News

On October 28 we organized the first Live Webinar focused on Camelot 2.0. 

Gerald Peter illustrated his live performance setup with the newest Camelot 2.0. 

In this webinar, Gerald explains the reason why Camelot is a great software for keyboardists who have a lot of gear (like himself). 

“If you want to bring on stage the specific sound you have created in the studio, you usually need different kinds of gear.” 

Gerald, for example, has the Nord Stage, the Moog Sub37, the Korg Minilogue, the Roli Seaboard, and also he plays with many plugin Instruments and FX. 

“Camelot manages all these different components together so that you can create the sound you’re looking for also when you’re performing because usually, it’s very challenging to put all these different gear in a live setup and combine them smoothly when you’re performing in a show. Camelot offers this possibility and makes it really easy for the artist to perform.”

According to Gerald, other advantages of Camelot are that it is platform-independent: you can perform on a Mac but you can also perform on a Windows notebook which means it runs everywhere, even also on iOS, so you can actually go on stage with a keyboard and an iPad and run your favorite plugins from there.

As a result, Camelot also syncs in between its different devices so if you have two or three computers and you can easily sync your program and setlist in between these different computers.

Finally, to complete the big picture, Gerald mentioned that Camelot can manage sheet music attachments and annotations: “…That means when you load a certain Song in your Setlist the right sheet music shows up, so that’s really useful in case you don’t remember all the parts to play.”

We are proud to announce our new partnership between the Italian companies: Audio Modeling and Project Lead.

Project Lead has been a top player in the audio-computer sector for 30 years, designing and building Workstations, thanks to a team of musicians and music business operators.

The Workstation is a real musical instrument generated by a perfect integration between selected hardware and top-level software combined with the utmost attention to detail, reaching the highest performances and full stability with rigid stress & validation tests. 

For this reason, the Project Lead workstations have been on the stages of the most important tours for years, and now are available to everyone.

i-Lead Workstation is now a reality! A dream instrument combining an all-in-one touch screen computer, powered by Camelot 2.0, that allows you to:

• Select and load your favorite virtual Instruments and FX plugins in real-time
• manage your MIDI connections and Hardware Instruments presets 
• Collect and recall instantly all your settings in Scenes, Songs, and Setlists
• Playback Audio Backing Tracks and automate hardware and software scenes selection

SPECIFICATIONS

• Display TN LCD TFT 22″ – Full HD 1920×1080 16:9
• Touch screen (multi-touch 10 points)
• Connections: 4 USB 2.0 – 2 USB 3.0 – 1 Ethernet / LAN
• CPU Intel Core 9th Generation i5/i7 up to 4.70GHz
• Low Latency RAM DDR4 Up to 32 Gb (lifetime warranty)
• Storage up to 16 Terabyte with SSD/HD or SSD NVMe (transfer rate 3500/3000MBs) for instant sound loading
• Video card Intel UHD graphics 630 con: 1 HDMI  or 1 DisplayPort for a second 4K screen
• 2 High-Quality Audio Speakers – SD Card Reader – 2 Mpixel Webcam
• Windows 10 Professional 64bit OPTIMIZED by Project Lead certified for professional Audio/Video applications, 100% ROCK STABLE, Custom high-performance BIOS
• CAMELOT PRO  Included
• 48h stress&certification test before delivering

BUY IT

Manage all your hardware instruments, software plug-ins, and external devices in one place!

Camelot is a live performance tool that breaks entirely new ground. It’s cross-platform (Mac OS, Win, iOS) and connects several hardware and software instruments via MIDI into a live performance setup.

Setlist, Song and Scene Manager

Camelot addresses the most complex live performance requirements with a simple and guided workflow. What in the past could only be achieved with a complex setup of different applications and devices connected together, Camelot achieves in one convenient and beautifully designed workstation. The Song in Camelot coordinates all of your Hardware Instruments Configurations & MIDI Routing, Software Instruments & FX instances, Music Scores, and Audio Backing Tracks.

Keep everything needed for a perfect live performance clear and organized. Built-in a simple hierarchy of Setlists, Songs, Scenes, Layers, and Items, Camelot keeps even the most complicated gig neat and tidy. Because of this organized structure, customization is simple and editing on the fly is easy and fast.

