQ, and select one of the Guitar models.
8 Adjust the various Body EQ parameters. These have a major impact on the overall brightness
and tone of your guitar sound. (Try Model Guitar 2, Intensity 0.46, Shift 0.38, and Stretch 0.20, for
example.)
9 Set Fine Structure to a value of around 0.30 to 0.35—let your ears be the judge.
10 Drag the Spread Pickup semicircle vertically to increase the perception of stereo width (a value
around the 10 o’clock/2 o’clock mark is nice).
11 Activate the Filter, and select Lo Pass mode.
12 Adjust the Cutoff and Resonance parameters to taste (try both at 0.81).
13 Adjust the Tension Mod slider upward, and play the keyboard to see how the momentary
detuning effect caused by this parameter affects the sound. Set it to an appropriate amount.
14 Set the Level Limiter mode to “both.”
15 Choose Save Setting As from the Settings pop-up menu and save the setting with a new name.
You may notice that a different approach was taken in the creation of this setting. The reason for
this is the major impact that the Body EQ model has on the sound. In some cases, like this one, it
may be better to work slightly out of sequence, rather than to strictly follow the signal flow.
Create other guitar-like sounds
Do any of the following:
mm
Adjust the Object Strength, Variation, and Timbre parameters.
mm
Reposition the Material Pad ball to create a completely different tone to your guitar.
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Use Delay or Vibrato to emulate the double-strike picking of mandolins.
Chapter 13 Sculpture 301