Trying out the new SWAM String Sections Library

[@gregmulyk]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that the smaller sections work well for a "close-mic" kind of sound. I think these modelled instruments can really shine when layered with sample instruments- each make up quite well for the other's weaknesses. The variety and detail of bow sounds created by these modelled instruments give way greater realism than sampling, but definitely don't capture the fullness of a real section created by the slight timing imperfections of real players. Perhaps this is the secret to that elusive "perfect string sound"!

[@vincecomposer]

Yeah I love the precision and focus of the smaller sections and the way you can craft them to do exactly what you want, spitfire chamber strings performance legato might be a good option for layering, but in haven’t experimented with it that much yet

[@JIROYOSHIOKA]

I was lately watching a lot of Reviews about the SWAM String Sections and your's the only one where I feel like, you know how strings instruments actually sound. For the other reviews I was never sure if the Swam Strings really sound that fake or if the players are just bad. I now know that the Swam String Section can actually sound really good (even if it's only for a sketch), and I'm about to buy it. Thank you so much for the help, you're playing them wonderful!

[@vincecomposer]

Thank you! Glad it's useful, and have fun :)

[@OfficialStevenCravis]

I agree with this. Vince is playing voicings of chords that are the way real arrangement of strings is done. Very well done!

[@vincecomposer]

@@OfficialStevenCravis thanks!

[@curtandrew1]

can you do an in depth tutorial on getting the expression we hear between 34:34 -36:00? with your techniques , this is the realest sounding strings vst out there.

[@g.p616]

I’ve just discovered your channel and currently binge-watching your back catalogue- great stuff!!

[@ALMAR-Music-Ltd.]

A marvelous video thank you so much for putting it together

[@Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay]

Nice to hear a review that has such good information AND such tasteful demo improvisations ! Great work :) As rewarding as those instruments look to play, they are VERY expensive for something that isn't quite good enough to sit in recordings unless it is concert with something else. If they could just hold up a bit better in the real world it would be amazing, but I think we're not quite there yet. Coupla revisions down the line though - these could be incredible, and a viable replacement for those 100 GB libraries !

[@vincecomposer]

yes looking forward to spending more time on the music and less time on the programming!

[@matthiasrother9743]

Since I like, how you are using the solo strings I was waiting for a video about the section strings. I am looking forward to seeing it tonight.

[@xaviduch]

Really nice video Vince! I have been using all the Sample modeling material (trumpet, horns, and trombones v.3) for many years and although they do not usually convince me completely as a section, the level of detail and expression that you can achieve with them, I think they are unbeatable, for the moment... Of course, when the same concepts applied to strings appeared, I jumped headlong into them...and I have to say that for my taste they do not completely replace what would be my traditional setup (CSS, BBC, etc)...yes, but honestly, I think it IS the way! I no longer spend anything on orchestral libraries because I have everything and in my template, I use what is most appropriate for each situation, although it generates more work when it comes to making the audience believe that they "sound" in the same space... I tried to do it with my mock-up of John Williams's "Harry's Wondrous World" and the amount of time necessary is enormous, both to adjust each key switch, as well as for the balance, the room, etc... I am almost more in favor of Sample Modeling in how much to strings because they continue to start from the basis of sampling but expanding all their potential through physical modeling, and I think that that level of details, possibilities, expressiveness at the moment, without mapping or tedious changes of articulation, would be, as you say, such amount of hard drive space at such a high speed that the cost would be enormous. So, I still think that after watching your video, enjoying your improvisation, and the understanding that is evident behind it, it is always a "uisssshhhh" an almost! but not completely... their expressiveness is beautiful and what inspires them when you touch them! until you put them in an orchestral context and try to recreate certain things, that's when they end up in the template but as a sketch creator... I just hope that in a very few years, this technology ends up being perfected in a spectacular way in which with little hard drive space, let's have all this beauty of expression accompanied by realistic sound like never before... Again, excellent video!!!!!

[@vincecomposer]

glad you enjoyed the video! Yes looking forward to a future with far more time spent shaping the musical phrasing, dynamics etc and less time fiddling with articulation switches!

[@LeeBlaske]

This is an excellent demo, and really answered my questions about this library. It looks to me like you're coaxing everything out of this library that it has to give. I've got all the solo SWAM instruments, and I love the controllability and the responsiveness which I rarely feel in a sampled instrument. This new string sections library seems very interesting, but I just can't get over the fact that it instantly sounds synthetic to me (a good synthetic string sound, but still synthetic). I really miss a lot of the air and dimension I get in actual sample libraries. I'm hearing more width in the multiple instrument patches in this new section instrument, but to me, it still sounds like one instrument. I might still pick this instrument up down the line. There are times (jazz, folk, various ethnic styles, etc.) that agility and playability trump sound quality. I can also see it being useful for aggressive tracks, where you really need an edge on the section (maybe with a healthy dose of effects). For me, though, I can't see it replacing my sample-based libraries for most situations. I'm still convinced that one of these days, modeled instrument string sections will triumph. I'll keep monitoring how this product evolves with updates, but I can't imagine that the sound of this particular product will ever be dramatically different. I also have a feeling that this product wouldn't be great for layering with other sample libraries. It's such a strong, focused sound, I would expect it to really jump out.

