SWAM Woodwinds - User Manual Saxophones, Clarinets, Double Reeds, Flutes v2.9.
Table Of Contents Table Of Contents ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Before You Start .......................................................................................................................................... 3 System requirements .................................................................................................................................. 4 Hardware requirements ......
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 https://audiomodeling.com and on our YouTube channel https://audiomodeling.
System requirements Required operating systems PC: Windows 7, 8, 10, Vista or XP 64 bit macOS: Intel only, Mac OS X 10.7 – 10.14 Supported plugin formats PC: VST* 64 bit, AAX 64 bit macOS: AU* 64 bit, VST* 64 bit, AAX 64 bit * Audio Unit v3 and VST3 not supported yet CPU load The realism and expressiveness of the SWAM instrument set can be very CPU intensive. It therefore requires a modern computer with at least a 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU for a single instance of any SWAM product.
Hardware requirements Audio interface (sound card) A good quality audio interface (USB, FireWire, PCI) with suitable low-latency drivers (like ASIO for PC users) is required. The allowed buffer size is up to 2048 samples. Recommended settings are 128, 256 samples, or 512 samples (higher latency, but less CPU load).
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.
The Instrument and its controls Main Instrument GUI (graphical user interface) If properly activated (please read the enclosed “Installation guide”), the instrument GUI should appear as follows after loading: Please select the proper default instrument preset (keyboard or wind controller) by clicking the Load button to the right of the upper central display window, using your currently available MIDI input device (see above), for example: SWAM Woodwinds v2.9.0 - User Manual – rev.
When you begin playing, you may receive a warning message reminding you that an expression controller (preferably CC11, CC7, CC2 or AfterTouch for tactile devices like the Seaboard or the LinnStrument) is absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of the instrument: By default, the software assigns the expression control to CC11 if in keyboard mode, and to CC2 if in wind controller or breath controller mode. These default settings can be changed manually.
Main controls vs. articulations Velocity controls: - Initial attack (for detached notes) - Portamento time (for legato, if Transit.Time button is set to Velocity) Expression (CC11, CC2, CC7 or other CCs set on the “MIDI Mapping” page) controls the dynamics (from pp to ff) Mod wheel (CC1) controls the vibrato intensity CC19 controls the vibrato rate Pitch bend controls the pitch. The pitch bend range (downwards — upwards, in semitones) can be directly set by the user in the main GUI (see page 7).
MAIN page Load & Save *: Loads and saves instrument settings (Paths – see page 12). M.Tune Hz: Master Tune frequency in Hz. M.T.Cents: Master Tune in cents (Linked to M.Tune Hz, A3 = 440Hz). Reverb Time: Reverb duration. Reverb Mix: Reverb amount (if set to 0, the reverb is bypassed, saving CPU). Transp: Instrument transposition (Key switches are not transposed); current instrument range indicated on the virtual keyboard (black & white keys) follows the transposition. PB D .. U ..
Rand.Dyn: Controls random modulation of dynamics and pitch. Dyn.Pitch: Amount of pitch modulation applied while changing the dynamics. Also controlled by CC8 [Dyn.Pitch CC mapping is not possible for the Flutes]. Attack Sens.: Changes the attack behavior, assigning it to: 1. Velocity (linear response, “hard”), 2. Velocity (non-linear response, “soft”), or directly to Expression. Harm.Struct: Spectral characteristics of the instrument (balance between odd and even harmonics).
Windows, VST or AAX plugins: /Audio Modeling/SWAM///Presets Mac, AU, VST or AAX plugins: /Users/Shared/Audio Modeling///Presets Otherwise the folder selected for the latest saved preset is shown. SWAM Woodwinds v2.9.0 - User Manual – rev.
OPTIONS page Clicking on the OPTIONS button opens Advanced Parameter settings and the Microtuning section. The MIDI mapping page is provided as a separate window, that can be accessed clicking the "MIDI mapping" button. SWAM Woodwinds v2.9.0 - User Manual – rev.
Advanced Parameters Attack to Sust Time: Affects the velocity-dependent duration of the transition from attack to sustain. Auto Expr: The slider controls the depth of legato transitions. Note: Transition (legato) time is controlled by velocity (or CC5, if in wind controller mode). The velocity response can be set using the “Transition Vel Sens” slider. The maximum transition time can be set using the “Transition Max Time” slider (see below).
