So I have cubase 5 and I bought toontracks ez drummer a while ago...so far I think it sounds pretty decent, but for this one composition I need a few cymbal swells; toontrack doesn't seem to do that kind of thing, and I'm not certain that I can plunk down more money on software. Is there maybe a standalone vst that will do this? Is there maybe some sort of 'trick' to doing this in ez drummer? It seems as though doing something like playing 32nd notes and increasing the volume/velocity doesn't work (can hear the individual notes hitting the cymbal). I'm out of ideas...any thoughts?

Dude, just reverse a regular cymbal, and then stretch it to the length you want

first thing I thought of. I do it all the time

As far as a real swell is concerned, it tricky. You've gotta have a decent midi controller, do ALLOT of midi editing, and have patience! Then remember to save it so you don't have to do that again!

Then again, I wonder if maybe there is a file that does that in ezdrummer.

Hmm, the reverse cymbal idea kinda sorta occurred to me but I wasn't sure if it was feasible. I think Cubase will let me export a midi part to an audio file, then I can re-import it and do a little editing magic...we'll see how it goes!

you need to use a sampler or edit the sample so that you can increase the attack time of the cymbal sample a little to cut off the attack and blur the sound together. And some creative reverb may also be required to mush all the cymbal tails together.

i use ready made samples to get the effect.
There are some cool ones in Project Sam and VSL with different length and intensities.

if you want a sound that bears little resemblance to a real cymbal swell.

Think - what is a cymbal swell? What is the drummer actually doing?
Generally, she is hitting at least one cymbal quickly, usually with the shank (shaft) of the drumstick rather than the tip, starting softly and gradually (or quickly) hitting harder.
The natural resonance of the cymbal takes over, blurring the individual hits into a rising whoosh.

So, you need: some cymbal samples, preferably velocity layered, and some time spent in a midi editor / pianoroll.

PS: you can somewhat mimic the sound of an edge-hit cymbal (using a flat-out crashed one or sometimes a tip-hit ride) by softening its attack, using amplitude modulation and/or compression.

...if you want an really artificial sounding emulation of the real thing.

I don't think you can get realistic results without an actual recording of a cymbal swell. Many drum sample libraries include these at least for the crashes. Of course then you'll have little control over the length and other dynamics.

Drum samplers work reasonably well for well separated hits, but lose realism when multiple hits of the same object sound at once. It's because the sound of these instruments - especially cymbals - don't behave linearly, as is assumed when mixing multiple samples, but energy from lower modes of vibration is transferred to upper ones with increasing amplitude (inter-resonance of overtones). E.g. a cymbal hit twice with a soft mallet sounds brighter than the sounds of two single hits combined. In a swell the energy from lots of relatively soft impacts is accumulated and the higher tones excite indirectly in a smooth fashion.

Each to their own man. I know what the swell consists of, I've played acoustic drums and been in bands with pro drummers, but for most purposes a reverse crash is completely sufficient.

I agree with Orbik, if you need a realistic swell then you need to record that live or use a sample someone else already has done. Or get xoxos to make something for you

I agree, that's not a cymbal swell, it's a backwards decay of a cymbal hit, which is something else entirely. Another thing to consider is that cymbal swells are often done with mallets, not sticks.

Artificiality in this case depends on your skills at midi programming
Nothing beats the real thing, but many people don't have acess to that.

How is it about midi programming if the proper response simply can't be achieved by mixing individual hits? unless you consider a theoretical pov that any sound can be constructed from another via convolution, which can in theory be implemented with a dense series of midi events.

edit: typo