[@vincecomposer]

Great to hear your thoughts, definitely agree that sometimes agility trumps realism. I would add that sometimes expressivity and the general phrasing/coherence of a line trumps realism as well. There’s a subtly of timing and dynamic variation that I can achieve in real-time that would be hard to replicate with conventional programming techniques. Also, while it’s true that I am coaxing a lot out of the library there are so many parameters under the hood you could spend forever tweaking things (and never get any writing done!!) The setup I was using represents my preferred workflow, there are certainly others doing a better a job than me or taking more time over each line.

[@praveenchaddha]

It works beautifully with the divisimate and some sound staging. Between “sample modeling” and “SWAM” my preference is always SWAM

[@The.Sky.Driver]

You refer to this as a library (presumably from habit) but the fact that this is capable of such wonderful sounds is quite a marvel. Are they OST ready? Perhaps not. But they lay a road that is long and wide for composers such as yourself - all through physical modeling. Brilliant.

[@nelsonfilho6587]

Perfect review, thanks a lot!

[@vincecomposer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@AtlantaFlamencoPro]

Beautiful expressive playing and inspiring harmonies, thank you!

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

[@jamesr141]

They sound SO good.

[@BeatsbyTheHuman]

I noticed that on all of the short articulations you complained about the sound but never combined bow pressure changes. This helps with those kind of sounds immensely. The vibrato setting was also missed as well. You can change its depth in the a secondary setting menu. It can also be modulated.

[@matthiasrother9743]

The lack of offset between the individual instruments is something Audio Modeling already confirmed to improve in the upcoming 1.0.1 update. I don’t know to which extent. I wish it could go to extreme to have an “amateur mode” with loose timing and intonation.😂 What I would also love to see is that the bow pressure could go as extreme as in the solo strings. Becaus I don’t know if any sample library to to that scratch or only as an effect sound in a cluster. Other than that the strings sound absolutely realistic to me. The differences between to other libraries are just as big as the difference between SWAM and an other library

[@vincecomposer]

Yes school orchestra vibes 🤩

[@matthiasrother9743]

@@vincecomposerthe update just dropped. Still no school orchestra. But still better.

[@ToniMazzotti]

I'm testing them now, they look very good. Thank you for your video and your impressions. I love use the mouth to explore the movement of the letters K, D, T... Creating really complex and beautiful attack envelopes, as in real instruments. This need some adjustment in settings to respond fast. For me, this is the characteristic that makes SWAM instruments shine the most. I also assign the Bow Pressure to the breath controller CC2, limiting the range of action a little in this parameter. But I also use, at the same time, two pedals, one for the intensity of the vibrato and the other for the Bow Position, which when it reaches the maximum, activates the harmonics. For me it's this set of parameters used in real time that make SWAM instruments better than anything I've ever tested. Because of the subtle transformations of the timbre, which I noticed that you missed when testing. You called this a "lack of chaos". But, besides that, I understand your point of view on the comparison with other libraries in the context of the creation of soundtracks. For those who have sound quality as their main focus and are not concerned with manually programming the parts, it may be better. Here are my examples made and shared by Audio Modeling. In the third musical example I explore exactly that, making the strings scream, using both the velocity of the notes and hard attacks on the breath controller, to add more impact. (Made with solo instruments.) kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z3jdg5KArt6letk

[@vincecomposer]

What kind of breath controller to you use? yes sorry, I neglected to use the bow position/pressure parameters much in this video. Overall they are a quite a bit more subtle than the solo strings, which as you say are really fun at the extremes! My impression is for the section patches, these two parameters are more like general tone adjustments rather than for creating special effects.

[@kouaxiong]

I love divisimate. It’s such a fun tool to play with.

[@joepacheco7979]

I've been emulating string sections in a pit orchestra since the early 90's. Starting with Roland S-550, etc. I've "tricked" many audiences to think there was an actual section or soloist in the pit, but these SWAM sounds, in a live situation, while engaged in the action/singing on stage, would "trick" me as well. The last 10 years or so the play/tap of Notion has expanded my presence in the pit (the conductor looks at me when a cowbell or banjo is missing and by the next rehearsal it's there). Now I'd love to control SWAM solos (which I own), and sections all at once with Notion (live/tap). Do you think that a computer can handle multiple breath controllers and SWAM libraries (each recorded separately) at the same time... live (tapped, not sequenced)? You are a great emulator, as opposed to a keyboardist. Awesome! Thanks for posting.