Chromatic On/Off: Activates an automatic chromatic scale during slow portamentos on larger intervals. Attack-Exprs Bias: Modifies the steepness of the attack vs. velocity, depending on Expression (disabled in wind controller mode). KS Oct.Transp.: KeySwitch Octave Transposition; “0”: no transposition; “-12”: moves the keyswitch section 1 octave lower; “Off” disables the Key Switches. See also “Keyswitches” below. Attack Start: Progressively cuts the attack for a more immediate attack response.
MIDI MAPPING page The MIDI CC remapper allows you to remap all the control parameters to any MIDI CC depending on your needs. All the main parameters of the instrument are assignable to respond to MIDI CCs so they can be controlled in real-time from a MIDI controller or from a MIDI sequence in a DAW. It is possible to assign the same MIDI CC to more than one parameter; in addition, it is possible to act on the Min/Max controls to rescale the input MIDI values.
Flutes – differences from the other SWAM wind instruments S t y l e: Affects parameters like dynamics sensitivity, overtones and noise behavior in a way that is more suitable for particular styles like classical, jazz, funk or ethnic music; the slider gradually varies the style from Classical to Ethnic. AltF: Alternate Fingering. Can be changed by using the Key Switches E1 (momentary) or F1 (latch) or controlled by CC28.
PipeSplit: Can be also controlled by CC27. Shifts the register breaks of a flute by +/- 1 semitone. Crossing a register break when playing a real flute requires a rapid change of both the pipe length and the overtone. This leads to a characteristic “knock” when playing legato, particularly audible when playing a trill. (More on the physics of the real instrument at https://audiomodeling.com/technology/swam-w ).
MIDI mapping In The Flutes, the “SubHarmonics” and the “Dynamic Pitch” parameters are not assignable to any MIDI CC. These options are replaced by “PipeSplit” and “Alt. Fingering” Microtuning This is an entirely new feature, dealing with the requirements of musicians using non-tempered scales. Our approach to microtuning yields maximal flexibility, providing for user-defined scales, where the extent of detuning (range +100/-100 cents) can be precisely set for each note using a series of sliders.
By default, detuning is set, but not yet applied to any given note. To apply detuning, you can choose between two methods: 1. Using the mouse in the instrument GUI. 2. Making changes “on the fly”, using key switches. The “Temperament” slider, if set higher than zero, 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. The lower the pitch, the more downward detuning is applied.
Clicking on the bar graph again will switch detuning off. Double-clicking anywhere in the bar graph area will switch off detuning for all the notes. Please note that the above will only work on the main instrument page. Applying microtuning using key switches You can also apply microtuning to notes using key switches. To do this you must first go into Select Note Mode (SNM – see below) and then press the appropriate key switches that correspond to the notes you would like to detune.
3. Exit SNM by releasing the sus pedal (or send a value below 64 via the CC assigned for this task).
This protocol allows to change both Microtuning and Transposition on the fly through SysEx messages. 1) Microtuning message Each message is 4 bytes: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th byte: byte: byte: byte: Beginning of SysEx message (F0) Note value (00=C, 02=C#, 04=D, ...
How to save your microtuning settings Microtuning settings — except those done “on the fly” with key switches — can be stored and loaded as instrument presets using the Save/Load buttons in the instrument GUI. Key switches Some parameters of SWAM instruments can also be triggered by the key switches C, C# and D (this includes E and F for the Flutes). If there is an overlap in the instrument range after transposition, the key switches can be moved down one octave using the “KS Oct. Transp.
Licensing The License Key we provide can be activated twice. Each activation is possible on a computer only. Refer to the Installation Guide for instructions on how to authorize SWAM products. For moving an authorization to a different computer, go to the Customer Portal at https://my.audiomodeling.com/ and delete it from activations list of the corresponding License Key. Customer Portal Login to the Customer Portal at https://my.audiomodeling.com/ to manage your License Keys, Downloads and Activations.
Technical Support Before requesting technical support, please make sure that you have carefully read the User Manual and the FAQs on our Support Center: https://support.audiomodeling.com/kb There you will quickly find appropriate answers to most questions. Should you still need support, please contact the SWAM support at support@audiomodeling.com or open a Ticket through the Support Center: https://support.audiomodeling.
