Re: dynamic and midi velocity

[Brett McCoy]

On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 2:35 PM, Bertalan Fodor (LilyPondTool)
<address@hidden> wrote:

> I definitely talk about playing a keyboard instrument. It is quite easy to
> feel the difference between volume and velocity if you think about that:
>
> When you see p in the score, you play with less force on the keys,  with
> lower velocity.
> When you see ff in the score, you play with much force on the keys, with
> high velocity.
>
> But you don't touch the volume control in either case. I suppose :)

Generally, for MIDI sequencing, velocity is used to control volume for
single notes that don't change (like an acoustic piano or percussion
instruments) -- the loudness of the note will remain the same for the
entire note. You really want to use expression (CC#11) for instruments
that can change loudness over the course of a note (like a dimenuendo
or crescendo in a string section), and volume (CC#7) is best used to
control the overall volume of the entire track (like would be used in
a volume slider on a mixer). Many playback synths (especially
samplers) will have different recorded sounds playback based on the
velocity, so when you play a ppp you will get a note that has a
different sound quality than a note played at fff. You don't get this
using volume or expression.

-- Brett
------------------------------------------------------------
"In the rhythm of music a secret is hidden;
    If I were to divulge it, it would overturn the world."
               -- Jelaleddin Rumi