How do you crossfade with mod wheel?

Question

I'd like to be able to xfade between 2 samples during a single note in exs.
eg both trumpet soft and trumpet loud triggered. then use the mod wheel to change their relative levels so that at either extreme only 1 or other of the sample is heard.
can't seem to figure out how to do that, but i'm sure its possible.

Answer 1

Hi Rohan,
There are a couple of ways to do this in with the EXS, but the following seems to work the best for me.
Using the trumpet soft and loud sample example...
You would assign all of the soft trumpet samples (zones) to a layer in the EXS editor. Click on the triangle in the upper left hand corner of the layer box to expose it's parameters. And where it says "Select Range", assign values that would correspond to the lower throw of the mod wheel, in terms of MIDI values. In the case, something like 0 - 63.
Then put the loud samples on a second layer, and assign it's "Select Range" to the other half of the mod wheel throw. (64-127)
Then, go to the front panel of the EXS. And in the first section of the Mod Matrix, where it says "Dest" (destination), select "Sample Select". And where it says "Src" (Source), select "Ctrl #1" (Controller #1, which is the Mod Wheel).
If you played the trumpet sample now, and moved the mod wheel, you would hear an abrupt "switch" from soft to loud samples.
So now, look at the box in the upper left hand corner on the front of the EXS, and you'll see "X-Fade". The "amount" parameter will adjust how quickly the 2 samples crossfade, and the "type" parameter allows you to select the type of crossfade you employ. Experiment with different values here, to see what works best for your situation.
It's actually a very easy thing to set up, but I'm afraid my explanation might come across as anything but!
A few things to note...
Crossfading between samples of differing dynamics (i.e. soft>loud) tends to work better, or at least achieve convincing results when it's an ensemble, as opposed to a solo instrument. At least with some of the samples I have tried it with. Also, having 3 or 4 dynamic levels yields far better results than just 2. However, doing this with the trumpet example is entirely possible, but the quality and consistency of the samples plays heavily in the outcome. For instance, the solo trumpet from VSL's Opus 1 uses the mod wheel to shift from soft to loud, using 3, maybe 4 separate layers, and the transitions are very smooth.
Hope that helps...