• Setlists – a collection of Songs
• Songs – can have one or more Scenes that each include a Timeline. When you select a Song in Camelot, you load all the resources needed to play that Song (i.e., Virtual Instruments, FX, and Audio Tracks).
• Scenes – recall and organize Hardware instruments presets, MIDI connections, Software plugin presets, and Music Score Attachments. You can switch freely from one Scene to another with no interruption in the sound.
• Layers – the building blocks of each Scene. Layers allow the connection between MIDI Input Controllers and the Items. Layers manage the MIDI and Audio flow for all the Items that are loaded on them.
• Items – Individual Hardware or Software Instruments and FX.

Forget about the complications of last minute Setlist changes. Camelot allows you to rearrange, move and duplicate Songs with simple Drag & Drop directly on each Setlist or even swap Layers, Items, Backing Tracks and Timeline elements. No more need to fear change! Camelot’s custom Templates allow you to reuse certain portions of your gig for quick starting points. When you have created a good starting point for your project, just add it as a Template so you can speed up your Show preparation.

Backup with confidence! Camelot has several tools to save your work or create backup instances that are ready to support you on another device. Camelot creates Snapshots—a picture in time of how the data was organized. You can create different Snapshots to go back in time when you are editing your Setlists and want to compare different versions. Snapshots are also useful when you want a clean starting point before the Show, for example, when you tweak and adjust items while performing in Song mode, but you do not want to keep those adjustments for the next Show.

Backups are copies of the entire Camelot session in one convenient zip file. Save the backup file in another drive or in the cloud to keep it safe. You can restore the Backup file in any other system running Camelot, even on a different operating system.

Multitrack Audio Player, Timeline, and Automations

Camelot 2.0 introduces a new area called Timeline. The Timeline is dedicated to automation.
In the Timeline, you can attach audio backing tracks, add auto-play and auto-stop markers, and even add Scene automation.
You can have multiple audio tracks with separate audio outputs and, at the same time, use the Timeline to automate Scene switches at specific points in the sequence.
For example, you can playback music tracks, switch hardware and software instrument presets, change the Song, levels, and music scores, all hands-free!
You don’t even need to press the “Play” button!
Trigger your samples and scenes in perfect sequence using only one pedal or automatically play and stop tracks.
The Timeline perfectly structures your song in the exact order it’s meant to be played.

Hardware Instruments Manager

The MIDI engine in Camelot is not limited to sending only basic messages, it delivers a plug & play experience with your Instruments.

Camelot Smart Maps deeply communicate with Hardware devices, allowing you to recall your hardware presets with minimal knowledge of MIDI.
This allows you to switch modes or manage multi-part patches of your Hardware device without accessing its panel.

In Camelot, adjusting your hardware is as simple as clicking your mouse. 

Software Instruments & FX Host

Maximize your available sounds by adding Software Instruments and Audio FX to your performances! Depending on your system (AU and VST for laptop/desktop and AU v3 for iOS), Camelot allows you to host plug-in instruments on each Scene. For added functionality, load MIDI Processors (like arpeggiators for example) at the beginning of any Layer. You can transform your layers’ MIDI Inputs and feed the Items in a very creative way.

Any track can benefit from a Master FX consisting of a Compressor, EQ, a Master Delay, and a Master Reverb. Camelot comes with these Master effects built-in, and they process all the audio routed to the Main Audio Output. The FX chain parameters are applied to the entire Setlist so you can adjust your Mix, accounting for different conditions that each show requires, such as different PAs and Venues. This ensures your Sound will be the same, consistent sound that you have designed in your Studio or during rehearsals. If you need more flexibility, you can always bypass the Main Audio Outs and output to any channel you want.

PDF Music Score Reader

Easily read your Chords, Music Scores, Lyrics directly in Camelot! Simply attach a PDF, PNG and JPG files on each Scene or Song and write your own annotations for any attachment or place them on a convenient annotation board.

View your attachments on one or two pages—you can also select if you want to scroll or switch pages for browsing.

MIDI Patchbay and Router

Layers and Items have a dedicated MIDI Settings section that can Transpose, Octave Shift, Filter unwanted MIDI events and route/replicate messages from one input channel to another. This MIDI routing and processing unlocks endless combinations. Imagine playing your instruments from one controller in one Scene, then switching seamlessly to another configuration that plays other tone generators and audio effects. This is all done without the need to unplug and replug MIDI cables on the fly!

