Tracktion Software

Ally007 · Post by **Ally007** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 4:32 pm

Hi all. My project has a midi drum track, made with the Power Drum Kit 2 plugin. How can I make it loud enough to hear clearly? I have the track's volume pugin set to max (+5.99dB) and the plugin's built-in mixer has all instruments and the master volume set to max , and it's still not loud enough to hear all the persussion instruments clearly. If I rendered the track to wav, I could probably increase the loudness a bit with a compressor, but I need the volume while it's still in midi format, so I can hear exactly what's going on. Anyone have any suggestions, other than reducing the volume of all the other tracks? Thank you!

elcalen · Post by **elcalen** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 5:45 pm

Is the velocity of the midi notes set high enough?

Watchful · Post by **Watchful** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 7:36 pm

That's got to be it. I use PDK2 and have had zero issues with its output level; in fact, it's very good at clipping if I don't add a compressor.

Ally, have you tried using some of its built-in grooves? Those are set to good levels: just pick one (at random, at this point, since this is just a test), drag it onto the track with the plug in loaded, and "ignore" its time and beat settings--let it conform to your BPM.

Give that a try.

Peter Widdicombe · Post by **Peter Widdicombe** » Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:31 pm

Same here - volume levels all as anticipated. What are you/have you used to trigger the notes? As long as your music is 4/4, the built-in loops are decent. If not... sadly, no 3/4 or 5/4 time in MtPDK2 loops, and no way to create your own (??)

Do you use some type of VDrums kit, pads on a controller, keys on a MIDI keyboard, drawing in notes, or Waveform's virtual keyboard ? Each of those should work; practicality probably in descending order. Hard to get a feel for snare drum using a virtual keyboard B).

If you DO test with waveform's keyboard with a mouse, remember that WHERE you mouse-click on the key is important! Lower edge of the keys is "full velocity" and upper edge is minimal velocity and may not even sound the cymbals.

lmv · Post by **lmv** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 2:58 am

Waveform has a built-in plugin called "Gain" that you can insert right between the instrument and the output. It's helped me before.

Ally007 · Post by **Ally007** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 7:33 am

elcalen wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2023 5:45 pm Is the velocity of the midi notes set high enough?

It's set to 100% on all the clips.

Ally007 · Post by **Ally007** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 7:38 am

Watchful wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2023 7:36 pm That's got to be it. I use PDK2 and have had zero issues with its output level; in fact, it's very good at clipping if I don't add a compressor.

Ally, have you tried using some of its built-in grooves? Those are set to good levels: just pick one (at random, at this point, since this is just a test), drag it onto the track with the plug in loaded, and "ignore" its time and beat settings--let it conform to your BPM.

Give that a try.

Yes, I am actually using the grooves in the clips in question. Incidentally, while the grooves are often useful, I'm wondering if any of the other free drum plugins has a better selection, and with beefier drum sounds.

Ally007 · Post by **Ally007** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 7:48 am

Peter Widdicombe wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:31 pm Same here - volume levels all as anticipated. What are you/have you used to trigger the notes?

The clips in question are drum grooves that came with PDK2.

Peter Widdicombe wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:31 pmAs long as your music is 4/4, the built-in loops are decent. If not... sadly, no 3/4 or 5/4 time in MtPDK2 loops, and no way to create your own (??)

I agree, the selection of grooves (and fills for that matter) is rather limited, but not bad for a free plugin.

Peter Widdicombe wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:31 pmDo you use some type of VDrums kit, pads on a controller, keys on a MIDI keyboard, drawing in notes, or Waveform's virtual keyboard ? Each of those should work; practicality probably in descending order. Hard to get a feel for snare drum using a virtual keyboard B).

If you DO test with waveform's keyboard with a mouse, remember that WHERE you mouse-click on the key is important! Lower edge of the keys is "full velocity" and upper edge is minimal velocity and may not even sound the cymbals.

When making my own drum tracks, I use my midi keyboard which is velocity sensitive. While I almost never TW's inbuilt keyboard, what you said re where you hit the keys making a difference is useful to know - thanks!

Ally007 · Post by **Ally007** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 8:11 am

lmv wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2023 2:58 am Waveform has a built-in plugin called "Gain" that you can insert right between the instrument and the output. It's helped me before.

Thanks; that sounds interesting, but where can I find it? I don't see it listed among TW12's supplied plugins.

elcalen · Post by **elcalen** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 11:43 am

Out of curiosity, what do the actual output levels look like? 'Cause if it's peaking, or close to peaking, then maybe making it louder isn't actually the answer, but rather it's the other tracks that are too loud...

Ally007 · Post by **Ally007** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 1:11 pm

elcalen wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2023 11:43 am Out of curiosity, what do the actual output levels look like? 'Cause if it's peaking, or close to peaking, then maybe making it louder isn't actually the answer, but rather it's the other tracks that are too loud...

Yes, I think that may be the answer. Thank you.

lmv · Post by **lmv** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 3:31 pm

Ally007 wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2023 8:11 am
lmv wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2023 2:58 am Waveform has a built-in plugin called "Gain" that you can insert right between the instrument and the output. It's helped me before.
Thanks; that sounds interesting, but where can I find it? I don't see it listed among TW12's supplied plugins.

Hm. I may have made a mistake so let's check that.
The only way I can find that plugin in my machine is through the Browser. I recommend creating a keyboard shortcut for the Browser because it's very useful. Anyway, open the Browser, select "All results" on the left column then type "Gain" into the search box. It shows up to me under a sub menu called "Utility."

I am on Linux and it's possible that Gain is some Linux plugin I don't remember installing because I have many and many Linux plugins don't have any fancy GUI, just very plain knobs. But I don't see how they would be automatically filed under "Utility" so I assume it's a native Waveform plugin. Please look for it the way I just described and see if you can find it.

Ally007 · Post by **Ally007** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 8:19 pm

lmv wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2023 3:31 pmPlease look for it the way I just described and see if you can find it.

It's not there, for me, but thanks for the suggestion. I think I just need to give my other tracks less volume.

Watchful · Post by **Watchful** » Sun Oct 01, 2023 12:42 am

Try the age-old trick: bring every track down to silence. Bring your drums up to 0dB or -3b.

Bring every other track up while listening to the drums, slowly, one-by-one, until you've balanced the whole song in relation to the drums.

Still too quiet? Turn up your system volume. That's what's too quiet.

lmv · Post by **lmv** » Sun Oct 01, 2023 3:44 am

Ally007 wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2023 8:19 pm
lmv wrote: Sat Sep 30, 2023 3:31 pmPlease look for it the way I just described and see if you can find it.
It's not there, for me, but thanks for the suggestion. I think I just need to give my other tracks less volume.

Yes, my mistake. Sorry. I just checked and it's an LV2 plugin so yes, it's Linux.

Readjusting the other tracks probably is the better idea, but you can always get some third-party gain plugins. For example,

https://plugins4free.com/search?term=gain

Tracktion Software

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Midi drum track too quiet to hear properly...