Playing Chords with SWAM?

[drake-n]

There' s a song I am playing using a SWAM trumpet where there are a couple chords.

I've set it up with multiple instances of SWAM each set to their own channel on the Linnstrument.

It still sounds pretty good, but I was wondering if there was a way to set up the Linnstrument so it doesn't alternate channels with each note press and instead only sends notes on the other channels when multiple notes are pressed at the same time. That way you could still get the great articulations while also being able to play chords.

Let me know if that makes sense. I use Bitwig as a DAW.

[flipcoder]

Use an Instrument selector device with a number of SWAM instances. Then set it to Free-robin mode. There was a bug with this where you'd have to use another Instrument Layer after the selector but I'm not sure if it's been fixed yet.

It looks like this:

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EDIT: I may have misunderstood your post. Apologies if so!

[drake-n]

This seems right, but it's still alternating instruments on each new note.

I was wondering if it could only add the other instruments when multiple notes are played simultaneously. Basically so that I could still get SWAMs really good legato transitions using one instrument layer, but if I play a chord the other instruments would be triggered so I could still get polyphony.

But maybe I haven't set it up right.

[John the Savage]

By definition, playing legato can only be done on a monophonic instrument, and the legato articulation will only happen when you have technically played two overlapping notes. So, there's no way to force that behaviour using a polyphonic instrument, be it MPE or otherwise.

However, with the setup you've got above, you could use the Channel Per Row mode on the LinnStrument to achieve your goal. It would, however, come with some compromises: i.e. you would not get a legato articulation when playing vertically or transitioning from one row to another.

Cheers!

[Dirk Diggler]

Or you could always go old school, and record multiple tracks like multiple horn players.
It will be a lot more natural with the subtle differences of each track.

Just make your own cloned horn section.

[mijiti]

I have done this using Channel Per Row mode, to play an ensemble of 8 instruments (eg 2 Violins, 2 Violas, 2 Cellos(/Celli:), 2 Double Basses). This puts the control of which instrument plays entirely in the hands of the player. Makes for some strange hand shapes at times though!

[flipcoder]

You could set it up to use chords on your left split and legato on your right. It may also be possible to set up a foot pedal to toggle between the two modes as well

[drake-n]

Thanks for all the ideas everyone!

[hesitz]

I think the software app called Divisimate might give what you want in a pretty natural way, though it's certainly overkill if one of the methods suggested already works for you. It's an unusual app that takes a bit to wrap your head around, but basically it manages the routing of notes to the proper instruments. It can also route notes that aren't played, e.g., routing four note-on messages of 4-note chord to separate instruments, when you're playing only the root of the chord. It's used as an entry tool for people composing music, but also has live-playing uses like the one you seem to be doing.

The name 'Divisimate' comes from the musical term 'divisi' which is an orchestral arrangement method where a single section of instruments is divided into parts that play different lines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divisi

One example setup for Divisimate could involve a quartet of instruments with baritone, tenor, alto, and soprano parts -- where you're playing on a keyboard (or Linnstrument) and the notes you play are routed to the appropriate instruments. E.g., the highest note is always routed to soprano, second high (if you're playing more than one) to alto, etc. There are various ways to set things up, but you can have it so one particular instrument is used if you're playing a single note, and the other instruments get added according to some rule as you play more simultaneous notes.

Using Divisimate with SWAM instruments seems to be popular. There is support for MPE, but I haven't used it yet. You can get a demo version of Divisimate, but they don't advertise it, I think you just need to email them and ask for it, website is divisimate.com .

Here's link to a couple example videos, there are many more you can find at that main youtube channel, or just search youtube for 'swam divisimate'.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3mxCCCV1Fs

[GruvSyco]

Yeah, divisimate seems perfect for this. Frankly, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more performances with Linnstrument/Divisimate/SWAM. I happen to have Linnstrument, Divisimate and all of the SWAM libraries but I’m a slacker. I had the big band template they have kinda working at some point.

[drake-n]

Holy wow! Thank you for sharing Divisimate, hesitz! I had never heard of it. That is so damn cool. If anyone does see any good Linnstrument performances with it, I would love to see it!