Questions about Linnstrument and SWAM instruments

[nick_op]

Hello everybody!

I'm a new Linnstrument owner (had it for a few weeks now) and have been having a lot of fun playing around with it! I have a background as a pianist and guitarist - with keys I've always missed that I couldn't do a physical vibrato for playing virtual instruments that require it. Being able to change volume on individual notes is also wonderful! I have a couple of questions about issues I've had with consistency of sound - it's entirely possible they're skill issues, and if you think I should be getting in touch with Audio Modelling instead of asking here, please let me know. I did a search of the forum and found some older posts that initially looked promising for help out, but the solutions they offered weren't quite right.

1. Sometimes when I do slides, I get discrete notes like a chromatic scale rather than a smooth slide. This is with the SWAM violin. The pitch bend display in SWAM seems to indicate a smooth slide in both cases. I managed to solve it by switching pitch quantisation off, which I think works pretty well for fretless strings anyway, but was wondering if there's something I was doing that caused the differences in slides. I did experiment with a bunch of movements, plus with different quantisation settings but couldn't perceive what I'd done differently.

2. The second thig is to do with expression level when changing notes. Again with the SWAM violin, the expression drops to zero on each new note even when playing legato, which can make things very choppy. I noticed that using higher velocity can help to counteract this and have occasionally got a really smooth legato. Is this essentially just a skill issue? I'm using the Linnstument preset in SWAM, just with 24 for pitch bend and bow pressure assigned to aftertouch. I did search through the SWAM manual for 'velocity', 'expression', and 'portamento', but couldn't figure out what would help. It seems portamento in SWAM is when playing keyboard and overlapping keys at low velocity and separate from pitch bends.

I did see this video, in which the author explains how he solved this problem for himself: https://youtu.be/nfCPgHoD6ZI?feature=shared

The only issue with that is if I want to play a keyboard and Linstrument simultaneously, so it would be good to find a one-handed solution. I guess an expression pedal would also work for this, but I really like having expression control with my fingers and I think the expression pedal wouldn't work if I had multiple SWAM instruments on different channels, as it would affect them all the same.

Thanks for reading my post, I'll appreciate any answers even if it is just to get better at playing.

[FranklyFlawless]

I suggest contacting Audio Modelling as well to see if they are able to help troubleshoot your issues. I do not think your technique is the problem, based on your detailed descriptions.

[nick_op]

Thanks, will do.

[Roger_Linn]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for liking LinnStrument enough to own one, and welcome to the LinnStrument community.

In answer to your question, I’d first suggest that you read the Recommended Sounds page, section “For expressive bowed strings and winds” to learn the correct settings for using LinnStrument and SWAM instruments together, which are different that what you’ve written.

Regarding your point #1, are you setting MIDI MODE to ONE CHANNEL and are you holding another note while you perform the pitch slide? If so, LinnStrument will quantize the pitch slide to semitones, as described on the "Smart MIDI" page, accessed from the LinnStrument Support page. (Without this, both notes would change pitch if you slid only one note, due to MIDI's one-channel limitations. )
Or are you performing a very slow pitch slide? If so, LinnStrument's Quantize Hold may be having trouble distinguishing between your slow movement and the end of your pitch slide, which is tricky for software to do. If so, try turning off Quantize and Quantize Hold, though you'll have to play more accurately. If the same problem occurs with both of them off, then the problem may be related to how LinnStrument's touch sensor works. There is a 1mm gap between columns, so the pressure and x-axis position of touches directly over this gap require interpolation from the pressure values on outside edges of the adjacent columns. The algorithm works better for the speed of pitch slides that are commonly found in musical performance, but a very slow slide will spotlight the software interpolation across this gap.
Or if is not the cause, please send a brief video demonstrating the problem to the Support email address. This will tell me much more about what you may not aware that you're not saying, and thereby allow me to give you the most helpful answer in the shortest time.

Regarding your point #2, LinnStrument always sends a pressure value of zero immediately before sending a note (to clear any retained value in the synth) and when releasing a note (to insure that the sound level of pressure-controlled sounds is turned off). SWAM instruments are essentially monophonic instruments, and their "MPE" mode isn't really MPE (midi POLYPHONIC expression) but rather mixes all incoming MIDI channels together for the convenience of MPE users. This means that during a legato transition, LinnStrument will send a pressure value of zero at the moment of transition to the second note, which will briefly reduce the SWAM instrument's volume, causing the discontinuity you hear. You can get around this by using an external pressure control instead of LinnStrument's pressure signal as suggested in the video you referenced, but I don't think the advantage is worth the lack of the integrated pressure control or the inconvenience of moving loudness control to a second hand. You might also try some the SWAM Violin's Bow Polyphony modes, which may help in your specific playing style.

