Topic by Irmin

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  • Irmin
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  • Registered: 20-04-2012
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Topic: Pianoteq velocity curves

Hi,

I'm struggling with this: It seem that curves do not behave as expected(expected by me that is).
Equipment is Mac and PC with pianoteq 7 standard and an ES8 as controller

1) This is what I expect: imagine the normal straight line velocity curve.
a) If a velocity of 60 comes in via midi then 60 goes to the piano model, all fine
b) you move the straight line down but parallel. Now to send 60 to the piano model you need to send a midi velocity of 75

You would expect velocity of midi velocity of 60 on setup a) to sound identical to a midi velocity of 75 on setup b)

But they don't: setup b) is muted or less bright then setup a).  I think the models use the more then just the value sent to them to calculate the sound.

Does anybody have insight into how this all works?

Reply by Philippe Guillaume

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  • Philippe Guillaume
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Re: Pianoteq velocity curves

Irmin wrote:

Hi,

I'm struggling with this: It seem that curves do not behave as expected(expected by me that is).
Equipment is Mac and PC with pianoteq 7 standard and an ES8 as controller

1) This is what I expect: imagine the normal straight line velocity curve.
a) If a velocity of 60 comes in via midi then 60 goes to the piano model, all fine
b) you move the straight line down but parallel. Now to send 60 to the piano model you need to send a midi velocity of 75

You would expect velocity of midi velocity of 60 on setup a) to sound identical to a midi velocity of 75 on setup b)

But they don't: setup b) is muted or less bright then setup a).  I think the models use the more then just the value sent to them to calculate the sound.

Does anybody have insight into how this all works?

Are you sure? I made the test and get exactly the same sound.

But warning: Psychoacoustics can be very tricky here, because when you play velocity 75 in case b, putting more force in your arm/fingers, your brain expects a brighter sound, but gets only 60, so he thinks the sound is muted. You need to record the sounds and compare the audio files!

Philippe Guillaume's Website

Reply by Irmin

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Re: Pianoteq velocity curves

Hi Philippe,

Thank you for your reply.

You might be right. When I use the onscreen keyboard with the mouse it sounds the same. No wonder it is so difficult to get a perfect velocity curve

Reply by Philippe Guillaume

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Re: Pianoteq velocity curves

Irmin wrote:

Hi Philippe,

Thank you for your reply.

You might be right. When I use the onscreen keyboard with the mouse it sounds the same. No wonder it is so difficult to get a perfect velocity curve

Isn't it a surprising psychoacoustic effet? I must say I got caught myself more than once! I think every musician using virtual instruments should be aware of it.

Philippe Guillaume's Website