Do you have high standards about achieving realism with orchestral sounds? DXF Patches in East West Quantum Leap Orchestra are controlled via the mod wheel and they can help you achieve better realism when sequencing orchestral music in your DAW.
What is a DXF Patch?
DXF stands for Dynamic Cross-Fade and is actually an instrument patch which for example is made of two samples, recorded in p and f dynamics. It’s called ModXFd, because the transition between these samples is smoothly controlled with the Mod Wheel (CC#1).
ModXfd in Play interface
So what’s the difference between an ordinary violin patch, which is controlled with CC#11 and a DXF patch, controlled with CC#1? Let’s hear for ourselves:
Download audio file (dxf_violins.mp3)
In this particular example we have some violins playing a G. The first recording is controlled with CC#11 (expression) only and the second one is a crossfade patch, controlled with subtle CC#11 and CC#1 (mod). Did you hear the difference? If not, listen to this:
Download audio file (dxf_corni.mp3)
So, the difference is hurting our ears now. The thing that CC#11 (expression) and CC#7 (volume) do is that they only change the volume of a single sample. As if you have grabbed the remote control of your TV and you’re turning your volume up or down.
However, the crossfade not only changes dynamics in terms of volume. It changes the overall timbre of the instrument! Therefore you get more sophisticated and real sound, because when playing live, musicians don’t just turn the volume. They add slight vibrato and expand the sound.
Here’s how a crossfade should look like:
One Thing to Remember
Remember that DXF patches can’t be controlled with velocity. They have two (or more) constant samples that are controlled only by Mod Wheel. If you want to create a sound that comes from pp dynamics (very low) and it suddenly bursts up to fortissimo, you should use Expression (CC#11) or Volume (CC#7).
Good luck!