Adjusting Multiple Velocity Notes Quickly

[Johnbee58]

Is there any way to raise or lower multiple velocity bars by percent like you can with individual notes?

There's a section of a project I'm working on where for about 10 bars the velocity drops drastically and I'd like to raise the velocity on all of the notes in those 10 bars by maybe 5-10 percent over where they are now.  Appreciate any help.

?John B

Edited January 6, 2020 by Johnbee58

[scook]

 

[Johnbee58]

 

Thanks, Scook!

?JB

[RBH]

Also - if you right click and drag to the left with in the Velocity pane in PRV you can select just that range of velocities " visually "( similar to setting the transform window).  Just those notes will be selected - you can then drag them to where you want,  or use the event inspector  - etc. This is really handy when there high density of notes such as chords. You can address the whole track with one sweep.

[John Vere]

I see I replied with the same answer in the thread scook posted. 

But easiest way I know of is highlight the notes and drag the velocity up or down using the smart tool placed in the velocity editing section of one of the notes. Just a couple of mouse moves and the smart tool is all it takes. 

[Johnbee58]

No.  My problem is NOT solved!  Using the Event Manager they all become the the same velocity value.  I want the individual notes to retain their different velocities but bring them all up or down a percentage of where they currently are. How do you select if you want the velocity to go up or down?  I see there's a - and + sign to the right of the number but if I use the % sign they all go down.   I also tried the right click and that does nothing.

What am I not doing right?

JB

Edited January 7, 2020 by Johnbee58

[Scott R. Garrigus]

You can use the Event Inspector to do this... here's a video of how to use it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixb8gIcGM-U&list=PLFdNhPVD03KCTxKOWpz8tfzCMbWfXASJS&index=4&t=0s

Also, for those that don't already know... new tutorials are in the works for this channel... don't be fooled by the lack of activity there. Go ahead and subscribe (free) to the channel... it will see new life soon...

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[Johnbee58]

If I use the % key to key in a percentage they all go down, even if I add a +.  So, if I want to increase all of the velocity levels 20% higher than they are now, if I type in +20% they drop.  What am I doing wrong?

Thanks.

?JB

[user 905133]

I like the video--very informative in a way that doesn't presume the viewer knows too much (for the most part) and not too fast or rambling. If you re-do it, three very, very small things: (1) where you talk about selecting more than one clip, you could add a few words, "by holding down . . . ." Not critical to add; just a thought. (2) (X + 50%) <> ((X+50%) -50%).  So, increasing duration to 120% then reducing the new amount with an 80% does not give users the original. (3) I just checked, and the old style short cut keys still work in the CbB Event Inspector.  For example, squared brackets "]" and "[" add 10 and subtract 10, respectively. Also, "[" and "]" can round the start time up and down and then shift the time.

Not saying this video should be re-done, because they are very small things. Just saying IF you re-do it.

Also, at first I wondered why start with the old-style SONAR interface (8.5) as I have seen in another of your videos.  But I think that is good there for people who haven't used Cakewalk/SONAR since before the X series.

Edited January 7, 2020 by User 905133
(2) to get rid of an accidental ";" (1) to fix double negative error

[Johnbee58]

2 minutes ago, User 905133 said:

I like the video--very informative in a way that doesn't presume the viewer doesn't know too much (for the most part) and not too fast or rambling. If you re-do it, three very, very small things: (1) where talk about selecting more than one clip, you could add a few words, "by holding down . . . ." Not critical to add; just a thought. (2) (X + 50%) <> ((X+50%) -50%).  So, increasing duration to 120% then reducing the new amount with an 80% does not give users the original. (3) I just checked, and the old style short cut keys still work in the CbB Event Inspector.  For example, squared brackets "]" and "[" add 10 and subtract 10, respectively. Also, "[" and "]" can round the start time up and down and then shift the time.

Not saying this video should be re-done, because they are very small things. Just saying IF you re-do it.

Also, at first I wondered why start with the old-style SONAR interface (8.5) as I have seen in another of your videos.  But I think that is good there for people who haven';t used Cakewalk/SONAR since before the X series.

This!  Exactly.  Maybe this is why I'm not getting the results I want.  Maybe a small detail missing.  Good point.

?JB

[bvideo]

120%

[user 905133]

3 minutes ago, Johnbee58 said:

If I use the % key to key in a percentage they all go down, even if I add a +.  So, if I want to increase all of the velocity levels 20% higher than they are now, if I type in +20% they drop.  What am I doing wrong?

