Sample Modeling Cello is out

[Tanuj Tiku]

http://www.samplemodeling.com/en/swam_cello.php

I heard the demos and on a first listen I like a lot of things about it. Phrasings sound quite good and it seems that it avoids a lot of problems with other sampled cello. It will be interesting to see how it compares with some other good ones once people start using it.

I like the tone too over all, the second demo is quite nice and a good demonstration.

What do you guys think?

[Guy Rowland]

It sounds better to me than the viola which I took and instant and severe dislike to. This has more warmth and, well, realism, though it seems to get nasal on the ff (eg @0.30 on the Brahms). I'm sort of surprised that I hear an apparently uniform very fast vibrato on pretty much all the demos, but surely you can vary the speed and intensity? I think my brain strongly dislikes fake vibrato, and though this does sound better than some, it still doesn't really convince. However, those fast aggressive runs on the Brahms sound excellent.

Sample modelling technology is so odd. Some aspects are so good, so far ahead of sampling that it takes your breath away. And yet other times it fails the most basic of tests, to my ears. Always the large number of controllers is a concern to me.

[ZeeCount]

As I mentioned on VI SM have also released an update for the SWAM Woodwinds that fixes the annoying bug where the first note in a phrase would sometimes not play when using the instruments in breath controller mode.

[RobS]

I like how it reacts to pitch info... that's the way I do vibrato with this cello, as I can inject some life in every note.
example:
www.robertosoggetti.com/SwamCello-pitchVibrato.mp3

[Guy Rowland]

That sounds considerably better than the official demos to my ears, Rob.

[RobS]

thank you Guy, the other side of the coin is that pitch control is one more controller to take into consideration. Swam instruments really need to be played, they are kinda dead otherwise...

[Tanuj Tiku]

Thanks for that Rob! Really nice! I think, I am definitely getting the cello. Your demo further demonstrates its strengths to me.

[FriFlo]

It sounds pretty good, Rob, if you want to achieve a very dark Cello sound. But how real does the SM Cello sound, if you want a brighter sound, like the one you would get with a pretty close condenser mic? Did you EQ out a lot of the highs or use some dark timbre settings? I am afraid those SWAMM strings would sound very dull as a string quartet ... I absolutely love the way you can shape the sound, though, so I am kind of struggling, if I want to go all in with the SM strings ... I am afraid bright but pretty is not the strong suite of sample modeling ...

[RobS]

It sounds pretty good, Rob, if you want to achieve a very dark Cello sound. But how real does the SM Cello sound, if you want a brighter sound, like the one you would get with a pretty close condenser mic? Did you EQ out a lot of the highs or use some dark timbre settings? I am afraid those SWAMM strings would sound very dull as a string quartet ... I absolutely love the way you can shape the sound, though, so I am kind of struggling, if I want to go all in with the SM strings ... I am afraid bright but pretty is not the strong suite of sample modeling ...

No, no eq applied, this was the sound of the cello as it is, with some lexi plate added...
I will try re-rendering the same file with different settings, but it won't be easy getting a bright, close-up and still soft and pretty tone...