KVR Audio

Markus Krause · Post by **Markus Krause** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 11:45 am

'NoteOff velocity' can give some interesting, additional dynamic expression. It defines how quickly a pressed key is released. The Midi 1.0 specification allows to transmit velocity information with the noteOff command since decades. Sadly this feature is rarely supported by hard- and software and deserves some attention.

https://www.midi.org/specifications-old ... di-message

Do you have a keyboard that supports this feature? Which one is it?
We'll also list keyboards that do not support it to get an overview how widely it is supported/unsupported.

Supported:
M-Audio Keystation 61 MK3
CME UF80
Novation X-Station
Kurzweil MidiBoard
Roland RD-300GX
many Kawai Digital Pianos
Korg X5D
Novation Sl 49SL MKII
Roli
Roland JD-Xi
Novation Launchkey 49 Mk2
GEM (General Music) S2

Unsupported: (noteOn velocity, but no NoteOff velocity)
Korg Nanokey
Roland A-33
All keyboards that send noteOff as a 'noteOn with velocity 0'

Unsupported (no velocity at all - also not for NoteOn):
Alpha Juno
CasioCZ

DAWs that support NoteOff velocity:
Reaper
NanoHost
MiniHost
Cubase Pro 12
Bitwig

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 11:53 am

Sometimes it's also the case that MIDI implementation chart is wrong. For example, my old Korg X5D specifically said "no release velocity transmitted", yet it did actually work just fine!

Markus Krause · Post by **Markus Krause** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 12:05 pm

I measured by debugging the raw midi stream. This is the only way you can be sure that it doesn't get 'fixed' by the DAW.

Releasing a key slowly must show low values below 10. Releasing it quickly must show a value over 100.

Note Off event
Status:
1000nnnn
Data Bytes:
0kkkkkkk
0vvvvvvv

This message is sent when a note is released (ended). (kkkkkkk) is the key (note) number. (vvvvvvv) is the velocity.

WasteLand · Post by **WasteLand** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 1:42 pm

Novation Sl 49SL MKII

(and of course my Roli's.......)

teacue · Post by **teacue** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:18 pm

Note off velocity supported

Synth:
Roland JD-Xi

DAW:
Cubase Pro 12

S0lo · Post by **S0lo** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:43 pm

I can't remember. AFAIK, the few I tested seams to send noteOff as a noteOn with velocity ZERO. (i.e. They don't literally send noteOff)

kerfuffle · Post by **kerfuffle** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 11:23 am

Supported: Novation Launchkey 49 Mk2

FigBug · Post by **FigBug** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 5:53 pm

Tracktion Waveform does not support it (it is supposed to, but it is broken). I will fix. What synth to test with and what should I expect to hear?

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 6:43 pm

My GEM (General Music) S2 has it and Bitwig supports it.

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 6:47 pm

FigBug wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 5:53 pm Tracktion Waveform does not support it (it is supposed to, but it is broken). I will fix. What synth to test with and what should I expect to hear?

You won’t hear anything, unless you map a parameter to it. It’s pretty common that release time gets mapped to it, meaning a high release velocity could make the sound ring out shorter, and a low release velocity will make it trail off longer.

Markus Krause · Post by **Markus Krause** » Sat Mar 19, 2022 9:19 am

A common use is for piano style sounds (release time/damping).
It is also used for Harpsichords. A slow releasing of a key results in different excitation sound of the strings here.

In modern sound-design I'd could imagine mapping it to 'damp' or 'harmonic content' or the filter envelope release time or FM depth.

Tale · Post by **Tale** » Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:02 am

Note Off velocity could also be used to vary the time it takes to release individual key contacts in an organ.

BTW, the Arturia KeyLab 49 (MK1) has Note Off velocity.

I don't really understand why not more MIDI controllers have this, because once you have timer for Note On velocity, it would be pretty easy for the firmware to also use it for Note Off. That being said, Note Off velocity is more difficult to control, and therefore less useful I guess.

mystran · Post by **mystran** » Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:11 am

S0lo wrote: Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:43 pm I can't remember. AFAIK, the few I tested seams to send noteOff as a noteOn with velocity ZERO. (i.e. They don't literally send noteOff)

Yeah, this is allowed by the MIDI spec and some keyboards indeed like to do this.

jackoo · Post by **jackoo** » Tue Mar 22, 2022 10:30 am

Korg Kronos sends note off velocity, but I admit I rarely use it (but I think it is a nice feature).
"Ancient" energyXT1 has no problem interpreting them. Reaper works fine too.

antto · Post by **antto** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 7:28 pm

CME UF60 classic

Keyboards & DAWs that support NoteOff velocity