We hope this message finds you well and inspired to continue creating beautiful music. We are thrilled to share some exciting news with you – the release of our much-anticipated SWAM String Sections Version 1.1 update! This marks a significant milestone for us, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the unwavering support from our cherished customers and early adopters since our initial release in October.

When we introduced the world to SWAM String Sections, we embarked on a groundbreaking journey into the realm of physically modeled virtual instruments. It was a daring endeavor, and we faced the challenge head-on to bring you a product that redefined the possibilities of digital music creation.

Reflecting on the journey so far, we acknowledge that while sampled instruments have their merits, their limitations are inherently tied to a fixed set of recordings. The beauty of physical modeling lies in its capacity for growth and improvement without the need for additional recording sessions. With your invaluable feedback and trust, we’ve taken significant strides to enhance SWAM String Sections, making it an even more dynamic and responsive tool for your artistic expression.

One of the key focuses of this update has been the improvement of CPU efficiency, ensuring that your creative process remains seamless and fluid. We’ve also listened attentively to your suggestions and integrated features from SWAM Solo Instruments, providing you with an extended range of controls for player accuracy and randomness. This empowers you to shape your compositions with unprecedented precision, allowing for a more nuanced and authentic musical experience.

In addition to these enhancements, our commitment to sonic excellence remains unwavering. The room simulator, already renowned for its exceptional quality, has undergone further refinement, immersing you in a rich and immersive virtual environment.

We extend our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who believed in us from the beginning, becoming early adopters of SWAM String Sections. Your support and feedback have been instrumental in shaping the course of this journey. As a token of appreciation, we invite you to explore the full list of updates and improvements by clicking here.

As we stand on the precipice of a new chapter, we want you to know that this is only the beginning. We are committed to the continuous evolution of SWAM String Sections, and we invite you to join us on this exciting musical adventure. Your ongoing support fuels our passion, and together, we will create extraordinary music that resonates with the soul.

Thank you for being an essential part of the SWAM community. Keep going with us, keep supporting, and let’s continue to make beautiful music together!

Warm regards,

The SWAM String Sections Team

Traditionally, reverb plugins have relied on recorded room impulse responses to recreate acoustic spaces. However, SWAM String Sections takes a revolutionary approach, employing precise mathematical computations to capture the intricate dance of your music with the surfaces of the virtual room.

Select your preferred room, add the necessary sections, fine-tune the size, tweak absorption characteristics, and strategically position your string sections. The flexibility doesn’t end there—reposition the microphone closer for an intimate touch or push it farther away for a lush reverb effect.

What sets the Room Simulator apart is its ray tracing approach, offering a level of realistic precision that transcends the rough approximations of conventional algorithmic reverbs. Say goodbye to hours spent tweaking EQ and effects in pursuit of a lifelike sound; SWAM String Sections Room Simulator brings you closer to reality effortlessly.

While a maestro may skillfully wave a baton to coax the best sound from an orchestra, they are bound by the inherent sound of the concert hall. With SWAM String Sections, you break free from those limitations. Just as adeptly as a maestro conducts a symphony, you can craft the perfect room sound.

The SWAM String Sections Room Simulator is where your music takes a deep dive into innovation.

Watch the magic unfold:

What Is the Knowledge Base?

Our Knowledge Base is a treasure trove of information about SWAM String Sections and other Audio Modeling products. You’ll find answers to commonly asked questions, detailed guides, and more. It’s a valuable resource for both beginners and seasoned users.

Stay Updated!

The world of music technology is constantly evolving, and so are our products. We encourage you to keep an eye on our updates and announcements. Your support and enthusiasm drive us to deliver innovative tools that inspire musicians and elevate their creative potential.

Can’t Find Your Answer?

While our Knowledge Base is extensive, we understand that some questions might remain unanswered. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, don’t hesitate to open a support ticket and let us know. Your inquiries help us improve and expand our Knowledge Base.

This extraordinary product is not merely a symphonic emulation but the culmination of years of relentless research and development. It represents the epitome of what’s achievable when creativity, expertise, and technology converge. The journey to create SWAM String Sections began with our groundbreaking solo instruments, and it has led us to a place where orchestral music takes on new dimensions of realism.

Modeling the Unseen and Unheard

Modeling a symphonic ensemble is not a straightforward endeavor. It’s not just about combining solo instruments; it’s about understanding the intricacies of an entire section performing together. It’s about crafting a virtual room where the music comes to life. It’s about simulating the subtle interactions between musicians, and it’s about optimizing resource and CPU usage to ensure a seamless experience.

