Audio Modeling SWAM V3 of Solo Woodwinds, Double Reeds, Clarinets, and Sax Released

[Muziksculp]

Hi,

Audio Modeling has just released SWAM Version 3 of their :

Solo Woodwinds, Solo Double Reeeds, Solo Clrarinets, Solo Flutes, and Solo Sax

https://www.audiomodeling.com/

Cheers,
Muziksculp

[Muziksculp]

Here is wonderful sounding SWAM Sax V3 in action

[Muziksculp]

Here is SWAM V3 Flute :

[Piet De Ridder]

I'm still not wholly convinced by the flute and the clarinet -- what bothers me in v2 still bothers me in v3 -- but the bassoon (see video below) is phenomenally good.



_

[FriFlo]

The price for new customers for the all in bundle is 1400€/USD. I own every instrument from them except for the Solo Bass and the brass. Their upgrade offer to this is ... 1562€. Are you kidding me?

AM Offer.png (101.65 KiB) Viewed 11843 times

Well, obviously this has to be a mistake and the person who figured out the automatic discount system is better suited for doing anything else then figuring out a discount system ... but whatever the real number is: I don't really want the brass from AM. So, I can go with the all Woodwind bundle - I actually never used any of the woodwind except for the saxophones ... The All woodwinds is 187€ for a bunch of products most of which I bought about two years ago. Just for the saxophones. For the Saxes alone I cannot find an update offer.

I am afraid I have lost interest in them ... they started well, but I cannot find enough improvement in their products for the money they charge in such a short time.

[Muziksculp]

I'm still not wholly convinced by the flute and the clarinet -- what bothers me in v2 still bothers me in v3 -- but the bassoon (see video below) is phenomenally good.



_

Yeah, the V3 Bassoon sounds lovely.

I only have the SWAM Double Reeds from their woodwinds, and just upgraded to Version 3.

About the Flute, I think it sounds a bit over hyped, but that could also be the way he is playing the flute, kind of a jazzy style with a lot of attack overblowing, anyways, I don't have their Flute. But I really like the Sax, although not an instrument I write for much.

I wonder how the V3 Oboe, and Eng.Horn sound

[Ashermusic]

How are the saxes, without a breath controller? Much better than e.g. Broadway Big Band?

[Lawrence]

Here is wonderful sounding SWAM Sax V3 in action

Nice kazoo

[ZeeCount]

My thoughts so far: Saxes, Double Reeds and Clarinets are all improved. Flutes are still useless for anything classical related.

[The Saxer]

Flutes are still useless for anything classical related.

I don't think so.

[ZeeCount]

Flutes are still useless for anything classical related.

I don't think so.

I'd love for someone to provide a demo that shows otherwise. I can do some nice quasi-ethnic, funk, or jazz stuff with them, but I can't get anywhere close to what I'd call an acceptable classical sound. I'll happily be shown this is user error on my part because I love the playability and flexibility of the SWAM stuff.

[The Saxer]

I compared the AM flute to the BBCSO flute performance legato and the behavior isn't too different. I made some tweaking (using Logics match EQ, Virtual Sound Stage 2 and Cinematic Rooms) and also some adjustments in the flute3 plugin. It's possible to reduce the air sound but I like it that way. For classical performances that may be better.

[Muziksculp]

I compared the AM flute to the BBCSO flute performance legato and the behavior isn't too different. I made some tweaking (using Logics match EQ, Virtual Sound Stage 2 and Cinematic Rooms) and also some adjustments in the flute3 plugin. It's possible to reduce the air sound but I like it that way. For classical performances that may be better.

Hi Saxer,

Thanks for sharing this. It sounds very good, but I'm not too fond of the air sound on the note attacks, it also doesn't sound very natural to me, and does not vary enough to sound convincing. Maybe reducing it a lot, or eliminating it would be better for more classical performances.

Cheers,
Muziksculp

[ZeeCount]

I compared the AM flute to the BBCSO flute performance legato and the behavior isn't too different. I made some tweaking (using Logics match EQ, Virtual Sound Stage 2 and Cinematic Rooms) and also some adjustments in the flute3 plugin. It's possible to reduce the air sound but I like it that way. For classical performances that may be better.

That sounds great, but also demonstrates all the problems I've been having. It sounds like a wooden flute being played with an ethnicish embouchure, almost like the flute itself has a cold. I have been unable to find anyway to remove this quality from the sound. I had hoped that V3 with the timbral correction could help, but I've still not been able to get close to my preferences, which is what I would describe as "silvery" in sound.

[The Saxer]

Nothing is perfect. But I'm a flute player myself and I don't have such a big problem with the sound. Probably I'm not silvery enough... hm, but when I look at my few left hair... joke aside: I think in context of an arrangement it's the best compromize between playability and sound. To me I doesn't sound like an ethnic wood orchestra or even an ethnic woodwind section. So at least I wouldn't call it "unusable". I will use it :-)

Fun fact: when affordable sampling started in the 80s the flute was the easiest sound to sample. Every Rompler and entertainer keyboard had a "really good flute" sound for that time. Far more convincing than any other wind or brass instrument. It's kind of strange that it's still difficult to emulate a sophisticated flute today. Same problems in WIVI, Infinite Woodwinds... and pure samples are still "crossphasing" and inflexible with vibrato depht and speed (what bothers me much more than the "air" sound).

