Edit/tldr: Realized the the wall of text may have been offputting. I'm just trying to figure out how to make Sonar X1/X2 translate the 1-100 velocity range of my first gen Yamaha DX-7 into MIDI standard 1-127 by using velocity curves.
 
Original details:
 
I posted a thread waaaaay back about this but I had VERY little grasp of how MIDI stuff worked and I haven't had the opportunity to set up my old DX-7 until now. Just for clarification it is (as far as I can tell) the absolute first incarnation of the unit (brown casing, no additional model details aside from DX-7 on the unit).
 
For those who aren't familiar with the DX-7 problem but might still be able to help me wrap my head around this basically this model was released before MIDI had become fully standardized. By current standards the keyboard only has a velocity range of 100 so physical hits on the keys that would normally register between 101-127 in the velocity range of a softsynth (strongest velocities) only get a value of 100 within the softsynth/DAW. This obviously causes the performance to be quieter/less dynamic (there are reports that you can actually get it to send velocities above 100 but you have to wail on the keys to the point of almost damaging them).
 
So after taking a second look at this issue now that I have the keyboard sitting in my new room ready to go I did some poking around to see if I could understand some of the fancy solutions I encountered before (and failed to grasp). The simplest idea seems to be to set up velocity curves within the sequencer/softsynth/DAW.
 
I kind of understand the concept of curves and guess what I need to do is set the curves so that an incoming velocity of 1=1 and an incoming velocity of 100=127. Is this correct?
 
If so where and how should I set this? The DX-7 is  going to be connected via MIDI din to my Focusrite 18i6. Can I create some kind of profile within Sonar (X1/X2) that will apply the curve to any softsynths I load up or will I have to do this for every synth individually?
 
Also I have a little M-Audio Oxygen 25 and a Korg padKontrol that I connect via USB. Obviously I would not want this curve to affect the inputs from those devices and may want to use them in conjunction with the DX-7. Will I be able to keep these set differently without too much hassle?
 
Any and all advice as to how I should approach this issue is appreciated. I am very much looking forward to taking advantage of the nice key action and larger scale of the DX-7 with all the nice patches in Sonar.
 
Thanks.

Bumped and edited to give a brief description of the problem. Any ideas or educational resources are appreciate.

It has come up occasionally. Here is a typical thread

scook
It has come up occasionally. Here is a typical thread

Hmm... thanks. If I'm reading that correctly without a curve plug/effect I won't be able to do what I intended but the MIDI offset idea Mod Bod suggested will probably be good enough for my needs. I'd rather have access to the higher velocities than the bottom 27. I think I was misunderstanding the problem and thinking somehow the velocities could be spread evenly. If I could figure out a way to remove 27 velocity points at specific points across the spectrum that would be better.
 
Example:
 
1=1, 2=2, 3=4, 4=6, 5=7, 6=8, etc...
 
As far as a profile I guess instead of a static profile for the DX-7 I could create a track template that used a specific midi offset and load that for any tracks I intended to control with it.
 
hmmm...

A CAL script could map velocity any way you want but it would be after the fact and destructive.

scook
It has come up occasionally. Here is a typical thread

Per the last post in that thread. The '"Velocity" MIDI FX has a "Scale" option. Set that to 127%, and it will scale the recorded values in real time, both while recording and on playback. But there's a bug with MIDI FX that interferes with looping, so you would eventually want to Process > Apply the MFX destructively. Any way you look at it, there will always be some manual action you have to take to set up tracks using the DX7 as a controller. But you can simplify the process by saving an MFX preset and/or track template that includes it.
 
 

Okay, getting some ideas from this (I really gotta learn about CAL scripts). One thing though... when you guys say "destructive" in what sense do you mean? I mean I will be able to adjust the velocities in PRV as usual after... right?
 
If I set things up so my DX-7 output of 100=127 then there is no need/want for me to be able to get back to the 100 velocity. I would want that 127 velocity to be my starting point and edit it from there.
 
Another thing is I'm kind of getting the impression that some of the stuff being mentioned is to be applied after the performance. I'm looking for a way to set things up so that as I play the adjusted velocity is taking effect... even if the track isn't armed. Even better would be if I could learn how to set this up within standalone softsynths so I can practice. I'm not a keyboard/piano player so a lot of the reason why I'm doing this is to simply learn how to play on a long(er) scale keyboard. Like say I wanted to use Zeta or Dim Pro without Sonar open can I program those synths to compensate for the reduced velocity points?
 
I know, I know... lots of annoying questions but I'd really like to get a good grasp on this so I can solve the issue in multiple scenarios.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions thus far though. I'm sure I can get something going on with a bit of fiddling.
 
Cheers.

As mentioned, the MFX will re-scale velocities in real time "while recording" as well as on playback, so you will hear the effect of the increased velocity as you rehearse/record; this is the main advantage over other methods.
 
It's initially non-destructive in that the recorded event velocities are not altered in the clip; they are scaled on the fly at the output of the track. "Destructively" applying any FX just means you are more-or-less permanently altering the recorded content in a clip rather than processing it dynamically on playback, notwithstanding that you can often reverse the process with MIDI by re-applying the effect with inverted settings or by manual editing.

Cool. Thanks, brundlefly. I'll be looking into that.

I thought the maximum velocity value for a DX7 was 117 or maybe 110, a little higher than you think. Adding a value live on the way in of 20 should take it up to where it is meant to go. You won't notice the addition down the low end of the playing range so much but you will up the high end.
 
I had the original DX7 too but did not use it as a controller. Even though the velocity went almost up there that last little bit is quite significant in terms of getting the maxiumum out of some other instruments and now VST's.