A set of solo saxophones entitled The Sax Brothers followed, created by the aforementioned Stefano Lucato in collaboration with Tommasini and Siedlaczek. Undeterred, Mr Tommasini joined forces with orchestral sampling pioneer Peter Siedlaczek, formed the Sample Modeling company and released a range of superbly realistic, Kontakt-powered solo brass and wind instruments spearheaded by (cue fanfare) The Trumpet. The same team went on to develop Gofriller Cello before Garritan abruptly and permanently discontinued both products.
![setting swam engine to a midi keyboard setting swam engine to a midi keyboard](https://www.patchmanmusic.com/audioModelingTrombones.jpg)
Incorporating Garritan's samples, Tommasini's revolutionary 'harmonic alignment' technology and other techniques developed by the two Italians, the instrument's lifelike performances wowed your trusty SOS reviewer back in August 2006. The story begins with the Stradivari Solo Violin, created by Giorgio Tommasini, Stefano Lucato and Gary Garritan. A little thought, co-ordination and basic keyboard skill is required, but once you get the hang of operating them, the SWAM solo instruments have the potential to add huge expressive power and realism to your MIDI arrangements.īeyond the fact that both companies are European, sell solo instruments and have excruciatingly misspelled names, Audio Modeling and Sample Modeling share a somewhat tangled history. Technical wizardry aside, it's clear a great deal of musicality has been brought to bear on these collections, resulting in a set of instruments which feel alive when you play them.
SETTING SWAM ENGINE TO A MIDI KEYBOARD DOWNLOAD
What's more of a surprise is how Audio Modeling managed to create such convincing and expressive solo strings without using samples, and then cram each instrument into a download so tiny you could almost fit it on a floppy disk - I suspect sorcery must have been involved. Now I've heard the results, I'm no less enthusiastic - these woodwinds are spot on, easily matching the quality, playability and versatility of the saxophones. Conclusionīack in 2012 I enthused about hearing what the SWAM technology could do when applied to orchestral solo woodwinds. Beyond these simple styles lies a vast world of advanced keyswitchable playing options, displaying a fanatical attention to detail which confirms that no stone was left unturned in the quest for ultimate realism. Like the SWAM woodwinds, these instruments are essentially monophonic, but a polyphonic mode is available, with a nice 'hold' option for performing double-stopped country licks. Also available are usable harmonics, adjustable-speed tremolos and a sordino button which darkens and softens the sound. In addition to straight arco bowing and a modest-sounding pizzicato, the solo strings have a somewhat weedy col legno option which lacks any real force. Other than that, it's perfectly usable, and you can amuse young relatives by showing them the 'moving finger' which plonks out notes on the GUI instrument graphic when you play pizzicato walking bass lines.
![setting swam engine to a midi keyboard setting swam engine to a midi keyboard](https://jamosapien.com/uploads/default/original/1X/a428df76a5b9e8b821129a9b3f958de412c80190.png)
I was initially surprised that the double bass lacks the low C extension used by many orchestral players - the instrument bottoms out on a low E1 - but this can be adjusted in the Options page. Being non-sample-based, these instruments maintain impressive tonal integrity across their entire compass. The cello is also very decent, and matches the higher strings' expressiveness and wide dynamic range.
![setting swam engine to a midi keyboard setting swam engine to a midi keyboard](https://is2-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/PurpleSource116/v4/2c/ac/9a/2cac9ad8-72ab-9837-ae01-20bac819314f/2cbc863b-74a9-413f-a50f-20a952260e73_01_-_Oboe_-_Main.PNG/750x750bb.jpeg)
![setting swam engine to a midi keyboard setting swam engine to a midi keyboard](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/i3mxCCCV1Fs/maxresdefault.jpg)
The Options page of SWAM Violin contains a large amount of advanced parameters for those who enjoy tweaking their instrument parameters!On a more subtle note, I enjoyed the viola's warm, lyrical low register. Fortunately, scrapy and synthetic are not on the menu here: these solo strings sound fat, rich-toned and realistic, and like the solo woodwinds, constitute some of the most playable instruments I've come across.Īudio titled SWAM Cello by Sound On Sound Solo strings are the bête noire of the sample user, and we've all winced at the thin, scrapy, synthetic efforts served up in most keyboard workstations. SWAM Solo Strings comprises violin, viola, cello and double bass.ĭespite the impressive credentials, I approached these instruments with a heavy heart. Apparently the modelling techniques arose from an in-depth study of Professor Julius O Smith's Digital Waveguide Synthesis (yet to make the Richard & Judy Book Club bestseller list), to which the makers added elements providing real-time control of bow speed, bow pressure, bow position, vibrato, portamento, etc. While SWAM Woodwinds utilise a hybrid combination of modelling and sampling techniques, SWAM Solo Strings' sound is generated by pure physical modelling with no samples involved at all - hence the instruments' miniscule data footprint.