PolySWAM

PolySWAM is a complete, self-contained software instrument by Audio Modeling, designed for immediate, expressive orchestral sketching and live performance. It brings all 37 SWAM acoustic-instrument models—including solo strings, woodwinds, brass, and orchestral sections—into one polyphonic environment.
Each SWAM engine is inherently monophonic because modeling one player at a time preserves the continuous legato, breath, bowing, and phrasing behavior of a real acoustic instrument. PolySWAM creates polyphony without altering those models or exposing their underlying complexity: musicians simply select a preset and play chords, independent lines, legato, staccato, and portamento from a standard MIDI keyboard or controller.
Under the hood, a proprietary voice-allocation engine analyzes every note, chord, range, and transition in real time. It transforms the performer’s input into an internal multichannel MIDI stream that drives multiple embedded SWAM engines, assigning each note to a distinct virtual player. Three distribution strategies—Complete Voices, Multi Poly, and Multi Mono—provide different approaches to polyphony, orchestral voicing, and melodic continuity.
MIDI therefore serves both as PolySWAM’s performer-facing interface and as the internal orchestration protocol connecting its voice-allocation system to the physical-modeling engines. A unified Conductor provides expressive control over the entire ensemble, while an integrated virtual room positions its players within a cohesive stereo soundstage.
PolySWAM operates standalone or as an AAX, Audio Unit, VST, or VST3 plug-in.

Conventional orchestral software asks musicians to stack sampled patches, select articulations, and program separate parts. PolySWAM instead treats polyphony as a real-time orchestration and voice-leading problem.
Its proprietary algorithms analyze the performer’s notes and chord-to-chord gestures, then allocate them among independent SWAM physical-modeling engines while respecting instrument ranges, available polyphony, melodic continuity, voice affinity, legato relationships, and transitions. At its mathematical core, an optimized assignment system minimizes total pitch movement while preventing voice crossing, applying principles normally associated with arranging and orchestration directly to a live MIDI stream. Voice and Memory Affinity also allow recurring notes to return naturally to the same virtual player, reinforcing continuity across successive phrases.
Each note therefore belongs to a distinct modeled musician rather than becoming another identical sample or synth voice. Smart Legato uses sample-accurate MIDI scheduling and per-voice overlap logic to produce natural glides and connected phrasing without unwanted retriggering. Controlled variations in timing, intonation, and dynamics prevent the ensemble from sounding mechanically synchronized, while Intelligent Transpose keeps every part within the playable range of its modeled acoustic instrument.
PolySWAM can consequently move organically between chords, melodies, legato, staccato, and portamento without keyswitches or pre-programmed articulation changes. Performance features such as pedal-triggered Polyphony Lock can preserve a voicing in real time, while the unified Conductor and many-to-many MIDI mapping system let a single gesture shape multiple instruments without making them behave like clones.
PolySWAM combines the immediacy of a keyboard instrument with the responsive, differentiated behavior of an acoustic ensemble. By applying voice-leading-aware algorithmic thinking directly to MIDI-controlled physical modeling, it makes expressive monophonic realism and playable polyphony coexist in real time—for both composition and live performance.

PolySWAM is a new instrument of its own genre. Unlike samplers with endless keyswitches or complex MIDI splitting tools, you simply load a preset and play. The most inspiring use is diving straight into pure music-making—whether creating, composing, or performing live on stage—with an entire organic ensemble responding dynamically under your fingers in real time. By seamlessly translating every subtle detail of your touch, it offers an unprecedented level of expressiveness that lets your personal musical voice shine through effortlessly.