What you hear and see with SWAM String Sections is the fruit of intense research, countless iterations, and the art of making calculated compromises. It’s a product designed to deliver the most authentic orchestral sound available in the world of virtual instruments.

A New Age of Artistry

It’s crucial to understand that SWAM String Sections does not replace what has been done before. It’s not here to supplant the existing arsenal of musicians but to complement it. Our physical modeling instruments are the missing piece of the puzzle, the next chapter in a musician’s toolkit. They offer a level of flexibility and expressiveness that has not been possible with traditional sample libraries.

The arrival of SWAM String Sections marks the dawning of a new age in virtual orchestration. It represents the future of music-making, where technology and artistry intertwine seamlessly. Our mission is to redefine what’s possible, to unlock the uncharted potential of orchestral sound in the digital realm, and to empower musicians to create without bounds.

The Ongoing Journey

But this is just the beginning. Our story is far from complete. We operate in the realm of physical modeling, which means that we are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is feasible. We are in perpetual motion, dedicated to enhancing sound quality, system performance, and the immersive experience we offer.

As a member of our community, you are more than a user; you are an integral part of our story. Your feedback, your experiences, and your aspirations are the guiding stars that steer us forward. We invite you to be an active participant in our journey. Share your thoughts, your ideas, and your needs. Help us continue to refine and innovate.

Join Us on This Sonic Odyssey

As we set sail on this epic sonic odyssey, the destination is not fixed; it’s a horizon of limitless possibilities. Together, we’ll uncover the uncharted territories of music, where innovation and artistry come together in harmony. The future is unwritten, and you have the power to shape it. Embrace the evolution. Join us on this extraordinary journey, and together, we’ll create music that resonates with the soul.

SWAM String Sections is more than just a product; it’s a movement. It’s a redefinition of what’s possible. It’s a journey, and we want you to be a part of it.

Embrace the future. Embark on this sonic odyssey. Together, we’ll shape the world of music.

Unleashing the Power of SWAM Technology

The SWAM String Sections harness the power of SWAM technology, enabling composers, musicians, and producers to achieve exceptional orchestral performances with unprecedented ease and realism. These plugins emulate orchestras of varying sizes, from intimate chamber ensembles to grand symphonic groups.

Expressiveness at Your Fingertips

One of the most remarkable aspects of the SWAM String Sections is the precise, real-time control it offers over a wide range of articulations. From staccato and legato to expressive nuances like vibrato, bow pressure, and bow position, these plugins provide individual control for each section. This level of expressiveness represents a true evolution in orchestral composition, ensuring that your music can seamlessly transition between different styles and articulations without interrupting your creative flow.

Crafting the Perfect Acoustic Space

In the world of orchestration, the room is just as crucial as the instruments themselves. Audio Modeling understands this fundamental element and has introduced the Room Simulator within the SWAM String Sections suite. This unique feature allows you to position each section within a virtual room, creating a spatial experience that closely mirrors reality.

But the Room Simulator doesn’t stop at basic positioning. You have the power to adjust the room’s size and choose from various absorption materials. The result is a flawless transition, whether you’re seeking the intimate acoustics of a recording studio or the grandeur of a spacious church. Fine-tune your sound further by adjusting the microphone’s proximity, offering you the ultimate in orchestral perfection. With the Room Simulator, the potential for creative expression is limitless.

Seamless Integration for Effortless Control

The SWAM String Sections go one step further in streamlining your production workflow. Each section plugin provides individual control over expressivity. You can automate various parameters such as expression, vibrato, and more. No more searching for the right articulation or sample; the SWAM technology lets you recreate any musical style and experiment with the precise sound you desire, all by playing.

In addition to this, the SWAM String Sections bring orchestral flexibility to a new level. As you add more sections to your composition, they intelligently communicate, placing themselves in your room of choice without any phasing issues. It’s the ideal solution for building custom orchestras, whether you’re crafting intimate ensembles or grand symphonies.

A Smaller Footprint with Outstanding Performance

While the SWAM String Sections deliver unmatched expressive capabilities, they do so with a small footprint. The required space after installation is just 120 MB per single plugin format, along with 290 MB for shared resources and assets. RAM occupancy hovers around 350 MB per instrument instance, ensuring that these plugins are efficient and accessible to a wide range of users.

