The task is to match low and high velocity drum hits. I do this by playing each layer individually to check for blend over velocity. If I have a four velocity per kit piece drum sample set the best way to do this would be to select each layer from the list at the lower left rather than leaving the sample edit screen to go to the velocity aware keyboard. The keyboard you used can not have velocicities adjusted. It just looks like I’ll have to leave the edit screen and go back and forth.
My advice is to audition all layers at once using the mini pad in the top left, and then mute the layers one-by-one whilst you are editing each sound. You mute individual layers by pressing the M icon in the layers window.
Here’s a simple example where i solo each layer in turn using the layer mutes, then tune down the top layer by -4 before unmuting again. Sorry there’s no voiceover
Note: obviously you’ll need to use this technique before you start mapping the layers to different velocities. Otherwise tapping the mini pad will only ever trigger the layer at max velocity, instead of all the layers as it does in my video.
Here’s a quick hack for creating a smooth crossfade between two sample layers:
Select either one of the sample layers
Go to the Modulations tab
Switch the Velocity > Gain modulation from +100% to -100%
.
Now playing the pad at 0 velocity gets 100% of the top layer (the one we switched in the modulations tab), 128 velocity gives you 100% of the bottom layer, and any velocity between 0-128 gives you a crossfade of the two layers, as I demontrate in this quick video:
The last part of this video is me playing the different velocties by playing from the bottom of the C3 key (high velocity) to the top of the C3 key (low velocity)
Wow, good to know. For drum velocity samples there should be a smooth mix from low velocity to high. This is to emulate striking the drum softly to striking it full throttle. Ordinarily high quality live drum kit sample sets have many velocity samples per kit piece. This creates a realistic articulation. I am surprised so few BeatMakers are familiar with this. I guess drums are typically one velocity level.
DrumPerfect has a very efficient scheme for this, it uses four loud and four soft samples and interpolates them based on velocity. It also uses the bank of four samples in a round robbin style.
I am excited to try to recrete my drum kits in BeatMaker and the multivelocity capbility is great. One other possible app would be Virsyn’s Layer. It is tedious but might be a good solution, it works on iphones as well.
Im surprised thats how nanostudio works, its not velocity crossfade, velocity crossfade is a crossfade between velocity values, so 127 isnt full volume of a layer, then 0 is full volume of another layer.
Velocity crossfade simply has two layers that both go down in volume from 127 to 0, but the crossfade happens between the source samples on the way down
Heres a video that shows how a velocity crossfade sounds (keep in mind, similar sounding samples this works a ton better)
Nanostudio 2 is a little more sophisticated than my example, it has variable crossover fades that happen around the 33% and 66% velocity regions AND it retains the softness to loudness quality that my quick hack sadly discards.
@tk32 said:
Nanostudio 2 is a little more sophisticated than my example, it has variable crossover fades that happen around the 33% and 66% velocity regions AND it retains the softness to loudness quality that my quick hack sadly discards.
(It only allows 3 total layers though)
Nice feature!
This app will get interesting if it get audio tracks.
Unfortunately NS2 only has an internal sample rate of 44.1Khz 32 bit float. I'm using 96 khz samples on the PC as many people ask for that format nowadays and I prefer it myself. Maybe that will change someday too though.
Yeah, the way i've done it is to just mute the layers you don't want to hear. But then make sure to go back and select the layer you want to adjust again... a couple times i've found myself adjusting a layer that's muted before i realize what's actually selected.
Comments
I don’t know the answer, but that’s a fantastic description and demonstration of the issue.
Use the keyboard and hit a key in the range the sample is mapped to, it will play all layers in that keyrange.
Like I did in the video or another way? I have to leave the Sampler edit screen?
Like this, note you can use a hardware keyboard too if connected
But not individual layers.
The task is to match low and high velocity drum hits. I do this by playing each layer individually to check for blend over velocity. If I have a four velocity per kit piece drum sample set the best way to do this would be to select each layer from the list at the lower left rather than leaving the sample edit screen to go to the velocity aware keyboard. The keyboard you used can not have velocicities adjusted. It just looks like I’ll have to leave the edit screen and go back and forth.
Hi @ampapps
My advice is to audition all layers at once using the mini pad in the top left, and then mute the layers one-by-one whilst you are editing each sound. You mute individual layers by pressing the M icon in the layers window.
Here’s a simple example where i solo each layer in turn using the layer mutes, then tune down the top layer by -4 before unmuting again. Sorry there’s no voiceover
Note: obviously you’ll need to use this technique before you start mapping the layers to different velocities. Otherwise tapping the mini pad will only ever trigger the layer at max velocity, instead of all the layers as it does in my video.
Ah! Thanks tk32, gonna try that out. Sounds like a good solution.
Damn, the minimpads play only max velocity. The objective is to smoothly cross from low to high velocity sound sample. Oh well.
You mean cross faded layers (like the way it works in Nanostudio 2)??
Yeah, you can do that - but you'll need to get well acquainted with the modulations tab first
@ampapps
Here’s a quick hack for creating a smooth crossfade between two sample layers:
.
Now playing the pad at 0 velocity gets 100% of the top layer (the one we switched in the modulations tab), 128 velocity gives you 100% of the bottom layer, and any velocity between 0-128 gives you a crossfade of the two layers, as I demontrate in this quick video:
The last part of this video is me playing the different velocties by playing from the bottom of the C3 key (high velocity) to the top of the C3 key (low velocity)
Wow, good to know. For drum velocity samples there should be a smooth mix from low velocity to high. This is to emulate striking the drum softly to striking it full throttle. Ordinarily high quality live drum kit sample sets have many velocity samples per kit piece. This creates a realistic articulation. I am surprised so few BeatMakers are familiar with this. I guess drums are typically one velocity level.
DrumPerfect has a very efficient scheme for this, it uses four loud and four soft samples and interpolates them based on velocity. It also uses the bank of four samples in a round robbin style.
I am excited to try to recrete my drum kits in BeatMaker and the multivelocity capbility is great. One other possible app would be Virsyn’s Layer. It is tedious but might be a good solution, it works on iphones as well.
Im surprised thats how nanostudio works, its not velocity crossfade, velocity crossfade is a crossfade between velocity values, so 127 isnt full volume of a layer, then 0 is full volume of another layer.
Velocity crossfade simply has two layers that both go down in volume from 127 to 0, but the crossfade happens between the source samples on the way down
Heres a video that shows how a velocity crossfade sounds (keep in mind, similar sounding samples this works a ton better)
Nanostudio 2 is a little more sophisticated than my example, it has variable crossover fades that happen around the 33% and 66% velocity regions AND it retains the softness to loudness quality that my quick hack sadly discards.
(It only allows 3 total layers though)
Yeah thats basically the same as my example, not that mine can be done, it can only be done via automation.
Nice feature!
This app will get interesting if it get audio tracks.
Unfortunately NS2 only has an internal sample rate of 44.1Khz 32 bit float. I'm using 96 khz samples on the PC as many people ask for that format nowadays and I prefer it myself. Maybe that will change someday too though.
Yeah, the way i've done it is to just mute the layers you don't want to hear. But then make sure to go back and select the layer you want to adjust again... a couple times i've found myself adjusting a layer that's muted before i realize what's actually selected.