SWAM Solo Brass User Manual v1.0.
Table Of Contents Before you start 3 Licensing 4 Specifications 5 Installation 5 Installation paths 6 Hardware Requirements 7 Audio interface (sound card) 7 MIDI devices 7 Software Requirements 7 Using an appropriate range of Expression 8 Introduction 9 Instrument parameters Main window 11 12 Audio section 13 Header section 14 Expressivity 15 Play Modes 16 Timbre 17 Pitch 18 Master Tuning 18 Microtuning 19 Advanced 21 Effects 23 Controller Mapping 24 Mapping Scr
Before you start Although these instruments are intuitive and easy to play “out-of-the-box”, getting excellent results requires a certain amount of practice and experience. Please read this user manual carefully. It contains very important information that will help you achieve the best results in a much shorter time. Also listen to the demos on the Audio Modeling website audiomodeling.com/media The latest version of all SWAM manuals can be found at audiomodeling.
Other physical MIDI controllers, like sliders, knobs or a mod wheel, though not recommended, can be used for this purpose. Please refer to other sections of this manual for further details. When used for studio production, it is necessary to provide either a MIDI Expression curve or Automations. Note: the MIDI note naming convention we use is based on Middle C = C4, corresponding to MIDI note number 60. Licensing The License Key we provide can be activated on up to four computers at the same time.
Specifications Mac OSX 10.11 (El Capitan), macOS 10.12 (Sierra) – 10.15 (Catalina) ● Standalone, Audio Units, VST, VST3, AAX 64bit ● NKS (Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol) Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 ● Standalone, VST, VST3, AAX 64bit ● NKS (Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol) Required space after installation: 25 MB per single product, 125 MB for the complete bundle. RAM occupancy: about 15 MB for each instrument instance.
NOTE: the product can be activated “online” only, i.e. connected to the Internet. If you need to work offline, just connect to the Internet for the time required for the authorization, then you can disconnect again.
Hardware Requirements Audio interface (sound card) A good quality audio interface with suitable low-latency drivers (like ASIO) is required. Recommended settings for buffer size are 128, 256 samples, or 512 samples (higher latency, but less CPU load). Onboard audio devices are often suitable on modern computers.
Using an appropriate range of Expression This is an extremely important aspect for getting the optimal expressiveness and realism with virtual instruments. All real instruments require a much greater degree of effort to achieve the highest possible dynamics for that instrument. This is not the case for most physical MIDI controllers; it is indeed very easy to push an expression pedal, or a slider, to the maximum and leave it there forever.
Introduction SWAM Solo Brass is a collection of solo brass instruments conceived and developed by Stefano Lucato and the Audio Modeling team. These instruments are based on Physical Modeling technology and do not make use of any samples. SWAM Solo Brass collection includes fifteen brass instruments, grouped in three product families: ● SWAM Trumpets: ○ Flugelhorn (E♭), Flugelhorn, Trumpet, Trumpet (C), Piccolo Trumpet.
Each instrument has three "Pipe Gestures” for each “Pipe Model”: 1. Normal Valve (transitions emphasize overtones). Valves 2. Half Valve Transitions. 3. Half Valve. 1. Fixed Slide (transitions emphasize overtones). Slide (i.e. Coulisse) 2. Slide Follow Real (bend). 3. Slide Follow +/-7 (extended).
Pedal notes On brass instruments Timbre adjustments It is possible to adjust timbre through a variety of parameters on the “Timbre” page: “Bell Resonance”, “Breath Noise”, “Dirtiness”. “Dynamic Sens.” adjusts the amount that the Expression level changes the spectral character of the sound in the higher harmonics. The higher this parameter is set, the more “Brassy” the sound will be.
Main window Main controls ● Mute (left/right arrows) ○ No Mute: there is no mute in the instrument’s bell. ○ Straight Mute: adds a straight mute into the instrument’s bell. ○ HarmWah Mute: adds a harm-wah mute in front of the instrument’s bell. ○ Cup Mute: adds a cup mute in front of the instrument’s bell. ○ Hand Mute: simulates a hand in front (or inside) the instrument’s bell.
● ● ● ● Pipe Gesture The Pipe Gesture is selected by the Pipe Model switch, available on the main page or in the Play Modes page. ○ Valve: ■ Norm Valve: standard valve playing mode. ■ Half Valve Trans. (Half Valve Transitions): standard valve playing mode, with half-valve transitions. This emulates a slow-moving transition between the valve states. ■ Half Valve: half valve playing mode. This emulates the player not completely opening or closing the valves.