[@SaveManWoman]

I used to have the white Roland S 550 sampler. You took me back to the 90’s. 😅

[@Qagan]

beautiful playing! this instrument sounds really good in your hands.

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks!

[@AndreyOrochi]

Man, what a fantastic sound.

[@vincecomposer]

Pretty nifty for a computer 😎

[@alexchoyce91]

Sounds awesome. I will definitely use this as a reference. Peace!

[@vincecomposer]

glad it's useful!

[@ProdDJD]

I think the attack might sound better if you control bow pressure as well instead of keeping it static :) by the way, the portamento at least by default, completely depends on the velocity on which you hit the keys, so if the portamento is too slow, it's either because the keys were hit too softly, or because the midi controller sent a low value velocity message when it should've sent a higher value one, assuming you were hitting the keys sufficiently hard, and that could be due to problems with the midi controller itself rather than SWAM one more thing, i just thought it would've been nice if you had played with the pizzicato a bit as well, since i'm curious if they've improved on it, especially the double bass pizzicato which doesn't sound right to me unfortunately (at least the solo version)

[@michaelm5926]

Excellent video. Thank you. I agree with you on the point where you say that large ensembles don't sound convincing. I don't think the sound is particularly good from 5 violins and upwards, for example. And to offer this product for around $500 I find outrageously high. Especially considering that you can only use this new library for layering and/or replacing as you say. A big disappointment for me! I expected more. Above all, there are no loyalty offers for customers of other SWAM instruments. Audio modeling in general is a possible future and a great alternative, but with the business model and current offerings (sound quality and high prices), it becomes more difficult to get into the future faster.

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Michael, it’s fascinating to watch this tech develop!

[@SteVanPvt]

finally an honest review because I also fell that there is still a lot improvement possible in the sound. For layering perfect. Is it worth 500 €? Nope. You can stack the solo instruments as well. I'd think about buying it for 250.

[@petemartinp]

Sounds amazing Vince

[@petemartinp]

Stunning

[@vincecomposer]

Cheers Pete!

[@amukherg]

this is the most versatile string library.. and listening to it as an ensemble is a notch up in the game... Too good..

[@vincecomposer]

Agreed!

[@abrotherinchrist]

The thing that makes this prohibitive for most people is exactly what you said: It requires a lot to get the sound to come alive. I'm not a keyboardist, nor do I have experience with orchestral strings, so the only way I'll be able to get a great sound is in editing the MPE data in my DAW, which as you can imagine would be extremely tedious and time-consuming. I'd essentially have to do 5x the work to get a sound that probably wouldn't even resemble what you are doing in this video.

[@DavidSmith-mj6zz]

This is a really interesting video. Some of these sounds are nice. The problem with emulating string instruments is that the sound in real string instruments is so variable and so many sounds can be had from professional players. Layering with Spitfire or Orchestral Tools could create good sounds. Current trends, at least in my view, favour compositions or film music that has large block chords rather than pure melodic interest like the music that is churned out to fill films like the recent Spiderman epics or Iron Man. Creating interesting melodic form is the advantage of this SWAM software over other libraries. Playing a keyboard to really imitate a stringed and bowed instrument is a real challenge in itself. Perhaps the only weakness in the SWAM software is the glissando thing. In the 1920s glissando was an important part of playing a stringed instrument professionally. Not any more.

[@sashakindel3600]

I wish virtual instruments could support portamento control where I could specify at what metric positions a portamento should start and end, so that the speed is whatever it needs to be to achieve that. All the virtual instruments I have implement it pretty much the same as this one, so I have to proceed by making the portamento start at the desired time, then trying a bunch of velocity values to home in on one that sounds like it causes the portamento to end about when I wanted it to. This has the further shortcoming that if I ever decide to tweak the tempo, the portamentos will no longer end in the same metric positions before, so I need to go back and rescale them. As far as the value of the kind of expressivity this library has is concerned, I'd say that getting results that sound like music has much more to do with expressivity than with sounding the same as an acoustic instrument.

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks for sharing your take Sasha! Yes maybe some helping with snapping the portamento to grid would be cool. I personally don’t mind hunting through different velocity values to get the correct portamento, but agree that a box you could check to make the portamento scale relative to tempo would be handy. As a side note the main issue I currently have with the way port is handled is it doesn’t take into account the interval (I think) and is done as ‘speed’ (I think) . More useful would be for a medium velocity to trigger a medium LENGTH transition which is the same length regardless of interval size.