All MIDI Instruments are supported in Camelot, even if there is not a Smart Map available yet. Simply use Program Changes and Bank Select messages to manage your MIDI Instruments. In addition, the advanced MIDI item allows you to generate a wide choice of messages, including Sysex. You can also learn and playback the list of messages just recorded. You can even create your own MIDI map. Organize and recall with ease MIDI generic and advanced items. All the MIDI items in use can be added to a Custom Map for reuse.

The MIDI Manager in Camelot is extremely intuitive. When a MIDI port is not detected, a red badge pops up to quickly address that issue. You can either replace the missing port or reconfigure your Setlist with different Hardware. You can do all of this with one button.

Smart Scene Transition

The Smart Scene Transition in Camelot is unique because it not only allows you to switch scenes without sound interruptions from audio plugin instruments, it also takes care of smooth MIDI transitions between different routings and configurations.

For example, if a MIDI device is not in use in the scene you are transitioning to, you will not get stuck notes because the MIDI instances from the previous scene will stay alive until you release your finger or the sustain pedal.

Cross-Device Compatibility

Camelot is available cross-platform on Mac, Windows, and iOS. Supported Mac OS X version: 10.10 (Yosemite) and above – 64bit only. Supported Windows OS version: Windows 10 and above – 64bit only. Supported iOS (iPad ONLY) OS version: 11 and above.

Try&Buy Camelot 2.0

We are proud to share the exciting outcome of our new partnership. Audio Modeling has teamed up with the award-winning companies moForte and Wizdom Music to release a new set of instruments exclusively designed and optimized for the unique GeoShred Control Surface. The Geo-SWAM Instruments Collection is now available as an In-App-Purchase (IAP) for GeoShred 5.0.

All instruments are powered by Audio Modeling’s SWAM technology!

These new Geo SWAM instruments offer a plug & play solution that will expand your GeoShred Experience: GeoCello, GeoViolin, GeoClarinet, GeoFlute, GeoOboe and GeoTenor Sax, derived from the legendary SWAM Tenor Sax.

Instead of playing samples recorded by other musicians, the physical and behavioural modeling of these instruments, combined with the advanced playing surface, will open your musical creativity to a whole new level. Have fun exploring your musical creativity and expressivity in, what we believe, is one of our most exciting collaborations.

F.A.Q.

What are the basics about the Geo-SWAM instruments? How much do they cost?

• The SWAM Models that are integrated into GeoShred are known as the Geo-SWAM Instruments.
• There are 6 instruments, GeoViolin, GeoFlute, GeoTenorSax, GeoCello, GeoClarinet, GeoOboe.
• There is an IAP store in GeoShred for purchasing the Geo-SWAM instruments. They are each $14.99USD and there is a Collection of all Six for $74.99USD. Note that the conversion of the price for different territories is not a straight currency conversion. In some territories GST or other charges are added. In some territories Apple sets the price to track USD.
• The Geo-SWAM IAP store is available for both GeoShred Pro, and GeoShred Play. If GeoShred Control users wish to purchase the Geo-SWAM instruments, they must upgrade to the functionality of GeoShred Pro first.
• The Geo-SWAM instruments can be performed from the GeoShred keyboard, or MPE controllers ONLY

Can the Geo-SWAM instruments be controlled with a conventional MIDI Keyboard? A wind controller?

The SWAM Models that are integrated into GeoShred are known as the Geo-SWAM Instruments. The Geo-SWAM instruments are expressive, multidimensional instruments. Because the MPE protocol was designed for controlling multidimensional instruments, the Geo-SWAM instruments can be performed from the GeoShred keyboard, or MPE controllers ONLY.

In the near future, Audio Modeling will release native SWAM as iOS Apps. These Apps will offer the most suitable interface for full MIDI control and have been designed specifically to guide the user for correct use and control.

Can I use the Geo-SWAM instruments with AUv3?

Yes, GeoShred can be hosted in any AUv3 host. As an AUv3 plugin instance, Geo-SWAM instruments can be recorded and played back using GeoShred’s keyboard or an MPE compliant controller.

What is the difference between the Geo-SWAM instruments and the Stand-alone instruments that Audio Modeling is developing?

The Geo-SWAM instruments are monophonic and are optimized for the GeoShred keyboard and MPE controllers. Not all controls and parameters found on the native SWAM instruments are available in the Geo-SWAM instruments, and some controls are handled differently. A complete list of the controls for each instrument can be found here:

• GeoViolin
• GeoFlute
• GeoTenorSax
• GeoCello
• GeoClarinet
• GeoOboe

Are there any discounts for Audio Modeling existing customers?

