After the Viola, released in 2015, the next instrument running on this new SWAM engine S is the new Cello. Its development and fine tuning required several years of research & development. Virtually all the elements contributing to the sound of the real instrument have been introduced in this virtual Cello. Bow speed, pressure, direction and distance from the bridge are under player's control. One can also control the resonance of the played string, that of the open strings, the amount of rosin and bow noise, the sharpness of the attack, the bow lift (on the string vs. off the string) on both attack and release, the position on the fingerboard, and many other parameters (see below). Each parameter can be assigned to any MIDI CC, allowing real time control.

Three main Play Modes are available, namely Bowed, Pizzicato & Col Legno. Likewise, the instrument provides three bow gesture modes: 1) Expression, where a balanced combination of bow speed, pressure and position is controlled by CC11 as in all previous instruments, 2) Bipolar, similar to Expression, but reversing bow direction when CC 11 crosses the value 64, 3) Bowing, where the speed of the bow becomes proportional to the speed of the controller. This latter mode is supplied mainly to cope with particular controllers, mimicking the movements of a real bow.

The Cello provides a RealMono mode (strictly monophonic), as well as various degrees of polyphony, like: Mono (maintaining the vibration of the start string during legato on different strings), Double (allowing arpeggios) and Auto (playing bichords when two notes are played simultaneously). Con sordino, natural and artificial harmonics, manual or automatic (tempo or time synchronous) tremolo, pizzicato and col legno modes are also available. A number of keyswitches allow quick selection of the preferred mode.



Additional parameters available to advanced users include nonlinear mapping of expression, attack envelope, activation of various bow change modes, legato vs. portamento mode, vibrato rate, tremolo mode and speed, expression/pressure coupling, tuning of the individual strings, microtuning etc. (see the above GUI).



Real time control of most parameters can be accomplished via MIDI. The Cello exploits several MIDI controllers for optimal performance. The basic controllers are the Pitchwheel, CC11 (or CC7, or CC2) for the dynamics, CC1 (modwheel) for vibrato intensity, CC19 for vibrato rate, CC64 (sustain pedal) for the bow change. Legato/Portamento time can be assigned either to the velocity of the overlapped note or to CC5. All parameters can be assigned to any MIDI CC, either directly, or using the Learn function. Channel aftertouch (AT) can be used to control any parameter, such as bow pressure or vibrato rate. A rescaling function including Min/Max values (see the above GUI) is provided for each incoming CC, allowing fine control of the associated parameter and maximum flexibility.

Each Cello includes several "instruments" with a different timbre which can be loaded via the main GUI.


Price: EUR 129 (+ VAT if within the European Union, and if applicable (see below)) All Samplemodeling customers are entitled to a time-limited 10% discount.
Please note that this offer expires on August 31st, 2016.

Audio Demo: http://samplemodeling.com/en/demos_cello.php
Info Page: http://samplemodeling.com/en/swam_cello.php
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been waiting for these to show up for years at this point