[@sashakindel3600]

@@vincecomposer I think you're right about how portamento speed works. I don't remember if my other libraries (Samplemodeling, Embertone) are the same as SWAM in that respect.

[@EzyoMusic]

I would use this as much as and in the same way I use Pianoteq for piano. So, in larger productions that don't hyper-focus on the instrument. I'm sure it would sound great for that.

[@vincecomposer]

yeah. It's all about what you want to prioritise - sound or convenience/playability

[@pyrogriffin]

One thing I would love to know is how the violin handles folk playstyles, vs classical. Or maybe I completely missed you talking about it. With the sale going on, I'm really tempted to pick it up, but I don't work within classical music, it's mostly folk. Granted, I also may be misunderstanding the difference in playstyle between classical violin, and a fiddle style of playing.

[@vincecomposer]

I think if you have a clear idea of how you want it to sound then it’s pretty capable at folk since you have full control over vibrato and it responds well to playing grace notes. Bear in mind it’s an ensemble instrument and there’s no solo violin (you need the SWAM solo strings for that)

[@pyrogriffin]

That's good to know, thank you!

[@jg648]

Can you elaborate on your TEC breath controller settings? I am trying to figure out how to have a good dynamic range without a steep/ fast/ unnatural crescendo/decrescendo curves. What cc’s are you specifically assigning to blow/bite/nod/turn?

[@vincecomposer]

Hi! Best thing is just to play around with the curves in the tec control app to find what suits you. I use CC11 for breath and CC18 for bite which I've assigned to vibrato depth. I don't use the nod or tilt parameters currently. One thing is that even with VST with a very good dynamic range I'll usually enhance these with volume automation, either in real time or in post. Here's what my curves look like www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/67guvvnvxtaiuo2u1cliu/Screenshot-2023-11-06-at-13.17.28.png?rlkey=4dmzhbv4hijhnh2kbf3ptoikv&dl=0

[@popsarocker]

It's probably possible to increase the chaos a bit algorithmically, but certainly this could also be achieved by recording lines independently? Then again by the time you're doing that maybe you're using an actual sample library? For someone adding strings to pop music though this seems brilliant

[@vincecomposer]

yes 100% The more time you put into them the better the result in a lot of cases. But it still depends a lot on the musical context. E.g if it's very slow, quiet exposed playing with minimal dynamic changes (ie more 'textural') I think it would be harder to create something as engaging as you might with say a 'flauntando' patch from Spitfire Chamber Strings.

[@MusicByNumbersUK]

Not watched it all yet but a it's worth trying bow lift "on string" for making the shorter notes sound a bit more like you expect, you are hearing a lot of other note resonances on those short notes from open strings etc. Also, I have the solo strings and when played on an MPE keyboard like the seaboard, along with a leap motion on the left hand to control about 5 parameters at once. You get so much control that it becomes very natural to play after a while. Also playing back using a pen on an ipad for controlling the bow directly is pretty special too. Hopefully they will update and try to counter some of those fizzy sounds you get from swam strings :)

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks for the tip! Interesting, yes the bow lift setting definitely works as a way to simplify the overtone content a bit. Would love to hear/see an example of you playing the with ipad/Roli !

[@MusicByNumbersUK]

@@vincecomposer - Here's some links from demos that helped convince me to buy the whole suite a while back:) They are al based on using the solo string stuff via some very interesting control methods. I've kind of took these and combined it with divisimate for some quite expressive string stuff (prefer leap motion geco to ipad though) Some of this, I would find hard to do on most sample based stuff. granted, these are not perfect and are a bit old examples and I couldn't find all of them but I kind of lean towards this expressiveness more than just the sound for me anyway :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5Ldk6OFntZ0l9U kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6mclmCuodx1fas kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHXQaH-nl7tohNE kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZ3bpq2kgpmVkMU kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWTaq2CAis9lhbs

[@SaveManWoman]

Thank you, great presentation. What midi breath controller are you using ?

[@vincecomposer]

Tec controller breath and bite 2!

[@JajabarBangladesh]

Wonderful in depth video

[@clfm20]

Thanks for this very informative overview. I'd be interested to know how you feel this product compares to the Sample Modeling Ensemble strings, and also whether you've had another look since the AM update that has now been released with almost indecent haste! Thanks again for your consistently superlative output.

[@vincecomposer]

Hello! If i'm completely honest I can't say i've spent enough time experimenting with either AM or SM to give a definitive answer. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. SM has better sounding trills, legato and pitch bends. AM has a better tone overall IMO, especially the short notes (but still not great compared to traditional samples). Both feel similar to play. SM also comes with solo strings which sound pretty good to my ear. Neither libraries quite do it for me in terms of tone. For day to day work i'd still gravitate towards regular samples that have some spirit or life 'baked into them'. Regarding the update - yes, I have played it. I would say it's an improvement for sure, but nothing super dramatic. The legatos definitely sound a little fuzzier. If I have time I'll post a quick update to show off the latest sound!

