Mad Velocities vs. iMap for Drums

[Squids]

I took this from a discussion about velocities where some people may think having a LOT of velocities is the most important thing... this is not necessarily true and here is some reasoning behind that:

As far as velocities, OWD has a fair amount and Infinite Player/Drum Masters/Studio ProFiles it varies. Sometimes there's more than others. But, the thing about the way the iMap works is that some companies try to put the timbral variation into the velocities by hitting different subtle positions OR just expect that if you have a LOT of them that it will automatically give you the variation if you randomize within them. To a certain extent this is true. But, at the same time there are often only so many times you can hit a drum in the SAME spot to get any kind of noticeable change besides volume (and volume is handled from 0-127 by the velocity to amp function anyway). So it's all about the timbral change and the energy of the drum... yes and the more you have there are smoother transitions but ironically there are not THAT many musical cases where you'd be hitting the same drum a hundred times to hear the build-up and particularly ON ITS OWN (because if it was in context of music then you really couldn't hear the subtlety for the difference).

But when a developer instead puts some random positions in the velocities to increase the timbral variation (particularly if it is intended to be randomized) then that's not bad as it gets you an automatic live feel to it (since a drummer rarely hits the SAME EXACT part of a drum twice in a row). But the problem I have with it is that it isn't DELIBERATE (like a real drummer would be able to do). It's random or it is sacrificing your velocity range to get the timbral variation you want. So.... this is where iMap comes in. The timbral variation is HORIZONTAL instead of VERTICAL. Imagine we just did GM mapping and stacked all of the extra positions into one big velocity map. Then it would similar specs to something else that "has a lot of velocities" (I mean, some products have an ENORMOUS amount... so I am not talking about that... I think that's a bit overkill personally and for that extra space it takes on my HD I'd rather have another kit IMO).

But, no, the timbral variations are mapped ACROSS the keyboard with iMap and that let's you have more DELIBERATE choice of them. It's not random it's YOU who randomizes it how you want to. Vary it up which position of the drum you want to hit (just like a drummer would on a kit). Get GOOD at it (again, just like a drummer would on a kit - it takes practice... there's more things to hit!). But the rewards for getting used to the iMap are HUGE! Believe me, if you've ever seen me do iMap finger drumming you can TELL I am addicted to it and love it. It's one of my FAVORITE things to do (probably because I am frustrated drummer who can play keys a heck of a lot better than a real kit).

There are a bunch of videos now on if you want to see it in action. There's an in depth explanation of what is what and also WHY. There's some throught behind it and I'm not saying it's perfect and there's no need for GM (that's why both Ocean Way Drums and Infinite Player/Drum Masters have the option of BOTH iMap and GM) but it does provide more things to hit! More timbral variation across the keyboard leaving the vertical velocity mapping more for energy and volume differences and range of timbre of one position of the drum combined with efficient programming so you can also have everything ELSE (without blowing up your computer). Everything else being all of the articulations across the keyboard AND the ability to do the discrete multitrack mixing. Whew! That was a bit of a mega post. Please forgive my verboseness. Those who know me, know that's just how I am. I think I will post this in our company forum though as it sparked an interesting thing about velocities vs. the horizontal imap thing.