We would like to offer a cross discount to our customers but it is not feasible on the AppStore. We have set a very accessible price to allow everyone to benefit from this exciting experience on a unique Controls surface, with a huge collection of great modeled FX that can be added in the chain.

What is the difference with the SWAM Sound Pack for ROLI NOISE?

ROLI NOISE “Sound packs”, are bread and butter sounds optimized for playing on the Noise surface or on a ROLI hardware controller, with no parameters to be tweaked. Each SWAM-Noise sound is indeed a preset with a fixed set of parameters.

The Geo Instruments are focused on exploiting the GeoShred surface and possibilities already offered by the software to expand the expressivity of the SWAM models.

The work “behind the scenes” has been huge: we had to customize, adapt, optimize and fix many lines of code. The software and auxiliary assets included in GeoShred are much different than the ones included in Noise.

Pizzicato has not been enabled on Geo Strings Instruments because it does not show the true potential of the expressive interaction available with the combination of GeoShred with a Bowed String instrument.

Can I purchase the Geo-SWAM instruments from GeoShred Play? GeoShred Control?

The Geo-SWAM IAP store is available for both GeoShred Pro, and GeoShred Play. If GeoShred Control users wish to purchase the Geo-SWAM instruments, they must upgrade to the functionality of GeoShred Pro first.

If I purchase a single instrument first, and then the collection, can my purchase of the single instrument be applied to the purchase of the collection?

Unfortunately, due to App Store limitations, previously purchased instrument IAPs can not be applied to a purchase of the collection.

What is the minimum iOS version required to run the Geo-SWAM instruments?

The minimum required version of iOS to run the Geo-SWAM instruments is iOS 11.4

Do the Geo-SWAM instruments support 3D touch?

Yes, the Geo-SWAM instruments use 3D touch for both velocity and pressure

How is velocity and pressure supported on an iPad?

On an iPad, velocity is taken from KeyY Touch, the vertical distance where the key is tapped, with 0 at the bottom and 127 at the top. Pressure is mapped to KeyY sliding.

We visited our friend, Pat Scandalis, in California at moForte.  We spent a nice time together talking about the relationship between Music and Technology.

Pat is CTO of moForte, a company that makes a unique new kind of musical instrument. This musical instrument allows performers to play multiple voices independently with fingers, very fluidly, and additionally they can reach the desired pitches in virtually any temperament in a very precise way.

This instrument has been coupled with a model of the physics of the guitar, and it’s able to do a kind of feedback distortion guitar. They also have a number of Indian instruments. For this reason their products are used by South Asian artists including music creators for Bollywood films.

Pat has been in the audio business since 1994. He was a researcher at Stanford on physical modeling for a number of years, and then he wound up running some of the first digital download companies. Now he is again working on musical instruments and creating tremendous instruments for musicians.

Pat, in your opinion, what’s the role of Technology in relation with Music? 

I am a technologist and of course technology is super important to me however I feel like technology takes a backseat to musicians. 

One of the things that we did at moForte is we created a partnership with rock star Jordan Rudess. We actually called him the “sacred user” and we let him drive the development of the software.

So instead of being engineers who created a product that we thought would be really really cool, we went to an actual musician who was using it on stage every day, and we would ask him “what do you think about this feature”, “how do you think this works”. He came back with some very direct feedback on how we should do things differently.  Because we focused on Jordan Rudess, the “sacred user”, above our engineering ideas we wound up with a product that was very comfortable to use and very expressive for musicians.

What can technology bring to musicians to make a different experience on a conventional musical instrument?

For instance in our own product we have this “almost magic” pitch rounding, where a user can very fluidly slide their finger around like they’re on a pedal steel or a slide guitar. Yet when they stop the computer helps them get very precisely to the pitch that they’re trying to reach This works whether or not you’re in western temperament, or if you’re in India and you’re using a Carnatic temperament, or you’re in Bali and you’re using a Balinese temperament. It works very well, and it possible for more people to have a very satisfying musical performance experience.

GeoShred and SWAM: Why?

Many users of GeoShred use it in combination with the SWAM instruments, but the very interesting thing that’s happened: We did not promote this, it was sort of discovered! A few of the users figured out that they could connect GeoShred via MIDI through MPE MIDI, a very expressive MIDI, to the SWAM engine for the SWAM Violin and they started to use it. The result is sort of expressive modalities that you wouldn’t get from a conventional keyboard! 