[@shyam7821]

Vince. How do you manage the CPU load on a Mac M1 and Logic Pro 11. The cpu overloads with a 3 violin, 3 viola, 2 cello and 2 basses. Is there a template one can use. Thanks

[@vincecomposer]

Hmm it shouldn’t do- I would reach out to the developers maybe 🤔

[@shyam7821]

I did reach out to Swam. They said it seems specific to Logic Pro 11. They are working on a fix I assume. Until then one is compelled to stay in the Sample Libraries domain. Sad cannot create an ensemble on exciting Swam String section

[@vincecomposer]

@@shyam7821 😥

[@88smypassion2]

Hello Vince. Thanks for the video just subscribed I also use Divisimate and besides being extremely creative, it has been a real time saver. I noticed that you use Logic and in the background I can see the header is dark gray instead of light gray. How did you do that?

[@vincecomposer]

Heya! It’s a app called LPX colorizer www.lpcolorizer.com/ thanks for the sub!

[@arthurlee91]

36:04 He winced at what he did, but I actually like what he did there. Kinda gave me a Shostakovik vibe.

[@vincecomposer]

Haha didn’t mind it just not what I was intending!

[@LearningMusic999]

wonderful

[@robshrock-shirakbari1862]

You have to aggressively EQ and saturate physically modeled instruments. No way around it. But when you add some sparkle up top and notch a bit of the mids out (depending on the sound you're going for) they can really add a lot to a sample-based rig. Agreed... they tend to work best when layered with great sounding samples.

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks for the tip, i'll have to give that a try!

[@thegoodgeneral]

Intelligent look at a complicated subject in mocking up/VSTs. Great job. I have to say the big thing I personally disagree with you about is how one could use this library successfully: 1) I think to simulate the “chaos” you have to record each section separately rather than stack the recordings together or using that (admittedly super slick) divisi software. (I don’t remember if you say this at the start of your video. You probably do.) 2) The ideal thing for me would be to layer a 4-player section or two with good samples as a “trees among the forest” kind of thing. The samples provide the “gorgeous sound” of an ensemble played by great musicians, the modeled instruments provide the small details of a shaped performance often missing from those libraries. I’m whetting my appetite at the thought of a really good tremolo patch crescendo-ing while SWAM strings provides the little details of the tremolo increasing in speed in conjunction with the dynamics. Very good video and impressive channel, there’s a lot I could learn from you.

[@vincecomposer]

Hiya, thanks for watching and for sharing your thoughts! Glad you found it useful. Agreed that divisimate isn’t a very fair demo of how the sections can sound together, I think I mention this at some point but I probably could have been clearer. I chose it more for the entertainment value and for getting a rough sense of the sound in a bunch of different musical contexts but agree it’s not as good as creating a full mock-up. Layering in some solo players can also definitely add some grit to the sound. Having said all that, my experience playing with it over the last couple of weeks suggests that in many cases there’s still a big trade of between playability and tone, and there are many situations where a sample would be the better tool for the job. The nice thing about modelled strings is they have the potential to layer well with other libraries or even be swapped out for certain passages because of the fact that you can have them completely dry and customise the ensemble size to match the other VSTs!

[@thegoodgeneral]

​@@vincecomposer sorry I didn't see your reply till now. Indeed, I'm glad you used the divisi software as it gives a quick demonstration of what you can do on the fly. I've just gotten SWAM string sections-I was hoping for Black Friday sale but alas it's too new and I didn't want to wait. Having said that I agree with you about the difficulty of layering modeled things with samples, and if you can get away with just samples it's often times the best thing to do. How I yearn for the future in which one day modeled stuff will be indistinguishable in sound quality (both instrument and room) from the real thing.

[@MartinJG100]

Interesting, Vince. To me, the solo end of the SWAM spectrum sounds more useful than the ensemble. I feel expression/playability is the next challenge for the industry and that probably means further development of hybrid libraries where the combination of synthesis, with greater perfection in control and performance, and the natural harmonics of samples lend organic credence. It's the sort of thing I would expect Spectrasonics to pull out of the hat at some point. No pressure, Eric. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that synthesis already plays a greater part in sample libraries than they would have us believe. However, one can never underestimate the importance of a room full of transient bum notes and timing variants to satisfy our primitive lugs...

