Zebra velocity curves

[mkastrup]

Urs, velocity curves per patch is on my most wanted list for Zebra.

I have 7 different controllers playing with each their own velocity feel and my emulation patches always come out wrong if not played on the controller i used when programming the patch. Now each controller have some settings for various curves i can choose from but the smart thing would be to have Zebra handle this with velocity curves per patch.

Lets say a fellow buys one of my soundsets, he is eager to try a patch from one of my demos. When playing he cant understand how i could play the patch so lively, maybe a velocity curve switch could help on this problem. We all play with different strength on our controllers, and playing emulations at the supposed feel is essential or else it will sound like crap.

Once a person found the right velocity curve he can then be confident that all other patches from that soundset will need to be set to that particular velocity curve. Once done he can enjoy the soundset in full as its supposed to be.

Quite frankly its driving me nuts and the main reason why i wont release some of my emulation patches.

I suggest the / = normal, ( = soft, ) = hard and something in the middle of soft and hard.

That or perhaps a velocity map where you can shape your own curve.

No sample library can compare with a decent made synth emulation that just feels right.

/Michael

[bmrzycki]

One of the things I think Omnisphere does well. On the top right of each part there's a v-curve selection:

If you want even more control you can hit the magnify glass and get this sub-menu:


Velocities are saved per part (think per-oscillator) and can also be saved as velocity templates. This means if you have a map that you know you like using as your default Novation controller you can do so.

Most of the time I just pop into this menu to tweak a velocity response on a preset, but the potential it offers is *very* useful.

[xh3rv]

This could even be done via the MIDI controller, kind of like tap tempo - play several notes with increasing velocities and compute the curve from that.

(Actually could give this a shot with Max4Live if anyone's interested)

[Howard]

Quite frankly its driving me nuts and the main reason why i wont release some of my emulation patches. I suggest the / = normal, ( = soft, ) = hard and something in the middle of soft and hard. That or perhaps a velocity map where you can shape your own curve.

Hey Michael

Velocity curves ARE a problem, but adding yet another layer of global velocity scaling (in addition to the keyboard and to the DAW) within Zebra2 would be making the problem even worse!

I just program everything using linear velocity curves in the 'boards. Got to make a few little compromises...

[mkastrup]

I just program everything using linear velocity curves in the 'boards. Got to make a few little compromises...

Been doing linear for some time now and the problem persist with other (linear) keyboards/controllers. All my former sound sets were made using a Novation ReMOTE SL. Now i'm using my Nord Wave. Still wish for a Velocity Curve thing in Zebra though.

/Michael

[Breeze]

Actually, I find it completely nearsighted that every host doesn't offer MIDI velocity re-mapping out of the box. It's a very annoying issue and definitely affects the perceived performance of many velocity sensitive patches.

I believe it's one of those "not my problem" issues that affects everyone. Soft synth makes blame the DAW, the DAW makers blame the keyboard, the keyboard makers blame the DAW and the synth makers... Every now and then someone recognizes the need to address this so they throw it in, like Omnisphere and TruePianos.

It's got to be one of the simplest things to handle too: just assign a ModMapper to global input velocity, with save/load presets for it. Done.

Logically it should be handled in the host, since all synths are typically played from the same keyboard, but the case for handling it in the synth is also valid since different keyboards handle responses differently and in a live multiple keyboard setup, or a multi-keyboard studio setup, velocity consistency will be an issue.

Maybe everyone should do it!

[mcnoone]

Zebra does have lots of velocity options.
With the oscillator and fmo lower panel settings, as well as under the envelopes pop down panel.
Then take into account that many modern keyboard controllers do have velocity curve settings.
All daws have velocity control in piano rolls.
Thats a lot of velocity options for the user, although Michaels idea would make for a great edition, and is a good idea, I'm thinking it would be hard to implement into Zebra.
I do a lot of emulations, and just get it to sound right with my playing style, and keyboard setup, and that's it.
I guess the user can come up with some minor tweaking of various velocity settings to get it to work good with their own setup and playing style.

[Breeze]

mcnoone: I think we're talking about live global input velocity optimization. The idea of going through every patch to optimize velocity response to a controller's is like pulling the piano towards the chair instead of pushing the chair up to the piano.

[mcnoone]

mcnoone: I think we're talking about live global input velocity optimization. The idea of going through every patch to optimize velocity response to a controller's is like pulling the piano towards the chair instead of pushing the chair up to the piano.

Oh...
How bout setting many different velocity, and sub envelope velocity settings, to an XY control. There's a simple solution.
Not the same but hey, don't knock me for tryin.

[Breeze]

How bout setting many different velocity, and sub envelope velocity settings, to an XY control. There's a simple solution.
Not the same but hey, don't knock me for tryin.

No knocking: just nudging.

I thought of that too. Using ModMap/ModMix and assigning an XY to offer variations in velocity response might be the way to go. Could be a waste of valuable resources though, and why it would be better handled by separate global control.

[bmrzycki]

Urs has mentioned in the past he's going to eventually re-work midi messages in his plugins. Maybe if we're lucky he'll add a feature to do something with velocity curves.