Orchestrate with Precision

Perhaps the most exciting feature is the ability to program each monophonic section individually in your DAW. This level of precision ensures that your compositions capture the authenticity of a live orchestra without the “organ” effect that often plagues chordal playing.

Communication and Placement

As you build your custom orchestra and add more sections, they intelligently communicate, placing themselves in your virtual room of choice. You can count on the anti-phasing settings to deliver exceptional sound quality and authentic room response.

Musical Freedom

The SWAM String Sections open new horizons for composers and musicians by providing unparalleled orchestral sound-shaping possibilities. Whether you’re working on film scores, classical compositions, or contemporary music, these plugins empower you to take your compositions to the next level.

Experience the SWAM String Sections Today

With support for various formats and operating systems, including macOS, Windows, and Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol and MPE compliant, the SWAM String Sections suite is ready to be your creative companion. These plugins are designed to provide an exceptional level of musicality, expressiveness, and realism that was previously unattainable in the world of digital orchestration. Say goodbye to the limitations of sampling and embrace the future of orchestral composition adding SWAM String Sections definitely in your music production toolbox.

SWAM engine is a new and innovative software that uses sophisticated modeling technology to replicate the sound of real instruments. In contrast, to sample playback, modeling technology uses advanced algorithms and physical modeling techniques to create a virtual instrument that responds and behaves like a real one.

So, what does this mean for you as a musician or producer? It means that you can now create music with virtual instruments that sound and behave like real ones. With SWAM instruments, you can create expressive and dynamic performances with all the nuances and articulations of a real instrument. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for music-making, from solo performances to orchestral arrangements.

The key to using SWAM instruments effectively is to understand the differences between sample playback and modeling technology. While sample playback is a static representation of a sound, modeling technology is dynamic and responsive. This means that the sound of a SWAM instrument can change in real-time based on how you play it. This includes changes in tone, volume, and articulation, as well as other nuances such as breath and vibrato.

In the SWAM introduction videos, you will learn how to get started with the software and how to create realistic and expressive performances. You will learn about the different controls and settings that allow you to fine-tune the sound of the instrument to your liking. You will also learn about the different playing techniques and articulations that are available to you, and how to use them effectively in your music.

But the SWAM introduction videos are just the beginning. To really dive into the software and take your music-making to the next level, you can visit the Knowledge Base. Here, you will find a wealth of information and resources that will help you master the software and create amazing music with SWAM instruments.

In conclusion, if you are new to SWAM, you are about to embark on a thrilling journey that will change the way you make music with virtual instruments. With its sophisticated modeling technology, SWAM opens up a whole new world of possibilities for music-making. So get fired up, and get ready to take your music to the next level!

Getting Started with SWAM Solo Brass

Getting Started with SWAM Solo Strings

Getting Started with SWAM Solo Woodwinds

Omri’s setup provides a great deal of flexibility from a relatively simple configuration. He gave us all of the juicy details, which we pass on to you with a thorough explanation and high-quality graphics, in this video:

Find out how a top musician puts SWAM and Camelot to work in performance!

You are taking the plunge. You’re going to buy upgrades for the SWAM instruments you already own, buy another SWAM instrument bundle, upgrade to Camelot Pro, and wholly commit to live performance with Audio Modeling instruments and whatever other instruments and audio plugins you may have. How exciting!

But…you are afraid. You think it is going to be a long, frustrating process to get everything installed, authorized, updated, and ready to rock.

We say: No, it’s not.

How can we say this so definitely, with such absolute certainty? I mean, we ARE talking about computers here, how can the Audio Modeling team be SO sure?

Easy. Because we have rolled out the faboo Audio Modeling Software Center to handle all of those processes for you with no more trouble (and not much more time) than it takes for you to make an espresso.

OK, we admit, Software Center doesn’t have the rich, strong flavor of espresso, and it won’t give you quite the same jolt of energy. But it DOES have the sweet taste of success, so that, by the time you sit back down in front of the computer with your steaming espresso, your Audio Modeling products will be waiting for you to take that coffee energy and make music with it. And, even BETTER than espresso (if such a thing is even possible), it will keep putting that sweet taste in your mouth as it makes it effortless to always have the most current versions of all of your Audio Modeling apps.

So, fear not. Software Center is here and it will be simple to manage all of your Audio Modeling apps. Which leaves only one question: do you want a little steamed milk with that?