[@vincecomposer]

I would love for Spectrasonics to enter the string library game! 🐇🎩The playability/control issue is a funny one - one of the upshots of making an instrument that allows for a large amount of control and nuance (like a real instrument) is that it becomes very difficult to play unless you practice it a lot. The SWAM instruments really give you nothing 'for free' - which is part of the joy of playing them. So I think there will always be a role for more 'on rails' sample libraries that are less expressive but offer a particular vibe.

[@VEXUS920]

What ar your thoughts on Samplemodelling's string offering in comparison ?

[@vincecomposer]

Right now I prefer Samplemodelling, especially for runs and trills and for smaller/drier situations. Overall the tone feels better but it falls down a bit with shorts so i'd tend to layer in some dry solo string libraries to help it out a bit.

[@saulmelomusic]

Great video Vince, thank you for posting it! It really helped me decide to go for it. Really enjoyed listening to you play live! Could you please detail your system specs? It seems that you work with at least 8 instances together, but without noticeable latency or audio dropouts. I use Ableton, but still would like to compare my Mac to yours.

[@vincecomposer]

Hi! I currently use a M1 Max macbook pro, 64Gb ram

[@AaronAsherRandall]

Beautiful! What breath controller do you use?

[@vincecomposer]

Cheers, it’s the Tec control breath and bite 2

[@DigitalWindInstrument]

Very useful

[@AlexLaptschenko]

PC3A8 can it also, but your Part Sounds Well.

[@Somer144]

Hi Vince, this is a great video. How are you getting the up and down bow? I have the Cello and the Viola as I only really like those two particular instruments, but I don't hear the bow direction change. TY

[@vincecomposer]

Hi! You hold the sustain pedal and then play non-legato on the keyboard.

[@Somer144]

@@vincecomposerHello, Vince. Got it! Thank you very much. I have Divisimate as well; I haven't used it much, but watching how you applied it and got such a dynamic and realistic performance has made me consider it as more of a composition tool, and not just for orchestration. Thanks again, Best.

[@jenstornell]

I try to find a good violin spiccato sound. Would you recommend Swam or something else? I have tried Eastwest cloud and all the free ones.

[@vincecomposer]

I wouldn’t specifically recommend swam sections for spiccato (at least this version 1.0) I like the spiccato sound in cinematic studio strings. I also sometimes use Adagio strings by 8dio (now rereleased as anthology strings) as they offer quite a few different types of spicc (feathered, tapped etc)

[@djpakknight]

excellent demo. Did you draw the expression and vibrato date after the actual performance? Which parameter do you prefer to manipulate when entering the notes?

[@vincecomposer]

glad you enjoyed it. This demo is all real-time (no post processing). I was using a breath controller to control the dynamics and bite for vibrato, as well as mod wheel for vib speed. I also have faders setup for bow pressure and position but i didn't use them that much.

[@djpakknight]

@@vincecomposer wow very cool, can you please leave a link for the breath controller you use

[@vincecomposer]

www.tecontrol.se/products/usb-midi-breath-bite-controller-2

[@vincecomposer]

@@djpakknight www.tecontrol.se/products/usb-midi-breath-bite-controller-2

[@djpakknight]

@@vincecomposer awesome, thanks

[@matthiasrother9743]

Did you try 1.0.2 already? If so: what are your thoughts?

[@cyberbio17]

Is it worth getting the sections library over just using multiple instances of the solo instruments if you already have all the solo instruments?

[@grzegorztomasiak]

i have the same question, did you get yours maybe?

[@alanfox9721]

@vincecomposer what are the best 3 strings library in your opinion?

[@vincecomposer]

It totally depends what you are using them for, but I like Cinematic Studio Strings for general use, Spitfire Chamber Strings for smaller scale and SWAM solo strings.

[@alanfox9721]

@@vincecomposer Thank you very much for responding. Another question is which 3 pianos for general use? and classical music do you recommend?

[@vincecomposer]

@@alanfox9721 if it's a classical style piece with piano as a focus I would almost always record a real piano. But for samples I use Pianoteq the most, followed by Keyscape and Piano in Blue.

[@patrikhejnar9495]

Beautiful, using breath controller or pedals?

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks! I’m using a breath and bite controller (tec control). Breath for cc11 and bite for vibrato

[@stumacquarrie477]

Excellent video! With so much expression and control, it sounds amazing even when played polyphonically with homophonic dynamics. The musicality it allows you to convey is incredible! Even though it has that subtle underlying synthetic characteristic, the amount of engaging music you improvised live in this video should make it an instant-buy for just about anybody who writes for strings.