Header section ● Controller Mapping icon ● Main menu icon ○ ○ ○ ○ : open MIDI mapping management section. : opens the main menu page that provides access to: Presets selection and management (rename, save, duplicate, export, import, reset/reload, delete). Panic Button. System Audio and MIDI Settings. Window size and orientation options. SWAM Solo Brass - v1.0.1 Copyright © 2020 – Audio Modeling® - SWAM engine® - All rights reserved.
Expressivity ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Expression: main expressive control. This model set/show how hard the player is blowing into the physical model, i.e the breath intensity. Vibrato Depth: controls the amount of vibrato or shake. Vibrato is modelled as rapid changes to the shape of the lips of the player (the embouchure) or their contact with the mouthpiece, and of the breath intensity: ○ Soft vibrato (< 0.5). ○ Shake (>= 0.5). Vibrato Rate: controls the average frequency of the Vibrato applied to the model.
● ● Reactivity: amount of harmonic transitions enhancement. For example, natural pipe subharmonic fluttering during valve transitions, attacks or fast dynamic changes. Mute Control: controls the mute applied to the instrument, as in the Main GUI. Play Modes ● ● ● ● ● ● Pipe Model: same as in the Main GUI. Pipe Gesture: same as in the Main GUI. Mutes: same as in the Main GUI.
● ● ● ● ● ● Pedal Notes ○ OFF ○ ON = Makes it possible to play pedal notes one octave below the lowest nominal note of the instrument. This is possible by modelling an additional Valve. Pipe Selection: same as in the Main GUI. Valve 1: controls the position of the first valve (when Pipe Selection = Manual). Valve 2: controls the position of the second valve (when Pipe Selection = Manual). Valve 3: controls the position of the third valve (when Pipe Selection = Manual).
● ● ● ● ● Breath Noise: the amount of breath noise (this becomes more audible when notes are played with low Expression values.) Dirtiness: the amount of sound jitter produced by a random component of the modeled lips’ vibration (this is more audible when notes are played with high Expression values). Mute Size: the size of the mute/cup, if selected (see “Mutes”). Mute Tone: the tone of the mute/cup, if selected (see “Mutes”). Dynamic Sens.
● ● ● ● Master Tune (Hz): master tuning of the instrument. Pitch Bend Up: the maximum amount of upwards pitch bend, in semitones. Pitch Bend Down: the maximum amount of downwards pitch-bend, in semitones. Transpose: the amount to transpose the instrument, in semitones. Microtuning ● ● Activation: Click on any key to toggle the detune, by the amount shown on the button. Edit: Click on the detune value to adjust. The value is presented in cents (hundredths of a semitone). SWAM Solo Brass - v1.0.
● ● Favorites: it is possible to store up to 7 different settings. Click and hold the preset slot to store the current configuration; click on any preset slotto recall the preset. Click on the Clear button to reset the current configuration to the default state. Temperament: if set higher than zero, this applies a kind of “spread intonation”: ○ it does not affect the pitch in the middle of the instrument. ○ the higher the pitch, the more upward detuning is applied.
Advanced ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Unison Anti-Phasing (for unison ensembles): same as in the Main GUI. Panpot Type: ○ Dyn1, Dyn2 - emulates small movements of the player. ○ Acoustic - adjusts the position of the instrument in the sound field, but does not affect the reverb. ○ Balance - affects both the instrument and the reverb. Release Time: the time (measured in milliseconds) that breath continues for after note-off. Dynamic Pitch: how much the pitch varies during a fast change of expression.
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Random Lips: controls how much randomness is applied to the tuning and tension of the player’s modeled lips. Portamento Max Time: controls the portamento time, set to OFF to disable portamento (no portamento when this value is < 1,5). MIDI Profile: ○ MPE: for MIDI Polyphonic Expression compatible devices. ○ Legacy: MIDI 1.0 devices. Attack Control - how the attack of the note is controlled: ○ Vel. Hard - controlled strongly by the note-on velocity. ○ Vel.
Effects ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Compressor: controls how much the dynamic compressor will change the volume output. Bell Angle: controls the angle of the bell direction relative to the listener. EQ Enabled: enables or disables the Equalizer (see next). EQ Low Gain, EQ Mid Gain, EQ Mid Freq, EQ High Gain: Equalizer parameters. Note that ranges are different for each instrument. They have been calibrated for the harmonic contents of each instrument.
Controller Mapping The Midi Controller Mapping section allows the user to manage the mapping between an external MIDI controller and the instrument parameters. To access this page, click on the mapping icon on the top header In this view/context, the parameters assigned to a controller are highlighted with a purple area with dashed borders; parameters which are not assigned are highlighted with a green area. Parameters not highlighted are not available for mapping.