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

As Apple’s iPad has grown in computing power, musicians have increasingly turned to it as a platform for music-making, both live and for recording. The raw capability of today’s iPads can’t be denied, and, even though the iPad is still not as powerful or flexible in some respects as a laptop or desktop computer, the stability of its OS and the familiarity of its interface have been key factors in the growth of the iPad as a music machine. iOS apps have grown to be numerous and sophisticated, and we at Audio Modeling are often asked how truly viable an iPad is as a standalone music platform. So we decided to take a shot at an answer.

Unsurprisingly, we’ll start with this: Audio Modeling’s Camelot live performance environment runs on the iPad, as well as under macOS and Windows, which makes all of those great instruments and effects usable for live performance. Camelot can host the full range of virtual instrument and effects plugins available for iOS, and provide control for them from a MIDI controller plugged into an iOS MIDI interface. USB controllers can be used, too, but require a USB adapter.

To get a bigger picture of just what is out there for iOS, Audio Modeling turned to Mark Basile, vocalist for long-established progressive metal band DGM, and Musical Director and Vocal Coach for the Echoes Music Academy in Naples, Italy. We asked Mark to share some of his favorite iOS instruments, which, by a funny coincidence, he just happens to run within Camelot. By no means is this a comprehensive survey of iOS virtual instruments, as a prowl through Apple’s AppStore will quickly show. It should be more properly thought of as a curated collection from the musical mind of Mark Basile.

Camelot Pro

Camelot is a complete live performance environment, with virtual instrument and effects plugin hosting, MIDI controller management and processing, multitrack playback, music score display, and much more. In addition to MIDI control of iOS instruments, Camelot can also accept external audio inputs from an audio interface, so you can even use Camelot as a mixing and processing environment for vocals or acoustic instruments.

Camelot lets you construct entire VI (Virtual Instrument) and audio rigs, store them, and recall them, enabling you to call up an entirely different sound and, in fact, complete system, for each song or section of a song. Then you can build setlists out of the songs. Camelot is a powerful way of putting iOS plugins to work on a gig.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/camelot-pro/id1326331127

SWAM Solo Instruments

SWAM Solo Strings, Solo Woodwinds, and Solo Brass are modeled instruments, not sample instruments, which means that, rather than playing recordings of acoustic instruments, they emulate the behaviors of the sound-producing mechanisms that make acoustic instruments distinctive. This makes modeled instruments far better and more intuitive for playing live and imparting instrumental style. Modeled instruments also need far less memory than sample instruments.

Audio Modeling’s SWAM instruments provide a collection of models of many of the instruments that dominate classical, jazz, and other styles of music, from violin, cello, and double bass, to trumpet, trombone, and tuba, to saxophones, oboe, and flutes. But the SWAM instrument bundles also go further afield to include instruments like piccolo trumpet, euphonium, and bass clarinet.

“SWAM instruments are very important collections of Solo Strings, saxophones, Solo Woodwinds (which includes the saxophones), flutes (also in the Solo Woodwinds family)…in short, a lot of things,” enthuses Basile. He finds the SWAM instruments easy to program and play. “We always have a graphic interface that is extremely clear, which is very helpful for programming and during interaction. The graphics allow you to have everything under control: vibrato, velocity, and with the expression pedal.”

“The legatos are beautiful, and the breath noise….amazing!”

https://audiomodeling.com/iosproducts/

Acoustic Piano:

“For acoustic piano, I’m using a Ravenscroft app,” Basile reveals.”I’ve used this app for quite some time and it gives me great satisfaction.” Ravenscroft Pianos are ultra-high end, hand-built pianos, and Ravenscroft 275 for iOS is a virtual instrument constructed from exacting recordings of an original Ravenscroft Model 275 Titanium Grand Piano.

Careful scripting brings out fine detail in hammer attacks, natural resonances, and other low-level properties that make for a rich, convincing piano sound.

Ravenscroft 275 Piano by UVItouch

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ravenscroft-275-piano/id966586407

Strings and Pads for layering

Basile frequently layers the VI Labs Ravenscroft 275 piano with strings and pads from Korg’s Module Pro. Module Pro is a sound library player that comes with a core library that includes keyboard, strings, brass, and synth sounds, but it really comes into its own with additions from the large selection of expansion sounds available for it. The expansion libraries add more keyboard instruments, sounds from (of course) the Korg Triton, orchestral and choir sounds, cinematic sound effects, house music sounds, and so on and so forth. Module Pro is an all-arounder.

