SWAM Violin

What it does

The solo violin in Audio Modeling’s SWAM line, modelled rather than sampled, so the tone follows how each note is played rather than replaying a recording. Bow position, bow pressure, bow fizz, vibrato, tremolo and harmonics all sit on the panel as live controls, every one of them available to MIDI learn. It runs standalone or as an AUv3, and is built on the assumption that something is moving those controls while you play.

In the demo

This is the expression episode. Jade starts dry with no controllers at all, then adds an iRig Stomp under one foot, an old iPhone 6s as a touch surface for bow position and pressure, and finally AUM with face tracking driving the vibrato. She remaps axes live with MIDI learn when they land on the wrong control.

Worth knowing

The whole point here is getting expressive control without expensive gear, so the answers are a cheap foot pedal, a spare phone and whatever knob is already on your keyboard. This is the solo instrument. SWAM Violin Section voices several violins together and is a separate app at its own price.