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.

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.

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?

 
Check out the Step Sequencer. It will let you click to set velocity values as it loops, and give you a clear visual indication of the relative levels.
 
But you should seriously consider getting a MIDI keyboard or pad controller so you can record MIDI in real time with real dynamics. Much easier to get a realistic human feel with some nuance and natural variation in the long run.
 
Personally I think it's crazy to do compose MIDI tracks without a controller.

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...

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.

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.

Since its a test, latency doesn't matter to me. I'll try the velocity midi plug-in and see if that does what I'm looking for.

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.

Addictive Drums are an amazing sample library/plug-in that is so realistic, it introduces the complexity of mic'ing a real drums set, specifically mic bleed. The sweet spot that I'm looking for is a the hihat hit sound along with the combination of the hat mic, the OH mics, the room mic, the bleed into snare and tom mics and it is velocity-based.

The sweet spot will be the basis of velocity with a swing anywhere from, let's say -10 to +10. I'm not saying that I'm going to use the same velocity throughout but if you use AD, you will agree that a closed hat at 60 sounds drastically different at 80 as it does at 100. If I set the middle at 80, my velocity range would be 70 to 90, assuming no accents like TICK tick tick tick TICK tick TICK tick and it sounds very natural.

I know I'm not doomed to failure because what I'm getting now sounds extremely realistic, but, at times, I become a little OC when it comes to detail because sometimes I get so side-tracked with a specific detail that it prevents me from progressing on a piece of music that I'm working on. I focus on the technical instead of the creative and it's hard for me to break out of that.

It took me almost a year to finally dial-in a crunch rhythm guitar sound that I liked/was after! (The IK Multimedia ARC system helped move that along at much faster rate since my mons weren't accurately letting me hear what was going on (that's another story))

Anyways, there's a good reason for what I'm doing that has more than one good purpose; let's say you have a sample that has multiple articulation layers that are velocity-based, the method that I'm using would be able to pinpoint at what specific velocity the articulations change and what specific velocity they change again.

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!