New SWAM update - pitch bend for glissando

[thewanderingv]

Hi all,

I'm a recent inductee into the Linnstrument community - and just wanted to thank you all for such a fabulous discussion forum that I've learned a lot from as I've gotten started with the instrument.

I thought I'd share a first contribution - and it relates to Swam's 3.7.3 update. For some reason, on 3.7.2, Roger's standard SWAM preset (Preset-->4th from the top on the right hand side-->Press once (and don't press and hold as I learned the hard way!)) worked perfectly fine, but then stopped once I updated the software. I'm not sure whether SWAM has changed anything, but I did go into the hood to see what was happening with the pitch bends, and realized that the range in SWAM was 48, whereas in the Roger preset it's set to 12. Once I shifted the pitch bend to 48, everything was back to normal.

Roger - it might be good to consider revising the preset in the future. There are also two small inconsistencies in your website regarding SWAM.

The preset (correctly) identifies the Midi Mode as One Channel, but now probably needs the Bend range to be 48. In the "recommended sounds" part of your site, you list the SWAM setting as ChPerNote--which I think should be One Channel, and the pitch bend as 48 (which I think is now correct).


Cheers
Vinny

[FranklyFlawless]

The preset (correctly) identifies the Midi Mode as One Channel, but now probably needs the Bend range to be 48.

Thank you for the detailed description. The code for the preset you are referring to is from ls_settings.ino#L671-L677:

Code: Select all

  // preset 0 is pre-programmed for one channel sounds from our Logic example file
  config.preset[0].split[LEFT].midiMode = oneChannel;
  config.preset[0].split[RIGHT].midiMode = oneChannel;
  config.preset[0].split[LEFT].bendRangeOption = bendRange12;
  config.preset[0].split[RIGHT].bendRangeOption = bendRange12;
  config.preset[0].split[LEFT].expressionForZ = loudnessPolyPressure;
  config.preset[0].split[RIGHT].expressionForZ = loudnessPolyPressure;

It needs to be changed to this:

Code: Select all

  // preset 0 is pre-programmed for one channel sounds from our Logic example file
  config.preset[0].split[LEFT].midiMode = oneChannel;
  config.preset[0].split[RIGHT].midiMode = oneChannel;
  config.preset[0].split[LEFT].bendRangeOption = bendRange24;
  config.preset[0].split[RIGHT].bendRangeOption = bendRange24;
  config.preset[1].split[LEFT].customBendRange = 48;
  config.preset[1].split[RIGHT].customBendRange = 48;
  config.preset[0].split[LEFT].expressionForZ = loudnessPolyPressure;
  config.preset[0].split[RIGHT].expressionForZ = loudnessPolyPressure;

I cannot create a pull request to the GitHub repository due to my security practices, so either you or someone else will need to do so instead. Otherwise, you can manually upload the changes using Arduino IDE or with the firmware updater, wait until Geert notices this thread, directly implements the change into the firmware, then tags a new 2.3.4 release, or I can provide a link to my custom firmware repository, which already has this change committed, among others.

[Roger_Linn]

Hi thewanderingv,

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. On the Recommended Sounds page, section "For expressive winds and bowed strings", I've been recommending for the past couple of years that people use MPE settings in both LinnStrument and SWAM instruments, so that it isn't necessary to change LinnStrument's MIDI settings when switching between SWAM and MPE instruments.

However, I forgot to update the Panel Settings page, "Preset/Volume" tab, "Memory 3" paragraph, which still stated that it was for the SWAM instruments. Oops.

I've just updated both pages, plus I've added an "Audio Modeling (SWAM)" entry to the list of MPE instruments on the Recommended Sounds page, which points people to the "For expressive winds and bowed strings" section on the same page.

This should avoid future confusion.

[FranklyFlawless]

Okay, following Roger's updates, if you still want to use a preset for SWAM 3.7.3, you can use "Memory 4", or you can redundantly overwrite the code lines in ls_settings.ino mentioned earlier to this code snippet:

Code: Select all

  // preset 0 is pre-programmed for channel per note sounds from our Logic example file
  config.preset[1].split[LEFT].midiMode = channelPerNote;
  config.preset[1].split[RIGHT].midiMode = channelPerNote;
  config.preset[1].split[LEFT].bendRangeOption = bendRange24;
  config.preset[1].split[RIGHT].bendRangeOption = bendRange24;
  config.preset[1].split[LEFT].customBendRange = 48;
  config.preset[1].split[RIGHT].customBendRange = 48;
  config.preset[1].split[LEFT].expressionForZ = loudnessChannelPressure;
  config.preset[1].split[RIGHT].expressionForZ = loudnessChannelPressure;
  config.preset[1].split[LEFT].midiChanMain = 1;
  config.preset[1].split[LEFT].midiChanSet[0] = false;
  config.preset[1].split[RIGHT].midiChanMain = 16;
  config.preset[1].split[RIGHT].midiChanSet[15] = false;

I have committed this change into my own custom firmware repository.

[thewanderingv]

Wow - that was quick! Thanks to both of you for the help.

[thewanderingv]

One thing - Roger, in your advice you recommend that we use the MPE Default settings in the SWAM software. But SWAM has a Linnstrument preset. But it might just be psychological (like the close door button in most elevators) -- when you look at the Midi Mapping table it seems to be the same as MPE Default.

[Roger_Linn]

Yeah, I spoke to them about that. That LinnStrument preset is what made sense around 6 years ago and they still have it. But the MPE preset already does a similar processing to what LinnStrument's smart MIDI does in One Channel mode, except for the missing Y-axis response. So given that most LinnStrument players are using MPE synths, I think they prefer staying in MPE mode and not having to change LinnStrument as well as their synth sound when they want to near a different sound.

But you're welcome to do it the old way if you prefer.

[thewanderingv]

So given that most LinnStrument players are using MPE synths, I think they prefer staying in MPE mode and not having to change LinnStrument as well as their synth sound when they want to near a different sound.

But you're welcome to do it the old way if you prefer.

This makes eminent sense to me. Makes it much easier to quickly move around different tools like SWAM, Equator 2, Geoshred etc.