Difference in dB between pp and ff ?

[Alatar]

Hello,

Maybe this is a strange question, but:
I was wondering, if there is a rule for how large the difference is between different "loudnesses"

Assuming i start with pianissimo at -40 dB. When will i have p, mp, mf, f and finally ff ? How big in dB do you think is each step? Maybe 6dB?

[DramaNoMore]

The piano-forte measuring is subjective, very old, and it's about perceived loudness. decibels are a scientific measure of noise, so they're at odds in my mind.

[Ogg Vorbis]

Hello,

Maybe this is a strange question, but:
I was wondering, if there is a rule for how large the difference is between different "loudnesses"

Assuming i start with pianissimo at -40 dB. When will i have p, mp, mf, f and finally ff ? How big in dB do you think is each step? Maybe 6dB?

It's a more comparative measure than quantitative. Obviously a full orchestra's forte (or a pipe organ's) is going to be louder than a solo viola's forte. A trumpet's piano might not be as quiet as a classical guitar's piano, etc.

[Sampleconstruct]

Some modern composers use a scale from ppppp - ffff but that doesn't make the system more objective. I just wrote an orchestral score and in order to e.g. actually hear the harp when 40 string players play at the same time I would add 2 or 3 loudness degrees to the harp to make the perception about the same. So when the strings play pp the harp plays mp or maybe even mf. Also the interpretation of loudness is very much dependent on the conductor or musician, some conductors create ff that make you want to leave the hall and some more timid folks make it sound loungy and lame

[Alatar]

Hi!

Thanks for your answers.

Well, I was asking this question, because I want to sample my Glockenspiel/Xylophone. And I am thinking to record different loudness levels.

But I am not quite sure, how to decide what loudness levels to record and I was hoping for an objective measurable quantity.

Maybe I just have to rely on my feeling.

[Sampleconstruct]

Depends on the amount of vel layers, if you make 4 layers then go for -18, -12, -6,-1

[NKF]

it is subjective and you can't really translate that to your DAW. I mean you can, but it depends on the room, the instrumentation, the audience , the recording .....

typically , an orchestra has range of about 60 dB. Rock is about 20. But again, how this translates to recorded audio in a digital format makes all this kinda irrelevant.

It is better to scale it to an individual player and how they would play. FFF would be their loudest, ppp their softest in a given range. Now if you have FFFF, then that is now your loudest and you basically just have more resolution.