[nick_op]

Hi Roger, thanks for the reply.

I think you've got it with the speed of the slide - I was experimenting with very slow slides and, as you suggested, the problem went away by turning off quantize. I think that fits bowed string instruments anyway and I'm glad that it teaches me to play more accurately (and train my ear).

Thanks for the suggestions with regards to point #2. I agree that it's not worth losing pressure control on individual notes. I'll have a play around with the polyphony modes as you suggested.

[Roger_Linn]

Glad to help, Nick.

Also, I made an error: SWAM does not mix all MPE per-note channels together as I wrote, but rather uses only the continuous X, Y and Z messages from the most recent touch, similar to LinnStrument’s One Channel mode.

[nick_op]

Thanks for the clarification, Roger.

I did end up setting things up in a way that seems to be working. I set the SWAM Violin's Attack Control to 'Mix Vel. Expr.' and it seems to make getting a consistent legato easier. The rest is just practice.

I recorded a performance combining Linnstrument and piano. It's not super polished and there are a few notes that I didn't intonate quite right, but I'm happy for it to be a demo of my progress after a few weeks of sporadic practice. The stringed instrument in the original version of this cover is an erhu, as far as I know, so I tried to emulate that scratchy sound with bow position. https://youtu.be/I844yrQNAoE?feature=shared

I did consider submitting to the Linnstrumentalists video request thread but I think it's probably too unpolished. I'm now working on another short cover which has classical guitar and synth, played two handed on the Linnstrument. I figured that working through a bunch of short covers is probably the way to get used to the instrument and learn a bunch of features in the process.

[FranklyFlawless]

I figured that working through a bunch of short covers is probably the way to get used to the instrument and learn a bunch of features in the process.

More or less. If the cover(s) utilize a piano/keyboard of some sort, the interval jumps and chordal changes may be difficult as you are starting off, so take your time. I look forward to your eventual contribution(s) in the LinnStrumentalists compilation thread.

[Roger_Linn]

Very nice, Nick! You have excellent solo violin expression, and doing this while also playing the piano part. Impressive. I'd say there's a segment there for the next compilation. Keep 'em coming.

[Gromit42]

Hi Nick

Another hands-free solution that has been previously discussed on this forum is the TEC USB MIDI Breath and Bite Controller 2.
Links in text above.
It might work for you? I have no experience of it (or of SWAM) myself though.

[nick_op]

More or less. If the cover(s) utilize a piano/keyboard of some sort, the interval jumps and chordal changes may be difficult as you are starting off, so take your time. I look forward to your eventual contribution(s) in the LinnStrumentalists compilation thread.

Thanks. I've been playing around with different chord voicings - it's refreshing to be able to play tenths easily, which is too far for me on a keyboard.

Very nice, Nick! You have excellent solo violin expression, and doing this while also playing the piano part. Impressive. I'd say there's a segment there for the next compilation. Keep 'em coming.

Thanks, Roger! It's really freeing to be able to have the chance for every movement to play into the sound. I love playing the piano but have always missed the ability to do bends, vibrato, and volume swells. Electric guitar allows for all of that, of course, so it's nice that Linnstrument sits in between the two (in my perception, at least). I think I need to study bowed string phrasing at some point - everything in that video was coming either from my guitar background or from some classical singing lessons I took.

Hi Nick

Another hands-free solution that has been previously discussed on this forum is the TEC USB MIDI Breath and Bite Controller 2.
Links in text above.
It might work for you? I have no experience of it (or of SWAM) myself though.

Thanks, I'd forgotten about breath controllers. Definitely something to think about and probably more intuitive than the Leap Motion controller I used to use for this stuff.

[nick_op]

I hope you don't mind me continuing to use this thread to post more videos rather than cluttering up the forum. I may well end up with more questions which I'll add here as well.

I released another performance, this time with two-handed Linnstrument playing: https://youtu.be/Ga9WV40tyOE?feature=shared

Just a simple one, but it took a lot of working not to speed up with the right hand while sliding the left! It's still happening occasionally but is much reduced. I did notice that I can slide my third finger one the left hand more easily right than left, so I need to figure out what I'm doing differently.

It was also an opportunity to figure out how to route different MIDI channels in Reaper. For the synth, I ended up with a separate track for each of channels 2-8, which then sent them to the actually synth track. Seemed to work well and it's not something I'd done before so I've got a few more ideas now.

I'm going to pick another small piece of music and see what technical issues crop up. Should probably do some more systematic scale/arpeggio/chord practice as well.

[Roger_Linn]

Very nice, Nick!

[Rune_7s]

Sounds great, Nick!