What is the difference between Dynamics, Vibrato and Expression?

Introduction

There are 3 main controllers that we recommend using with Spitfire Audio libraries, by default these are:

Dynamics - CC1

Vibrato - CC21

Expression - CC11

To use these effectively, it's important to know what these controllers are doing. 

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Dynamics

Dynamics are controlled by the modwheel, or CC1. This controller will crossfade between the different sampled dynamic layers (for example, pp to ff) depending on the value of the continuous controller. Depending on the instrument, this will often change the timbre and also the overall volume.

The below example shows the result of fading CC1 from 0 to 127. Listen to the timbre change as the fader moves higher. You can also see a slight increase in volume from the waveform.

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Vibrato

Vibrato controls which vibrato sample is triggered on the selected articulation. In Spitfire libraries, we tend to use the fader as a 'switch' instead of a crossfade. This is because 'crossfading' vibrato can often create an unrealistic performance, especially with solo instruments.

This example shows 2 of the vibrato settings that you can access in the Virtuoso Violin, from no vibrato to molto (lots of) vibrato. In some cases we also sample a 'progressive' Vibrato.

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Expression

Expression is a volume controller within the library itself, and will have no effect on the timbre of the instrument. Used together with CC1 this can help you to create a more 'expressive' performance, hence the name!