SWAM Cello

What it does

The solo cello in Audio Modeling’s SWAM line, modelled rather than sampled, so tone follows how each note is played. Tremolo at slow and fast settings, bow direction, bow lift, bow pressure, bow position, harmonics, vibrato and several polyphony modes sit on the panel and take MIDI learn, and arrows step through cello timbres from dark acoustic ones through to electric. EQ, reverb, panning and micro tuning are built in, and it loads standalone or as an AUv3.

In the demo

Jade runs it standalone from an Arturia keyboard with a Korg nanoPAD alongside, using the pad’s XY surface for vibrato since she has no MPE controller. She works along the panel so each bowing control is audible on its own, then opens the play surface, where sliding a finger up a key moves bow pressure or whatever else is assigned to the Y axis.

Worth knowing

This is the solo instrument, a separate app from SWAM Cello Section, which voices several cellos together under its own listing and price. Her MIDI learn attempt fails on camera and she puts mapping off to a later show.