SWAM Double Bass

What it does

The solo double bass in Audio Modeling’s SWAM line, modelled rather than sampled, so tone responds to how a note is played instead of replaying a fixed recording. Bow lift, bow pressure, bow position, tremolo at slow and fast settings, vibrato, harmonics and several polyphony modes sit on the panel, all available to MIDI learn. It loads standalone or as an AUv3.

In the demo

Jade controls it entirely from GeoShred rather than hardware, first standalone and then as an AUv3, setting the MIDI preset to the Seaboard default and routing GeoShred’s MIDI out into the app. She shows the expression pad above the fretboard, then finger expression, which moves the control into each note.

Worth knowing

The episode is aimed at anyone without an MPE controller or an expression pedal, so everything here is done with software already on the iPad. One setup step catches her out on camera: the app needs restarting after the MIDI preset changes. This is the solo instrument, not SWAM Double Bass Section.