For example, one of the expressive articulations in Indian music is what’s called a Gamaka, it’s a kind of vibrato that’s very different than western vibrato, it’s microtonal it often starts on the center of the note which is called a Svara and then it bends up to microtonal pitches which are called Shruthis . So it’s very easy to perform a gamaka on GeoShred and when these gamakas are articulated with SWAM Violin it sounds like a classical Indian violin player playing in the style of Carnatic or Hindustani music.

If you love improvisation, you have to try recreating and playing the typical Balkan trumpet sounds. Dirty and very thin, this sound can be considered the opposite of the clean classical trumpet. 

First tip, if that is possible with your controller,  assign the Flutter Tongue to the after touch from the External Controller section. If you have a keyboard with aftertouch is very useful to assign some parameters that you can modulate and trigger during your performance. In this case, you can push more on the keyboard then generate this interesting and very expressive effect.

On the Play Modes find the Pipe Gesture and set it to Half Valve Transition. The Half Valve Amount set it to a low level, that is important to hear more the breath noise. Pedal Notes set to on.

In the Timbre Section set high level of Bell Resonance, Breath Noise as well and Dirtiness to get a dirty and resonating sound. 

On the Pitch Section let’s move the pitch bend down range to one semitone, to be able to hear and play easily quarter tones.

In the Advanced Section find the Dynamic Pitch and Random Lips. We suggest to use high level values to build  a dirty sound.

Miles Davis is certainly one of the most recognizable musicians that jazz/fusion has ever known, and his trumpet style and sound is unique. You can now recreate and get close that sound, just identify and set the key parameters on the SWAM Brass interface, then add your own personal taste.

In the Play Modes the Pipe Gesture recommended is the Half Valve Transition: that is very important to manage the legato sounds; and of course in the Mutes you have to select the Harmon Mute. So, on the Expressivity Section, set the Mute Control to 0.  with this setting, the mute will be very close to the bell of the instrument.

On the Timbre section, the Breath Noise and Dirtiness are recommended to be set to  high values, to get a club dirty sound and finally experiment moving around the mute size to find the sound that is closer to your taste and references.

Louis Armstrong is synonymous with Jazz, and he revolutionized this genre and the way of trumpet playing. He experimented with syncopated rhythms and improvisations.  

If you are looking for a sound similar to Satchmo, tweak and play with the parameters we have spotted and try to make your own sound. 

In the Effects Section, check out the Bell Angle, we recommend a value around 0.3, so you can simulate the typical jazz genre mic position.

On the Expressivity, set the Vibrato Rate to a high value, 7 or 8, because Louis Armstrong’s vibrato was very fast. Even the Attack Tongue should be close to the max.

And now let’s focus on the Timbre Section. The Bell Resonance and Breath Noise are set at a low value, the Dirtiness must be at a high level because Louis’ timbre was a bit dirty. Find your own Dynamic Sensitivity starting from our suggestion of 0.7.

Explore the Advanced Section. We suggest to set the Dynamic Pitch to the high value to recreate the typical jazz detuning. Also Random Lips should be set to a very high value.

These are our suggestions, use them as starting point! You just have to find your own sound and have fun!

In this new video tutorial focusing on SWAM Brass, Simone from Audio Modeling guides you through the recreation of a classical trumpet sound with the most technologically advanced virtual modeled instrument on the market. 

How to recreate a distinct Baroque sound and its characteristic cleanness? A practical example shows you the settings and parameters used to obtain just that: the Bell Angle, the Compression, the Reverb time and the Reverb mix.

How important is the expression curve to reduce the resonance on the highest dynamics? What about the expressivity parameters? 

Through a simple, intuitive and smart interface, playing Baroque Trumpets becomes easy.

The fifth video tutorial about SWAM Brass focuses on MIDI mapping. Audio Modeling has put its best effort to provide every performer and musician the best experience in terms of External Controller Mapping.

SWAM is a virtual modeled instrument built with the goal to be expressive. The easier you map your favorite controller, the more you’ll be able to master the sound in real-time and interact with it. 

Simone from Audiomodeling will show you several different MIDI controllers: experimenting with them will help you find the way that works best for you or your music style.  

Discover how easy it is creating and assigning a MIDI mapping to your controllers.