... I've still not been able to get close to my preferences, which is what I would describe as "silvery" in sound.

Do you have an audio example for your preferred flute sound?

[Lawrence]

I used to play flute solos on my first synth, a MiniKorg. It was the easiest to emulate, even for a synth.

Not that it actually sounded like a flute, but in my head....

[Piet De Ridder]

(...) Do you have an audio example for your preferred flute sound? (...)

Here's one I like, Saxer. It's the opening movement of Ernst Křenek's Sonatine for Flute and Clarinet.

And from the same composer, and the same CD, this fragment (an excerpt from his quintet for winds and percussion "Alpbach") illustrates why I feel the Audio Modeling clarinet has quite the wrong timbre for anything in a more classical / chamber music kind of style. It's great for ethnic / klezmer sort of music, but beyond that, it rarely works, I find.
If I had hoped anything from V3, it was a more classical clarinet timbre; if not as the default timbre, then at least as a secondary instrument.

_

[ZeeCount]

(...) Do you have an audio example for your preferred flute sound? (...)

Here's an example of what I'm looking for:



That one from Piet is great too.

Also If I could somehow make the SWAM Oboe like this I'd never buy another Oboe sample library...

[Muziksculp]

Hi @ZeeCount,

I love the Oboe timbre in the RVW Oboe Concerto you posted, Oboe and English Horn are two tough woodwind instruments to emulate, I haven't heard any demos of the Audio Modeling Oboe, or Eng. Horn, but since I purchased the upgrades to the double reeds, I plan to install them on the weekend, and test how they sound, and behave, I will post some feedback here about them.

The Flute is another tough cookie to emulate, especially the silvery classical timbre you like. I don't have their flute, and don't know if it is very good, maybe a demo will convince me, but that hasn't happened yet.

Cheers,
Muziksculp

[The Saxer]

Thanks for the examples! Have to dive deeper into the sound of classical recordings...

[Muziksculp]

Hi,

I heard a few short demos of the SWAM Flute V3 on VI-C, and I think it can be used for classical applications, plus Jazz, and other music genre. I'm thinking about getting it, although I don't have V2, so my price will be quite high to buy V3, $250. But I get, the Piccolo, Flute, Alto Flute, and Bass Flute.

@Saxer, any feedback about the Flute would help, especially for use in classical/soundtrack applications. (THANKS).

Still thinking about it.

Cheers,
Muziksculp

[ZeeCount]

Had a bit of a play around with the Flute this morning on that bird theme from Peter and the Wolf.

[Piet De Ridder]

Not bad, Count. In the lower register is sounds a bit water-hose-y though. And the performance in the YT-video you posted earlier is also much snappier. But again, not bad. Not bad at all.

_

[Muziksculp]

Had a bit of a play around with the Flute this morning on that bird theme from Peter and the Wolf.

image.png

Hi ZeeCount,

Thanks for the audio clip of the SWAM Flute V3. I think it sounds very good in this fast passage, in the higher range of the instrument.

Are you very happy with what you are able to get out of the SWAM Flute V3 Instruments ? (Piccolo, Flute, Alt. Flute, Bass Flute) ?

Can you decresendo to Niente smoothly, without hitting abrubt silence from the ppp range downwards ?

What about the timbre, have you tried tweaking it ? or you don't feel there is a need to do that.

Thanks,
Muziksculp

[ZeeCount]

Hi ZeeCount,

Thanks for the audio clip of the SWAM Flute V3. I think it sounds very good in this fast passage, in the higher range of the instrument.

Are you very happy with what you are able to get out of the SWAM Flute V3 Instruments ? (Piccolo, Flute, Alt. Flute, Bass Flute) ?

Can you decresendo to Niente smoothly, without hitting abrubt silence from the ppp range downwards ?

What about the timbre, have you tried tweaking it ? or you don't feel there is a need to do that.

Thanks,
Muziksculp

Overall the issue I'm having is I can get somewhat of a timbre I want for staccatos, but then long notes sound off. I can get long notes sounding ok, but then staccatos are off. I'm using the timbral correction to cut the 2nd harmonic and push the 5th, as the over predominance of the 2nd partial is part of what makes the SWAM Flutes sound "wooden" to me. This is pretty obvious if you compare the spectrum of the dry sound of the SWAM Flutes to the close mics from pretty much any sample library.

I find the Bass Flute in its bottom range and Piccolo at its top range to be better. It's the mid range of the instruments that I find the most problematic, which is an observation I have for all the SWAM Woodwinds. Bass Clarinet, Bassoon and Contrabassoon are the standouts to me for these ones.

Decrescendo to niente very unidiomatic, because there is a limit to how quiet woodwind can play before the physics causes the sound to stop. If you set the instrument to breath controller mode taking expression to 0 will stop the sound, but it does cutoff, not fade to silence.