● ● ● To map or edit a parameter mapping, click directly on the parameter to access the mapping screen for that parameter. Click on the “Summary” button in the top header to view the list of all parameters, their mapping status and to manage the sound engine parameters that have a direct effect on playability results with different controller types. Click on the “X” button in the top header to exit from Controller Mapping mode.
● Controlled By section: ○ Channel: change which MIDI channel this controller will be affected by, from 1 to 16, or ANY. ○ Message: MIDI message type: ■ CC: Control Change (1 byte value). ■ CC-HIRES: two coupled Control Change messages, MSB and LSB. ■ AT: Aftertouch (1 byte value). ■ NRPN: Non-Registered Parameter Number. ○ CC# MSB: available only for Message = CC, CC-HIRES, NRPN: ■ if Message = CC, MSB is the CC number.
● Advanced Settings : click on the button to show the mapping curve. The curve can be used to adjust the controller behaviour with: ○ Input Min: the minimum threshold on the controller input value. Values below this value will produce the “Out Min” value (or the “Out Max” value, if the curve is “inverted”). ○ Input Max: the maximum threshold on the controller input value. Values above this value will produce the “Out Max” value (or the “Out Min” value, if the curve is “inverted”).
Un-assigned parameter status Any click on an unassigned parameter goes to this screen. SWAM is automatically listening for MIDI input messages while in LEARN MODE. Move the controller you want to connect, to automatically complete the mapping. The area “Controlled by” will be automatically filled in by MIDI Learn but can still be edited by manual input as well. SWAM Solo Brass - v1.0.1 Copyright © 2020 – Audio Modeling® - SWAM engine® - All rights reserved.
Summary The Summary screen recaps all the mapping settings providing the big picture of all mappings and the configuration of auxiliary parameters. It is organized in two tabs: ● External Controller Mapping: this is the list of the all the parameters that can be mapped individually by the process described above. Click on any row to create a new assignment, or to edit the existing assignment. ● SWAM Solo Brass - v1.0.1 Copyright © 2020 – Audio Modeling® - SWAM engine® - All rights reserved.
● Auxiliary Parameters: settings and parameters that have a key role in managing the sound engine’s response to different controllers. Most of the entries can be found in the “Pitch” and the “Advanced” sections as well. These parameters are saved along with the External Controller mapping entries to ensure consistent controller presets. SWAM Solo Brass - v1.0.1 Copyright © 2020 – Audio Modeling® - SWAM engine® - All rights reserved.
Main menu ● Preset List: on the left hand side it is possible to select presets. The SWAM presets are organized into two groups: Factory and User. User presets can be added, edited and deleted. Factory presets cannot be edited or deleted; any save action performed on a Factory preset generates a User preset. Any preset can be selected to become the “default” one, i.e. the one loaded at startup: just click on [...] and choose “Set as default”. ● Save: save current preset.
● Import preset: load a .swam preset file. ● Advanced preset manager button: shows the preset components, such as Sound engine parameters, Controller Mapping and Micro Tuning settings. From this area it is possible to import or export only subsets of the SWAM presets. ● RESET: reset parameters to the default state. ● DELETE: delete the user-selected preset. ● PANIC BUTTON: silence, use this in case of stuck notes. Orientation and Scaling: set the GUI orientation and zoom ● factor.
SWAM Solo Brass - v1.0.1 Copyright © 2020 – Audio Modeling® - SWAM engine® - All rights reserved.
KeySwitches Depending on the “KS Octave” parameter, Key Switches can be positioned beginning at any octave from C-1 to C2, or they can be disabled. By default, the Key Switches are positioned starting from C1 (MIDI note 24)where C3 = Middle C (MIDI note 60). You can change the MIDI channel from which Key Switches receive note-events through the “KS Channel” setting. This can be useful when controlling Key Switches from a separate keyboard. The Key Switch state depends on the note-on velocity.
Range of instruments SWAM Solo Brass - v1.0.1 Copyright © 2020 – Audio Modeling® - SWAM engine® - All rights reserved.
Known issues ● ● ● ● MPE MIDI profile: pitch-bend not working after a retriggered note, i.e. when releasing a note while the previous was held. Workaround: use your MPE controller in Single Channel mode, and set “Legacy” MIDI Profile on SWAM. Microtuning: selection of notes to detune by Key-Switches and External Controller not implemented yet. 0.5x and 0.75x display ratios can exhibit minor graphical issues. Window resizing for plugins: close and reopen the plugin window to apply the new size.
