Controlling midi velocity values

gustabo


Let's say I record a high hat pattern with a closed hat with hits on the sixteenth note and set the velocity for all the hits at 127.
Is there a way to adjust the velocity value in real-time (like a fader or spinner control) while it's playing?

Why?
I use Addictive Drums and since the samples have velocity layers, I'm trying to narrow down at what velocity I like the sound of the closed hi-hat.

Hi, Gustabo

I take it you're not actually recording your high hat pattern, but inserting notes all at the same velocity level-?  Playing drums with a controller, pads or a keyboard, will get you a much more natural results (using velocity sensitive triggers) because the velocities will vary slightly throughout the pattern. That's when the Addictive Drum velocity layers will shine.  You Don't want to find one layer you like, one level for an entire song--unless you're doing some genre of pop where a stiff, unnatural, robotic sound is what you want.

So, the way to adjust velocity in real time is in my first sentence - you Play them.  And then you go to the PRV to fix things up even better, adjusting velocity/volume however you want.

Randy B.

Playing drums with a controller, pads or a keyboard, will get you a much more natural results (using velocity sensitive triggers) because the velocities will vary slightly throughout the pattern.

 
Great minds...

An interesting problem in changing parameters in midi data in real time is the "prepare" buffer for midi. It adds quite a large latency between the parameter change and what you hear.

For an example, try the velocity (midi plugin) effect. It allows you to adjust velocity in "real time", but the lag is rather large.

Bill B.

gustabo


I'm using a velocity sensitive pad controller but what I'm trying to do is find the "sweet spot" in velocity for the hihat.

What I'm trying to do is akin to trying to find a certain frequency, solo the instrument, on the strip eq: set the Q to something high like 24, set the gain to something high like 15dB and "sweep" the frequency until you find the freq you're looking for.

I want to "sweep" the velocity value till I find the velocity that I like.

This is not an actual recording for a song but a test for listening to the hihat.

Regarding humanizing/natural results, I do record the pattern on a pad controller, quantize them, set velocity and then apply a humanize midi plugin from here which does a great job in adjusting timing and velocity. I can give it parameters as to how much to offset timing and velocity according to a curve, random, etc.

Regarding the step-sequencer idea, haven't touched that yet so I guess I'll have to figure out how to use that if it help me in what I'm trying to accomplish that.

I'm looking for a control that I can turn or slide with the mouse that I can assign to velocity and adjust the velocity with it till I find what I'm looking for AND know what the value of what I find is.

Hello again, Gustabo

Brundlefly and I both had the impression you weren't using a controller.  It's a surprise you're using one, but then quantizing--and then adding randomizing which is designed to do what you had straight from the controller in the first place.

You must be doing Hip Hop, dance music, or something that requires a sound akin to what the earliest, most primitive drum machines made.  Actually, even those old drum machines would usually give you at least two dynamic levels.

But if you're doing any kind of music that needs natural sounding drums, you've gone off into a dead end alley with your quest for a high hat "sweet spot."  The whole reason modern drum programs like Addictive Drums have all those velocity layers, is so that the naturally varying sound of a drum kit recorded live can be simulated.  High hats, to sound natural, should use virtually all velocity levels.  Unless there's something horribly wrong with the samples, the hats should sound good and natural at all levels.

Most of us go out of our way to make sure the velocity level throughout a 16th note high hat pattern are different.  Maybe we've used a drum controller to play them, but in the PRV we'll go in to make sure the variety of velocity values are as varied as they should be.  And there's a natural rise and fall of velocities in a given high hat pattern which helps give a drum pattern its groove.  TICK tick tick tick TICK tick TICK tick - with those eight notes using at least 6 different velocity levels.

It's an interesting experiment you're attempting, but if you're trying to make natural sounding drum patterns, I can assure you without hesitation that you're doomed to failure.  You need to let go of this mistaken notion that the high hats, or any part of the kit, have a "sweet spot" which sounds good at only one velocity value.

Randy B.

Just tried the velocity midi plugin and it'll fit the bill even though there is quite a lag.
I hate that I can't map the "Set to" control in the midi effect to anything (fader or pot) on my nanoKONTROL!
Thanks bvideo!

You need to let go of this mistaken notion that the high hats, or any part of the kit, have a "sweet spot" which sounds good at only one velocity value.

 
I would agree with that to a point, but there are definitely synths/patches that have "sour" spots you might want to avoid. I've often adjusted the overall velocity of a track or just the "loudest" notes down because they were hitting a velocity-switching sample that stuck out badly.
 
There are many ways to figure out where velocity switching points are on the fly. Sometimes I'll just loop a section of a track and tweak the velocity of the offending note until I hit the switch point, and then use Interpolote to adjust the rest of them. Or I'll launch MIDI-OX and play different velocities on the keyboard while watching the monitor to zero in on the offending velocity. 

This way I can set Interpolate the velocity to 0

I have no learned - after being beaten repeatedly about the head and shoulders - that the Event Inspector is faster than our older and wiser friend, Interpolate, when you just want to set everything to one fixed velocity or duration. 

Correction, never had the event inspector toolbar up before, nice! Thanks for the heads up!
Is there a hot key so I can bring it up instead of having it float or docking it to the toolbar?