KORG Module Pro

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/korg-module-pro/id932191687

Expansion Sound Libraries

https://www.korg.com/us/products/software/korg_module/modules.php#expansion

Electric Piano

Neo-Soul Keys Studio 2 is focused on electric piano, and, most particularly–though not exclusively–Rhodes sounds. Gospel Musicians is fond of telling how the late, great George Duke bought Neo-Soul Keys Studio 2 because he felt it had more grit and funk than other Rhodes emulators. Another plus for NKSK2 is its onboard effects, which are licensed from Overloud.

Gospel Musicians/MIDIculous LLC Neo-Soul Keys Studio 2

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/neo-soul-keys-studio-2/id1482448438

B3 Organ

Guido Scognamiglio is an Italian countryman of ours, and his company, Genuine Soundware & Instruments, is renowned for their VB3 emulation of the Hammond B3 organ. VB3m is the iOS version of this instrument, and boasts lots of authentic detail, from the drawbars to tube overdrive to the Leslie cabinet emulation, as well as various well-known B3 features like percussion and vibrato. Like Audio Modeling SWAM instruments, VB3m is a physical model, not a sample instrument. VB3m also includes flexible MIDI features.

GSi VB3m

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/vb3m/id1560880479

Synth Brass

discoDSP makes a number of virtual instruments, but the OB-Xd captures the magic of one of the most-loved synths of the 1980s, the Oberheim OB-X. Possibly the greatest fame of the original OB-X was in producing the keyboard riff that anchored Van Halen’s “Jump,” and, yes, the OB-Xd can resurrect that sound very well, indeed.

The OB-Xd starts with an OB-X emulation, but then adds improvements, since, well, things have advanced some in the last 40 years! Basile pronounces the OB-Xd to be “one of the best Oberheim emulations,” though he then adds “The only issue with this app, is its lack of internal effects. But I can absolutely address that with Overloud TH-U effects, like chorus, delay, and reverb, that are part of the equipment to use with the Oberheim (sound) to get more fatness, richness, presence, and a wider sound palette, and also stronger stereo positioning.”

discoDSP OB-Xd

https://apps.apple.com/app/id1465262829#?platform=ipad

Delay, Reverb, Effects

Basile uses Overloud’s TH-U as an outboard effects device following a virtual instrument in Camelot. TH-U iOS can share presets with the desktop version of TH-U. Oh,and by the way, TH-U is an amazing guitar amp simulator, too. The free version has a limited set of amp sims and effects, but there are many, many available as inexpensive paid add-ons.

Overloud TH-U iOS

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/th-u/id1478394489?ls=1

Synth Lead, Pads, Arpeggiators

KV331 Audio’s SynthMaster One is a wavetable synthesizer with a straightforward interface and lots of features like scales, filters that emulate a few famous analog designs, microtuning, and lots and lots of presets.

The voice structure on SynthMaster One is quite powerful, with stereo oscillators, two oscillators, two sub oscillators, two filters, four envelopes, two LFOs and a 16-step sequencer oscillator. Eleven different effect types round out the package.

“An amazing app. I really do everything with it,” says Basile, “not just my signature lead, but there are synth basses, cinematic atmospheres and soundscapes…I can program so many things.”

KV331 Audio SynthMaster One

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/synthmaster-one/id1254353266

Pads/Juno 60

Roland’s beloved Juno 60 arrived in 1982 and became a favorite instrument for making pads, synth brass sounds, and for its gritty stereo chorus. The TAL-U-No-LX captures the warmth and funk of the Juno 60’s sound without its noisiness. The TAL-U-No-LX goes the Juno 60 one better in that it has 12 voices, as opposed to the original’s six.

The Juno 60 was the first of the Juno series, which included the Juno 106 that was one of Basile’s favorites. TAL-U-No-LX, says Basile, “is available both on desktop and iPad, and it is faboo, with a layout that is just a wonder, extremely clear in its emulative intention. It has an incredible sound.”

TAL Software GmbH TAL-U-No-LX

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tal-u-no-lx/id1505608326

Sample Player/Rompler

Pure Synth Platinum is Rompler synthesizer, despite having no actual ROM (since it is all software). Nevertheless, it has a ton of tones, plus four layers per voice and effects licensed from Overloud. If your iPad has limited storage, samples can be stored on an external SSD or Thumb drive.

