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A Lonely Man I had some time yesterday to try my new Swam VSTis, the Solo Strings. This quickly composed song, about 3 hours, uses the solo violin. You can let me know if it sounds realistic or not. Thanx. As always all comments welcomed. BiaB style = Kladerman Piano Style Tempo = 60 BPM All of the BiaB tracks used Kontakt: Bass - Amadeus basses Guitar - Amadeus Cellos Piano - Gilssando Harp Strings - TBZ11 Heavenly Pad Utility track - TSC2 Lush 1 Me via my keyboard the Swam Solo Violin
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Sublime ...
The strings sound excellent to us with their melancholy arrangement and tone.
Nice accents from the piano and guitar too.
Sad but enjoyable!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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Mario,
This is a beautiful piece of music... I love that Swam violin. Everything sounds great.
Bob
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Sublime ...
The strings sound excellent to us with their melancholy arrangement and tone.
Nice accents from the piano and guitar too.
Sad but enjoyable!
J&B Janice and Bud, thanx so much for this wonderful review. Mario,
This is a beautiful piece of music... I love that Swam violin. Everything sounds great.
Bob Thanx Bob. I really like those Swam VSTis.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Starts in beauty, then explores darker territories, ends in a funeral feeling. Mysterious chord progression after 1 min reflects the title. Professionals can probably detect that it is not a real solo violin, but I enjoyed the mood, all those tears and pain you have managed to create with your Swam, haunting melody. Other instruments give lush and heavenly support. Very sad, but perfect for such a movie soundtrack (I don't mean the comedy 'The Lonely Guy' which the title reminded me of).
Janne
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Lovely soothing track. I automaticcaly assumed that the solo instrument was a real bowed one, something close to an erhu, but I wouldn't have recognised it as a violin. In fact I think it suited the piece better than a real violin would have.
Some favourite Waoist Adages:
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Hi Mario,
What a BIG sound! Sad, powerful and very emotive. I think I've used that term (emotive) twice tonight - not a bad thing, in my book. The song is powerful and well put-together in such a short period of time.
The violin didn't sound especially realistic to me - mostly because it lacked the finite amount of vibrato that's normally indigenous to a violin solo - vs a country fiddle. But, as WaoBand said, it's probably a better fit than a "real" violin. Regardless, it was wonderful, powerful listen that I enjoyed immensely. You never disappoint!
Best to you,
Alan
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Nice bit of music. I have mixed feelings about SWAM solo strings. I love to play them and they're super flexible and responsive. Without the vibrato, the SWAM violin is a bit shrill and lifeless. Toward the end, it was creeping into theremin territory. I'd add a progressively building vibrato, even on the quiet notes. In my last song, I started out using SWAM solo strings, but ended up changing to SampleModeling solo strings instead. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was enough. SWAM strings are great to play, and launch right away. But you've got to be careful with them, because they'll slip into synthy sounding if you're not careful. But that's just my opinion. 
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Man, what can we do to make sure that no one disturbs you, Mario? You should have time like this every day. Yes, at times the violin sounds like a violin; other times it sounds like what it is. That never matters when you write the parts they play and controll the way the do. You always bring out the best. What I really like is the background stuff. Man, the whole piece sounds Mario Good.
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Starts in beauty, then explores darker territories, ends in a funeral feeling. Mysterious chord progression after 1 min reflects the title. Professionals can probably detect that it is not a real solo violin, but I enjoyed the mood, all those tears and pain you have managed to create with your Swam, haunting melody. Other instruments give lush and heavenly support. Very sad, but perfect for such a movie soundtrack (I don't mean the comedy 'The Lonely Guy' which the title reminded me of).
Janne Thanx Janne for this fantastic review. I'm glad you liked it and you got what I was shooting for in this tune.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Lovely soothing track. I automaticcaly assumed that the solo instrument was a real bowed one, something close to an erhu, but I wouldn't have recognised it as a violin. In fact I think it suited the piece better than a real violin would have. Thanx for listening and commenting. I didn't think the violin sounded realistic either and that is why asked for other opinions.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Hi Mario,
What a BIG sound! Sad, powerful and very emotive. I think I've used that term (emotive) twice tonight - not a bad thing, in my book. The song is powerful and well put-together in such a short period of time.
The violin didn't sound especially realistic to me - mostly because it lacked the finite amount of vibrato that's normally indigenous to a violin solo - vs a country fiddle. But, as WaoBand said, it's probably a better fit than a "real" violin. Regardless, it was wonderful, powerful listen that I enjoyed immensely. You never disappoint!
Best to you,
Alan Thanx Alan. I'll try the violin again but the next time with more vibrato. Thanx for suggesting that.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Nice bit of music. I have mixed feelings about SWAM solo strings. I love to play them and they're super flexible and responsive. Without the vibrato, the SWAM violin is a bit shrill and lifeless. Toward the end, it was creeping into theremin territory. I'd add a progressively building vibrato, even on the quiet notes. In my last song, I started out using SWAM solo strings, but ended up changing to SampleModeling solo strings instead. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was enough. SWAM strings are great to play, and launch right away. But you've got to be careful with them, because they'll slip into synthy sounding if you're not careful. But that's just my opinion. David, I agree completely. I did have some vibrato but apparently not enough. I'm glad I got these on sale and didn't pay the full price. I don't think they are worth the full price: I may change my mind about this as I get more familiar with the art of playing a violin. I will say thus far these are no way near the realism of the sax and trumpet packages I purchased from Swam.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Man, what can we do to make sure that no one disturbs you, Mario? You should have time like this every day. Yes, at times the violin sounds like a violin; other times it sounds like what it is. That never matters when you write the parts they play and controll the way the do. You always bring out the best. What I really like is the background stuff. Man, the whole piece sounds Mario Good. Thanx Marty. The violin sounds best at the lower registers. Maybe if I learn more about playing a violin and how to apply such nuances to this software the violin will sound good in all registers. PS - If you want to be sure no one disturbs me just send me the winning numbers to the lottery.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Yes, it sounds great.
Those strings are very warm and rich.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Lovely sound, Mario.
Should be in a movie.
Vic
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I like it! The strings pop. A moving piece of music. Way to go!
Chad
Chad
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Yes, it sounds great.
Those strings are very warm and rich.
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanx David. I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving. Lovely sound, Mario.
Should be in a movie.
Vic Thanx Vic. I like it! The strings pop. A moving piece of music. Way to go!
Chad Thanx Chad.
Last edited by MarioD; 11/23/23 04:01 PM.
Principal: Your child always causes trouble in school.
Me: My child causes trouble at home, do I ever call you?
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Very warm, could be used as part of a film score.
Brilliant sounds, no question.
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