Two things: (1) percent and (2) discrete values.

Percent change is relative to the current value.  So, 80% of vel=100 is 80; 120% of vel=100 is 120. You want 120% to increase all velocities selected by 20%.

[Johnbee58]

28 minutes ago, User 905133 said:

Two things: (1) percent and (2) discrete values.

Percent change is relative to the current value.  So, 80% of vel=100 is 80; 120% of vel=100 is 120. You want 120% to increase all velocities selected by 20%.

Yeah.  I think I figured it out, but it can be confusing.  And I found it in Scott Garrigus's book "Sonar X3 Power".   If I want to increase all by 20% I have to figure the notes as they are as 100%, then add my 20% to that.  So if I type 120 to a group of notes and add the % sign to it, all notes selected will increase velocity by 20% (what I want).  But if I want to decrease by 20% I take the current value and subtract the exact number from there, so If the current value of the velocity it 95, I subtract 20 from that (75) and add the % sign behind it and it will decrease by 20%.

?JB

Edited January 7, 2020 by Johnbee58

[Johnbee58]

For me, at least,  it's also very important to add that the ENTER key must be used after the said value changes are entered.

?JB

[scook]

From the help http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=ControlBar.15.html

Quote

Vel. Velocity value of the selected event(s), specified as a value between 0 and 127. You can also use a modifier to raise or lower the current velocity value (+/- 0 through 127). You can also specify a percentage of the current velocity value. For example, to double the velocity, type 200% and press ENTER.

 

 

 

[David Baay]

7 minutes ago, Johnbee58 said:

But if I want to decrease by 20% I take the current value and subtract the exact number from there, so If the current value of the velocity it 95, I subtract 20 from that (75) and add the % sign behind it and it will decrease by 20%.

Two things:

- To reduce by a percentage, subtract that from 100 - i.e. 80% to reduce by 20%. 75% would be subtracting 25%.

- Remember that the inverse of a multiplication factor, x, is 1/x. So  the  percentage that reverses a 20% increase is not 80%, but 1 / 1.2  = .833 = 83.3%.

[Johnbee58]

All's good fellas.  I consider the matter solved.  Thanks all who contributed.

?JB

[user 905133]

1 hour ago, David Baay said:

- Remember that the inverse of a multiplication factor, x, is 1/x. So  the  percentage that reverses a 20% increase is not 80%, but 1 / 1.2  = .833 = 83.3%.

Thanks for adding the proper number/formula to reverse a previous % change!  Very handy  formula.

Let me add a suggestion that piggybacks on this (i.e., an additional option): Instead to testing different percentages consecutively to find the "right" amount, use Ctrl-Z after each attempt and try a new value. Otherwise trying to calculate an inverse of multiple successive changes will require even more advanced math.  ?

Also, with multiple % changes (consecutive or with intervening edits), you might bump into a value border--such as all or some velocities maxing out at 127 (or bottoming out at 0). At that point all subsequent changes will then be based on the maxed out/bottom out value and those events will all be the same.

As an alternative, you could keep track with pencil and paper (e.g., tick marks) of the number of consecutive changes so you can do the right number of Ctrl-Zs when you need to. Or, you can use Cakewalk's built-in Undo History [Edit > History]:

However, with many levels of undo, it might become unwieldy (hard to find the right place in the history because it just says "Modify Event Velocity").  

Not saying one method is better than any other.  Sometimes one method fits a person's workflow; sometimes different methods are quicker--depending of the moment. Just saying these are all options that might be useful at one point or another.   

[David Baay]

Just to beat the dead horse some more... ;^)  To me the easiest approach is to put the part on its own track and use the MIDI Gain (Velocity Offset) control on the track. This is a fixed offset, not percentage, but if you're just tweaking up and down by 10-20 levels, there's very little effective difference between a fixed offset and a percentage change.

Or, better yet, get  the  audio output of that kit piece going through its own track (or synth mixer channel), and tweak the audio level. The best approach for a given situation depends on how the synth is responding to velocity, and what you're going for in terms of tone.

And, of course, I always have to advocate...  just record the dang part in real time from a MIDI keyboard! Much more fun, and the more you do it the better you'll get, and the more natural  and 'grooving' your MIDI parts will sound. It's easier to do a little quantizing and tweak a few hits here and there than to place and adjust every event with a mouse and PC keyboard.

[Johnbee58]

I use EZ Keys browser.  I guess that's committing a sin.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Johnbee58