Basile explains that Pure Synth Platinum 2 “has a sample library of FM sounds, like the DX7 and beyond,” but he appreciates the range of sounds available “I have a sound we will call ‘Stratovarius-ish’ or ‘Malmsteen-ish,’ created using Pure Synth Platinum 2, that combines sounds from multiple internal parts.”

Gospel Musicians LLC Pure Synth Platinum

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pure-synth-platinum/id1459688500?ls=1

Synth Bass

It’s the Minimoog. From Moog Music, no less. Do we really need to say anything more about it?

Moog Music Inc. Minimoog Model D

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pure-synth-platinum/id1459688500?ls=1

With over fifty scored motion pictures under his belt, John Powell is a prolific and influential film composer, to say the least. Some movies he worked on include Shrek (2001), Robots (2005), the second and third Ice Age films (2006-2012), the Happy Feet films (2006-2011), the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy (2010-2019), amongst many others.

He’s earned three Grammy nominations for his work on Happy Feet, Ferdinand, and Solo: A Star Wars Story, and his score for How To Train Your Dragon 1 earned him an Academy Award nomination.

So when Emanuele Parravicini, Audio Modeling’s CTO and co-developer of the SWAM engine, received an email from Mr. John Powell’s office, the whole team got excited. It’s not every day an award-winning film composer takes the time to write to us to express his appreciation of our products!

What started as a friendly email exchange developed into an hour-long interview where we had the chance to talk to the man himself not only about SWAM but also about his perspective on music, the creative process, and the music industry.

Meeting the Man Behind Those Iconic Film Music Scores

We logged into Zoom at the appointed time. John Powell warmly greeted us, and we introduced ourselves and the company. It seemed we shared the excitement as Mr. Powell settled in to answer our first and most obvious question — one we were dying to know the answer to — how did he discover our SWAM instruments?

“Honestly, I’m not sure how I found you guys. It was definitely through the internet, maybe something I read on Apple News or some other tech-related news platform. No one told me about SWAM, that I remember. Then, I saw one of your demonstration videos on your YouTube channel.”

“That video caught my attention because, at the moment, I’m re-writing an opera I wrote 28 years ago with composer Gavin Greenaway and librettist Michael Petry. We didn’t have a big budget back then, so it was written only for fourteen instruments. I tried to program it the usual way I write but since it’s written for solo instruments, I couldn’t find good samples to work with.”

“With SWAM instruments, I can perform from the score. They’ve been particularly useful in this case because all the instruments in this piece are solo instruments.”

Discussing John Powell’s Use of SWAM Instruments

We listened to John Powell explain why he enjoys working with SWAM.

“When you’re film scoring, you’re not sketching something out on paper and handing it over to someone to have it orchestrated. As composers, we need to write every note played by every single instrument. Film composers need to become a master of every instrument they write for or at least, a master of the keyboard version of it. That’s something I understood working with Hans Zimmer back in 93-94. Because of that, I’m drawn to any sound that is very playable.”

“I hate sample libraries that are endless patches. You have to load up a patch to do this thing and then load up a patch to do that thing… Then you end up with ten different tracks. Or when you’re trying to get a result that sounds natural and performable from an articulation set and you end up cross-fading with MIDI from one type of sound to another to get the slides, portamentos, the right vibrato… It’s annoying.”

“I always loved sounds that allow me to do it all. That’s what drew me to your instruments — you seemed to have gotten everything inside one performable instrument and that’s not something really possible with samples at the moment.”

“When I’m working with samples, I need to shift between a technical and a creative mindset all the time. To counter that, I set up huge auto-loads on my systems, just because I don’t want to have to go through that technical mindset when I’m in the process of creating. But with SWAM, I can stay in this creative state longer because I can play the instruments as I go.”

After the praises came the time for some constructive feedback.

“There’s one thing I’m lacking in your instruments and that’s the relationship between the instrument and the room.”

At that moment, we understood why Mr. Powell asked us for a meeting. He had some questions of his own about our technology, questions Emanuele Parravicini eagerly answered. What followed was an enthusiastic conversation between audio software experts on ideas about how to not only model the sound of an instrument but also the sound of the room it’s recorded in and even the sound of specific microphones used to record them.

Audio Modeling has been aware of this issue for quite some time and is actively conducting research to understand what would be the best approach to achieve this kind of result.

“Whatever you do, I think you shouldn’t include the sound of speakers,” John said. “That’s the big problem with acoustic modeling at the moment, it always includes the sound of speakers and I think that’s a disaster. We already have speakers at the end of the chain, so it’s like having them twice.”

