Shreddage 2X "Pinch Squeal" velocity triggering problem

[tonedef71]

I am using the latest version of Shreddage 2x within an instance of the Kontakt 5 (v5.3.1.37) 8-output 64-bit VSTi within my Sonar X3e DAW running on Windows 8.1 64-bit.

I noticed that my MIDI sequence does not trigger the pinch squeal samples despite the velocity of the notes being at value 127. I looked at the MIDI properties for each individual note to ensure that the velocity truly was 127:


I verified that the articulation settings were set correctly in Shreddage 2X:


I even tried setting the keyswitch to none, just in case the velocity and keyswitch settings were mutually exclusive, but the pinch squeal still would not trigger for the notes with velocity of 127.

The last thing I tried was setting the minimum velocity to an absurdly low number -- it did not seem to make any difference.

After I have pressed the appropriate keyswitch key, then the pinch squeal samples do trigger at any key velocity. However, when it comes to triggering the pinch squeal solely via key velocity, I am at a loss.

[zircon]

If a keyswitch is enabled for an articulation, that artic will NOT trigger unless you press the keyswitch. So your instinct to set Pinch to "none" for the keyswitch was correct.

If two articulations share the same velocity range, the artic higher on the list gets priority. So if sustains are set to go to a max of 126, and you set pinch to a max of 126 (or lower), then sustains will take priority.

Try changing the sustain max to, say, 120, and pinch to a range of 121-127. Make sure no other artics are in that range (unless they are keyswitched, in which case, it doesn't matter). Then play at velo 121-127. It will work fine.

I've tried setting Pinch to velo 127-127 (no keyswitch) in Kontakt standalone mode and then clicking the Kontakt keyboard at the bottom to trigger that velocity. It works properly - try it yourself in standalone mode! It could be that your DAW is interpolating MIDI data in a weird way, or you might have the velocity curve setting a little off on the Engine page. Worst case, try 126-127 (and turn Sustain down to a max of 125).

[tonedef71]

If a keyswitch is enabled for an articulation, that artic will NOT trigger unless you press the keyswitch. So your instinct to set Pinch to "none" for the keyswitch was correct.

If two articulations share the same velocity range, the artic higher on the list gets priority. So if sustains are set to go to a max of 126, and you set pinch to a max of 126 (or lower), then sustains will take priority.

Try changing the sustain max to, say, 120, and pinch to a range of 121-127. Make sure no other artics are in that range (unless they are keyswitched, in which case, it doesn't matter). Then play at velo 121-127. It will work fine.

I've tried setting Pinch to velo 127-127 (no keyswitch) in Kontakt standalone mode and then clicking the Kontakt keyboard at the bottom to trigger that velocity. It works properly - try it yourself in standalone mode! It could be that your DAW is interpolating MIDI data in a weird way, or you might have the velocity curve setting a little off on the Engine page. Worst case, try 126-127 (and turn Sustain down to a max of 125).

Thank you for the tips. When I get a chance, I will give them a try and post my results.

EDIT: I finally had an opportunity to play with Shreddage 2X again to configure the appropriate articulation settings. It turned out that I had another problem as well: the MIDI track (for some reason) had its velocity adjustment setting set to -5, so no MIDI notes played on that track could ever reach the maximum velocity of 127. The pinch squeal is working fine -- chalk it up to "user error". To my ears, the pinch squeal fits in better with the rest of the notes in the phrase if I transpose the fretted note down an octave.