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks! Yes it’s well suited to anyone who likes to write via improvisation as I do :)

[@kouaxiong]

I truly admire you. I was using divisimate wrong this whole time 😅. Always learning something new from every one of your video

[@xxMohamedElBatrawyxx]

It's really rare to come across someone on YT who can really make sense of what he's doing and play to the musicality of the plugin on hand, instead of just smashing some keys to make them sound as unnatural as possible Many thanks Vince pls keep doing what you're doing (and by the way you con'Vinvced😊 me to by the SWAM String Sections) Could you advise what external reverb your were using in this demo?

[@vincecomposer]

Thanks for watching! I was just using the in built room modelling and no external reverb

[@xxMohamedElBatrawyxx]

​@@vincecomposerthanks. The room modeling seems to have been an option that could be disabled with the version you were using in this video. but as of the current version, it seems that we are just "stuck with it" unfortunately. To my understanding, the best we can do is to select the "no room" option which still applies reverberations with that metallic quality that you were referring to in the video. Have you manged at all to enable the direct raw signal with the current version (if you've update to it)?

[@vincecomposer]

Did you check the setting I use at 10:20? External spatial user ‘on’ should give you the dry signal, i wasn’t aware that they removed this option

[@xxMohamedElBatrawyxx]

@@vincecomposer yep I've seen it in your video but when I didn't find it in the current version, it was the moment when I knew that I was doomed XD... locked forever in that modeled room which still with the driest setting, sounds uncannily ambient, and not very suitable to mix the sound to your liking. especially if you need something very raw/dry for pop for example. Long story short, stay on the older version if you still want the raw sound :)

[@JoelBouchillon]

How fast is the load time compared to loading a sample library?

[@vincecomposer]

On my computer (m1 MacBook Pro) it doesn’t make much difference. On a slower machine I would imagine it’s faster to load these - but the cpu overhead when using them is higher

[@constantin_singer]

Just discovered your channel now, awesome video!! Have you tried Sample Modeling strings? It’s the direct competitor of SWAM and they’re the first company to have implemented that sample modeling physics engine and although their marketing and user interface isn’t as attractive visually as SWAM’s it seems to me their sound is much more realistic and much better than SWAM instruments, what do you think of these??

[@vincecomposer]

Heya! Yes I do quite like the sound of sample modeling I agree they probably have an edge in terms of tone and also the sound of runs, bends and trills. They also lack a bit of grit/solidity (like the swam) so if I was using them I tend to selectively layer them with some more traditional solo string samples especially the short notes

[@evanseesred]

If this isn’t what MPE was created for, what is? How amazing it would be to play this with my Osmose and control dynamics with pressure as opposed to reaching for a mod wheel. ::sigh::

[@Salsuero]

Some of the criticism might sound a little better if it wasn't played live. I can imagine using a divisi that is played a little differently (for example, if you had tremolo on one divisi that was slightly different than the tremolo of another divisi), you could have a more realistic playback.

[@vincecomposer]

Yes that’s true it definitely sounds better when you record multiple performances with slight differences between them!

[@marimowalking6133]

Is this Library playable special bowing, like Penderecki / Xenakis?

[@vincecomposer]

Some special bowing techniques are possible to do manually since you have full control over harmonics, slides, tremolo speed and bow pressure/position etc. Setting the number of players to minimum and then having multiple instances doing slightly different things would probably achieve the best results. I don't think the model allows you to play on the other side of the bridge. There are no pre recorded FX slides or anything like that. The effect of the bow pressure/position parameters is less extreme than the SWAM solo strings (in terms of the ability to produce squeaks and overtones) but it can add a nice texture.

[@marimowalking6133]

How about Bartók-Pizzicato and Col-Legno?@@vincecomposer

[@vincecomposer]

@@marimowalking6133 Bartok Pizz is available by using a high velocity when playing pizzicato. I don't believe Col Legno is available currently.

[@marimowalking6133]

Hmm... So, can't make the sounds like Mars yet. Thankyou very much. It's so informative for me.😊

[@vincecomposer]

@@marimowalking6133 Ahh i didn't realise it was col legno! Such a good piece 🪐

[@bengsynthmusic]

What is the most realistic library?

[@vincecomposer]

for me I get the best results by mostly sticking to one primary library (CSS in my case) and then selectively using other libraries either to replace or layer with certain lines. I don't think there's any single library that takes the crown (yet)

[@michaelrasbury]

Is your keybed weighted or is that the non weighted version? Isn’t it an Arturia?

[@vincecomposer]

It’s non weighted - the Arturia keylab essential 88.

[@DCPImages]

To my ear is that players often sound way too accurate and co-ordinated? Does it have a humanise control (ie for detune, start time, end time, etc)?

[@vincecomposer]

Agreed. The update has a player accuracy knob but it doesn’t make that big an impact on the core sound imo

[@JacintoDelgado-ok8je]

Whic String Library Would You Recommend?