“Regardless of that aspect, it’s fascinating to me how you’ve developed such an unlikely level of quality that I haven’t seen before. We are so used to working with samples, and we know the problems that come with using samples, but this is such a different approach.”

The Importance of Aligning the Use of Technology With a Human Connection in Music Interpretation

We were curious to know if working with SWAM will influence the way he writes music in the future.

“Admittedly, I’m not approaching these instruments from a creative perspective. I’m looking for accuracy so that I can create a performance-based audio representation of the score.”

“It’s true that when using technology, one thing that’s interesting is exploring possibilities that go away from realism. But if we decide to move away from what real instruments can do, we need to keep sight of the fundamental reasons we love these instruments in the first place and why they work for us.”

“Let me give you an example. In the original recording of ‘American In Paris’, there’s a specific scene, it’s a very sexy dance between the main characters. There’s one trumpet note there, just a single note that slowly does a crescendo. Many people played that same piece beautifully afterward, but no one has played it quite like Uan Rasey, the trumpet player in the original recording.”

“One day, I arranged for Uan to come to my studio and sort of ‘bless’ my trumpet section since he had taught many of them. I talked to him about that note in ‘American in Paris’. I told him that for me, I hear everything in that note — everything I ever felt about love, sex, life, death… Everything! Just in that one note. Something about the way it changes from one thing to another and how it blossoms. Every time I hear it, I see the Universe open, and I see all human experience. I told him all this and he kind of looked at me and said ‘You know, it was just a gig that day.’ But when I asked him what happened in the studio and how he got to playing and recording it this way, he said they did the first take and then the director came to him and said ‘Listen, this needs to be the sexiest note you ever played.’”

“Now, ‘sexy’ is a difficult word to use in music, and in the end, what I got from that note is not sex, it’s much more than that. But his response was a very deep and human contact with this word and he made it blossom because he was a master of his instrument.”

“It’s not just the note, it’s also the arrangement and where it goes, but that note itself, how the timbre changes, always struck me as the epiphany of what musical expression is. Singers can do it, great players can do it. Gershwin wrote that single note with a crescendo and a slur over it and like I said, others have played it magnificently but no one has played it quite as magnificently as him, in my opinion.”

“That’s the musical and human connection I will always say is required for everything you do in music. So if you’re taking an instrument away from reality, you need to try and hold on to that. If there’s a synth note that doesn’t sound at all real but it blossoms in some way, or it changes in the timbre — the timbre meaning the change in the note means something — that’s what I’ll always be looking for, even if the sound is unrealistic.”

How to Develop Your Own Unique Sound

So what gives a musician this kind of unique and recognizable sound? And how can music composers and producers achieve this kind of sound quality while using technologies like MIDI and sample libraries?

“You can make your own sounds. Hans Zimmer has always created new libraries of sounds and I’ve done this also in the past: recording instruments, then sampling and processing them to make new sounds. For example, some reasons the Bourne films sound the way they do is because I was using a particular TC Fireworx box as my processor, and I chose to use a lot of bass and very specific guitars, playing them a certain way with different tunings. But then the most important part came afterward when editing.”

“It’s the choices you make that create your sound and the technique you have when writing music. People ask me which sample libraries I use. Honestly, I use the same ones as everybody else! But it’s the choices I make when I’m working with these libraries that create my sound. When you work with samples, or even when you work with something like SWAM, you have the possibility to change everything. You can change the acoustic and see what happens if you go with a drier or a wetter sound. You can place instruments differently in the space and see what happens if you have instruments far away from each other that are normally close or the other way around.”

“For example, I always loved ensembles, especially taking solo instruments and making ensembles with them. In The Call of the Wild, I had an ensemble of fourteen banjos. It’s not a sound you usually hear. That’s one way of developing your own sound, to just think and do things differently in some way. It sounds cliché, but it’s difficult to do and for me, it comes down to my fascination for other people’s music.”

“I have many musical obsessions I always come back to. There’s a four-bar phrase in a Vaughan Williams piece I always remember, there’s a record from Judie Tzuke that has a string arrangement I always remember, and then there’s my own experience of playing certain pieces that I always remember. You go through your whole life, you hear music, and it does certain things to you, depending on what is happening in your life at that moment. Or you simply remember that music because it sparks something in you.”

