WVought
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MIDI Question - Volume Levels
I have 2 MIDI clips which are variations on a theme. The second is a variation of the first. However, in comparing the note volumes between the 2 clips, the volumes in the second clip are mostly quite a bit lower than those in the first. What's the easiest way to get the note volumes in the second clip to more closely follow those of the first clip? They don't have to match exactly. Thanks.
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sock monkey
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 15:40:53
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Are the velocities the same for both?
Are you using 2 channels ?
Is the playback via the same soft synth?
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WVought
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 16:26:48
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I've spot checked the velocities of several notes, and they are not the same. This is not a problem, or unexpected. I just want to even them out so both clips have close to the same range of velocities. Two channels? If you mean is the sound coming out both speakers, yes. I'm not using a soft synth. I'm sending the MIDI to an external synth. There is nothing "wrong" with the clips as-is. I'm just trying to tweak them for a more uniform sound.
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SF_Green
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 16:56:17
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You could try using the Cakewalk Velocity MIDI FX. Just use it to set a constant velocity for all notes, and maybe a a small amount of randomization to keep it from sounding to robotic and/or manually adjust the velocity at key points.
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bvideo
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 17:03:14
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If they are on separate tracks routed to two separate midi channels on your synth, those tracks have their own volume controls (which send midi messages to the synth to set volume). Or if the preset(s) you're using is (are) velocity sensitive, you can edit the velocities on the clips until have matching volumes. Velocity is very easily accessed by selecting a clip and then editing velocity using the event inspector section of the control bar. Raise or lower all velocities by preceding a number with + or -, or enter a number followed by '%' to change the velocities accordingly.
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WVought
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 17:52:51
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@SF_Green: Thank you, but that will sound too rigid. The clips have a human feel, and I don't want to ruin it. I want to edit the MIDI _data_ (not apply an effect) so the clip volumes are more closely matched to each other. I know I can go in and do this one note at a time, but I'm looking for a shortcut. I tried Groove Quantize, but it didn't seem to change anything. Maybe I did it wrong.
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WVought
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 17:59:41
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@bvideo: Again, I want to edit the MIDI data itself, not apply an effect. The Inspector doesn't change the data, unless I'm mistaken. I want to be able to use these clips in various projects without having to tweak the MIDI every time. Thus I want to save the clips as MIDI files with the volumes corrected to my liking. Thank you.
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SF_Green
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 18:19:57
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I believe you can increase all notes by a percentage as well. That would increase the volume without altering their relative intensities and would maintain the dynamics of your performance.
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Widetrack
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 18:30:06
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☄ Helpful
Since you posted in the X1 /X2 forum, I'll assume you're using X1 or X2. Try this: In the track header, locate the horizontal blue bar labeled "Volume." Click on it and drag it to the right. This will send a MIDI Volume message to your synth, causing it to play louder. You can also try this: In the Piano Roll View, Zoom out until you see all the notes in a track. Be sure you can see the Velocity lane, below the note pane. Select all the notes by drawing a marquee around them. Zoom in so at least one note is long enough to see individually. With the mouse, hover just above that note til the cursor becomes a little pencil with some bars next to it. Click and Drag up to increase the velocity of all the notes you've selected. This will increase the loudness of all the notes, and it may change the timbre of the notes to some degree. You could also turn up the volume knob on your synth when you render the track to audio.
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bvideo
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 18:39:31
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The "event inspector" as I said on the control bar is there for modifying the data. You can do the whole clip at once if you want to make the whole clip uniformly louder (preserving the relative velocity structure) or select individual notes and modify them one at a time. The "track inspector" uses a different, but useful approach: it has effects that do non-destructive transformations. Then when you get the sound you want from those effects, you can apply the effects permanently printing them into the clip. It sounds like the groove quantize approach is the best fit if you wanted to make the 2nd clip resemble the first. Too bad you couldn't get it to work.
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WVought
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 19:06:26
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@bvideo: The Event Inspector does indeed change the data, however as you said, it changes all notes to a uniform velocity and is thus unsuited to my needs. The Track Inspector seems better suited, but I don't understand how to print the changes to the clip. Audio clip, yes....MIDI clip, no. I tried Bounce to Clips (with the volume turned up on the clip in question), but the velocity changes did not print. So the changes are not permanent unless I use that effect with the clip.
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WVought
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 19:13:15
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@Widetrack: Your suggestion re the Piano Roll did the trick. Many thanks to you and all who helped. This is a great forum.
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bvideo
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 21:13:29
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☄ Helpful
As I mentioned tersely in post #5, the event inspector can be used with '+' or '-' in front of a number to add or subtract that value from all velocities, keeping the velocity relationships. Likewise, using '%' in the velocity field scales all the velocities, again keeping the velocity relationships. These are Sonar operations that can be studied further in Sonar docs. Volume is distinct from velocity, so turning up the track volume has no effect on velocity, though both may have an effect on the loudness of the sound. This is a MIDI concept that probably won't be found in the Sonar docs, but it explains why bouncing clips does not print volume into velocity.
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WVought
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Re:MIDI Question - Volume Levels
2012/09/19 21:30:55
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I just tried the % thing in the Velocity field of the Event Inspector, and it did work. Note: To raise velocities, enter a figure greater than 100. Thanks.
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