SWAM Alto Flute

What it does

The alto in the SWAM flute family, modelled rather than sampled, pitched below the concert flute with a noticeably breathier voice. The same controls run across the range: expression, velocity, vibrato, growl, flutter, breath noise and key noise, all assignable to knobs, sliders or a pedal, plus a timbre page of brighter and warmer versions and a style row holding options such as overblow. It runs standalone or as an AUv3.

In the demo

Jade loads it with the mapping already done, pulls the expression pedal back and forward through held notes, and points out how much more air is in the tone than the concert flute has. She also opens the style row to show what overblow does to a sustained note.

Worth knowing

It is a separate purchase from the other flutes, though a Flutes bundle covers all four. Anyone wanting a single flute for general use will probably reach for the concert flute first and treat this as a colour.