Velocity Issues

[Nobletonmusic]

Do I have something wrong on The Project Midi page ?

[Variorum]

Nah... it doesn't have anything to do with your Cakewalk settings. MIDI OX reports exactly what's being sent by your keyboard. I have two keyboards that easily top 120 for velocity when played hard (I have to really whack the keys to hit 127).

If your keyboard won't register and send velocities higher than the mid 70's then it pretty much has to be a problem with the velocity sensing mechanism in the hardware. Some keyboards use a pair of photo-diodes to measure the speed of the key as it's pressed, others (generally lower cost controllers) use a pressure sensor under the key to register the pressure exerted on the key. The key you pressed and that "velocity" is sent as Midi data to the computer via your Midi interface. MIDI OX tells you exactly what the keyboard is sending. Midi velocity ranges from 1 (very soft) to 127 (very loud) so if you're hitting the keys hard and it reports velocities that aren't at least close to 127 (that would be FF in hexadecimal, which MIDI OX displays by default) then your keyboard just isn't sensing and transmitting the velocities correctly.

[Nobletonmusic]

Variorum,

Thanks again, there are some very bright guys in here  for sure."Photo-diodes" never hear that before . LOL. I knew there were velocity issues with the Yamaha  P-35. In  fact I was testing it in MIDIOX as your message arrived. They have a sensitivity setting "Fixed". I had asked a tech support person at Focusrite about the velocity issue years ago & he said, " I assume that FIXED value will be either 127 or 64".  I didn't know about MIDIOX then so I wasn't sure.  When I hit keys on the Fixed everything is 40. 40 that's even below the 64. The "Soft" setting gets the highest number when I hit a key hard - 45

I knew about the P-35. I was just shocked the Novation Launchkey I brought home yesterday also had such low velocities. Maybe just bad luck. I'm hoping another midi controller I buy won't have these velocity issues. The whole reason I care is that I'm going to get the NI- Session Guitarist Acoustic Picked. Many of the articulations, like hammer-ons & pull-offs depend a variation in velocity. So I want the velocities as I record to capture the articulations. Selecting the track in Piano Roll and lifting all the velocities at once is not the best way to get what I want.

[Variorum]

No problem... I've never had a keyboard that transmitted low velocities, but all the keyboards I've owned had at least one issue. My Yamaha EX5 had poor after-touch response (luckily, there is a trim pot inside it that helped quite a bit). My M-Audio keyboard has the world's cheapest potentiometers... I have to open it open and clean/recondition them about once a year.

1 hour ago, Nobletonmusic said:

So I want the velocities as I record to capture the articulations. Selecting the track in Piano Roll and lifting all the velocities at once is not the best way to get what I want.

Yup. If your keyboard is transmitting only a limited velocity range, you'll have problems utilizing a lot of the newer VSTs that depend on velocity to manipulate the sounds. No software solution or setting can fully make up for it.

Session Guitarist looks cool, but be sure to check out Ample Sounds guitars. The AGM is very nice (although it's about $20 more than Session Guitarist). Most of their guitars are available as demo downloads so you can check them out before you buy. At the very least, grab their free guitars (Ample Guitar M Lite and Ample Bass P Lite)... some of the best free VST's available.

[Nobletonmusic]

Great advice again. I did download the free AGM Lite, and it has a good quality. I know the AGM is also solid, both patterns & strumming. Could even get both, just so impressed with sounds of SG Acoustic Picked, their relatively new one. But you nailed it, unless my midi controller can produce a wide range of velocities, the Guitar VSTs  won't deliver what they can.

I'm torn between  a controller that just has a mod & pitch bend wheel, like a M-audio 88 or a controller with a basic set of pads, faders. etc that allow you to work in the DAW with more ease. I'm leaning towards the latter, like to have at least 61 keys. Open to suggestions . LOL. Going to spend some time tonight searching on the net.