“All these connections music makes, they are like emotional diamonds buried inside us that we carry around. Then when you write music, really all you do is start pulling them out and using them. I think artists and musicians with very unique sounds simply carry around slightly weirder diamonds or they pick diamonds that are very different.”

“If you can remember all of Star Wars’ music and write like that, it’s great, but it’s not very useful to anybody else in the world. We need people to write like Star Wars but not. We need something new that doesn’t sound exactly like Star Wars. A person might try to write like Star Wars but can’t so the result comes out as something different but equally wonderful.”

“That missing accuracy is important. You need the memory of these emotional diamonds, but you also need to forget the details of what you heard so it can become whatever feels right at the moment. Some people are very accurate in recording those emotional moments and it just comes out exactly like the thing they are remembering. That’s fine, but it doesn’t move anything forward; people won’t see it as anything new.”

“In my case, at my best, I’m remembering the strengths of the emotions but completely forgetting the details of how the piece was played or written. When you fight to achieve the same kind of emotion while forgetting the details of how it was done originally, the result becomes something else. Then it has a chance of being unique.”

“That’s because in the end, if I’m remembering Ravel, I can’t forget I also love Esquivel or Timbaland beats but Vaughan Williams and Ravel never heard these things. It makes no sense to me to leave out some of these influences when I’m trying to reach that same emotion. Why would I do that? Because they are different? They’re not different, they feel the same to me. I get the same emotion from one than from the other so why not use both? Then, if I’m lucky, it becomes something different but with a strong feeling to it that people can recognize.”

Finding joy in the process of music creation

The art of music composition is one thing, but breaking into the industry is something else entirely. We asked Mr. Powell for his advice to anyone who dreams to one day be where he is.

“In many ways, I had as much pleasure working on my first advert many years ago back in the UK as I had working on How To Train Your Dragon, even though that advert was terrible. I probably did something like $150 for the demo and $450 for the final. It wasn’t anything great at all, but what I liked was pursuing the idea of making it work, of making it right, and I enjoyed the act of creation more than the effect my work had on people. If you don’t enjoy the creation process, it’s very hard to balance that with the amount of rejection you’ll get.”

“For some, it’s worse. Take actors for example. They can get rejected from the moment they walk into a room, just because of their looks. At least, for composers, looks are not that important… Even though, admittedly, we all look like this,” pointing at himself, “we’re all white men. It’s embarrassing and I really hope this will change soon.”

“If you enjoy writing, you’ll do it again. And if you get rejected, you’ll figure out why and how you can write better. Tenacity is the key to that.”

“Making money in this business is hell, and it’s worse now than it ever was because so many people can do it. Technology has made it possible for anyone to write and record music. I squeezed in at the end of a period when it was very much about people’s talents. I don’t think I had as much talent as many of the people surrounding me, but I had a talent for looking into technology to find different ways to do things. It’s not much of a vision, it’s not a Philip Glass kind of vision, but it was enough for me to keep pursuing technology and its use along with a musical understanding of things.”

“I got through in the industry because I was lucky and tenacious, and I was tenacious because I enjoyed the process. Not the process of people liking my work, even though it’s wonderful when they do, but the process of me liking my work was more important.”

“If I had anything to say to anybody, it’s that if you don’t enjoy the process all the time, and if it’s not all about the moment of creation rather than the moment of presentation, you shouldn’t do it. It’s going to be too painful. It’s difficult, you’ll get rejected a lot, and the stress is huge. Obviously, compared to many other jobs, real jobs, it’s much easier. It’s the hardest ‘easy job’ in the world in my opinion.”

What’s coming next

We didn’t want to end this interview without hearing a bit more about the opera John is working on at the moment.

“The opera is written for four soloists, a women’s chorus, a small orchestra, and also a larger orchestra for the recording. It’s going to be a bit on the shorter side, about 65 minutes long.”

Grinning, he said, “I like to think of it as an ‘operatainment’ because it’s perhaps too much fun to be an opera.”

“We are planning to record it in September and release a CD by the end of the year. But as far as performing it goes, classical music has a very long process. So even though we’ll use the recording to promote the opera, find places to perform it, and approach different opera groups, and even if people love it, we probably won’t be able to perform it before 2023.”

His last words to us were “Long live the nerds!” to which we enthusiastically cheered. Yes, Mr. Powell, we are indeed going proudly towards the future, and we are all looking forward to seeing how you’ll be using our technology, and hear all the incredible music you’ll create in the years to come.

Written by: Mynah Marie
Photo credits: Rebecca Morellato