[@vincecomposer]

It totally depends on what you want to do with it! But I think a good all rounder is cinematic studio strings. And I tend to favour swam solo strings for solo instruments. Most pro composers will have a bunch of different libraries for different situations.

[@JacintoDelgado-ok8je]

@@vincecomposer Thank You!

[@BlackJpeg]

can we use this in fl studio ?

[@vincecomposer]

Yes it works in any DAW!

[@BlackJpeg]

@@vincecomposeri want to create orchestral music using divicimate but in fl studio i dont know how to do it . can someone help ?

[@vincecomposer]

@@BlackJpeg sadly it seems that FL studio is not officially supported by Divisimate. There may still be a way but I'm afraid i can't help 😓

[@cslevine]

well, after listen deeply, i still prefer SYNFUL ORCHESTRA, which is more "present" : transitoires between notes in Synful, ( arpeges, trilles ) No any such transitoires in SWAM, so very soft, clean + all violins are a bit "cold" in SWAM vs SYNFUL, i feel Synful much more "warm" and less "synthetic". Synful Orchestra has just become FREE, so much thanks to Eric Lindemann. ( i am using intensively Synful Orchestra in much compos since 2005 ! )

[@vincecomposer]

Agreed that SWAM generaly don't have quite enough dirt in the transitions. Just listening to some of the Synful demos, thanks for the tip! Acoustic Samples Vwinds are currently winning it for me btw

[@justelectro]

I love it, but 500€ no way!

[@vincecomposer]

Haha fair enough XD

[@alexbaz1242]

Very good expression agility and playability but unfortunately the sound is not improved...they sound plastic like the solo library

[@petemartinp]

I like that logic theme 😊

[@vincecomposer]

thanks, someone put a lot of hard work into it :p

[@b.h.f5116]

Hi, is it possible to share it ? It looks really nice

[@vincecomposer]

@b.h.f5116 you’ll have to ask @petemartinp

[@b.h.f5116]

@petemartinp hi is it possible to share the logic skin Vince used in the video ? It is really great

[@vincecomposer]

(FYI it was done with LPX colorizer which allows you to create your own themes)

[@bdotstanley]

Great demo. I think the flaw with all swam demos is that the plugin is just not at its full potential when played live, even with a breath controller or any other means of humanizing the instrument. Take this demo for example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnO0aKqCqb12mMk. On a lot of parts he is changing the bow position and bow pressure much more rapidly - especially on individual staccatos - which really make parts of the demo extremely convincing. And, of course, you're not hearing the instrument in isolation either.

[@vincecomposer]

absolutely. The more time you're willing to spend the better it can sound. That said it's easy to get lost in detail, so in general with VST's I try to be setup so I can get 80% the way there in real-time and deal with the remaining 20 in post :)

[@AlexLaptschenko]

Yeah right?

[@jamesr141]

You don't like the sound, Vince?

[@vincecomposer]

They’re ok, but I prefer the tone of some of the other libraries i own for most things. They’re fun to play though which counts for a lot !

[@jamesr141]

@@vincecomposer Which libraries do you prefer the tone of? You said in the video that the tone of the larger ensemble sound wasn't for you.

[@vincecomposer]

@@jamesr141 I favour CSS generally for tone and consistency, despite the fact that it's more awkward to program I just find the end result more realistic. I also quite like the Afflatus Series for a balance of playability and tone and I use Spitfire Chamber strings a fair bit but I find it harder to control. It all comes down to taste and priorities though.

[@jamesr141]

@@vincecomposer I also like CSS, but I find that all the sample-based libraries demand to be played a certain way, because of note lengths and fixed transitions. You don't really have the freedom. I guess my question is: does SWAM Strings Sections offer that level of flexibility in the scoring / arrangement side of things? Could I sit and draw in the details to a higher standard than with, e.g. CSS? Cheers! Great channel in general.

[@vincecomposer]

@jamesr141 yes you can have more nuanced control with SWAM (and sample modeling strings). It mostly comes down to which you value more- being true to the note lengths in your head or having a great tone. That said I generally find I can get pretty close to what I want with CSS with a few tricks, it just takes longer!

[@alainjulot3490]

Please and please why this is so expensive?

[@ANRO_ANRO]

Why do you have to blow into that mouth piece i honestly think it looks hideous and also i am not sure how healthy that is to keep blowing air into that piece for your lungs. Why not control it via WHEEL or some kind of pedal instead of blowing into that.

[@Metalpazallteway]

3 dimensional purposes. Wheel is limited to volume just not other expressions in real time.

[@jessicahannon704]

I check out the new string library from @AudioModeling and think about *its* uses from the perspective of a professional composer, even

[@vincecomposer]

Changed! Thanks :)