Topic: How does "Dynamics" interact with the Volume curve?
Well, I guess I'm on a roll this morning, my mind a-racing with questions that have been forming for a while. Here's the latest: Dynamics.
From my understanding, the way that volume, velocity, and attack response works in Pianoteq is the following:
The Velocity Curve maps the velocity of the key strike against the attack or tone produced by the instrument, without necessarily increasing the volume in the same fashion. In other words, a more aggressive key strike should sound sharper and more distinct. In fact, just by using a more convex-upwards volume curve, you can produce a brighter-sounding instrument because each key strike will be interpreted more aggressively in its tone. The absolute volume produced from your speakers is directed by a separate relationship as driven by the Volume setting.
What I don't understand is how Dynamics plays into this. Dynamics seems to be some type of threshold setting, either limiting lower volume from occurring, or lower responses on the velocity curve, or both. Taken to the extreme left, it gives one volume and tonal response no matter how hard or how soft you strike the key. This, appears to be the same as drawing a flat line on the Velocity Curve. Such a flat curve is important for instruments such as the Hammond organs, etc., where the dynamics are fixed.
Somewhere I saw posted that a typical acoustic grand piano has about 67 dB of volume range, or dynamics, between the softest piano note and the loudest forte note. If this is so, then why do so many of the presets that are produced in Pianoteq place the Dynamics setting fairly low, such as in the mid-30s to mid-40s? Those virtual pianos can still be played fairly softly, and yet they still maintain a very aggressive presence.
I am hoping for a little insight and understanding into how this works and how it is supposed to work, and then suggestions on appropriate levels for the Dynamics setting, especially as interacting with more convex or less convex Velocity Curves.
– David
