What db should I rehearse midi in during the sound design?

[dkamm101]

Hey Guys,

I was going to have all my channels no louder than -6db for my headroom and was wondering if I should be rehearsing my synths via midi at this level as well. thoughts?

thanks

Derek

[3dot...]

midi has no sound ..

[xzusa8ky]

....if i am not wrong!? 100 velocity = +12db i read that in a posting for a couple of weeks here on the board.....maybe it aint correct but i hope it is

[kanuck]

....if i am not wrong!? 100 velocity = +12db i read that in a posting for a couple of weeks here on the board.....maybe it aint correct but i hope it is

sorry, no midi by itself would not make any sound. Obviously if it was controlling a patch it may have been +12db at 100 velocity but that's only 1 setting.. there are so many possibilities. I'd say just hit the keyboard controller/midi controller while sound desigining. If the volume's too low boost it up with the volume knob on the synth/sampler/whatever. If it's clipping lower it.

[Warrior Bob]

....if i am not wrong!? 100 velocity = +12db i read that in a posting for a couple of weeks here on the board.....maybe it aint correct but i hope it is

There's no necessary correlation. Just tweak the oscillator level on any synth and you can see that the same MIDI data can produce wildly different sound levels.

To answer your original question, I'd say use the track faders or instrument volume knobs to set your levels. Just pick a standard and stick to it (sounds like you use -6dB). I like to default to having all the track faders down to like -24 or more, and then I turn up the output on my speakers (or my system volume if I'm using headphones). A little fiddlier to start with since you have to move faders on every new track, but you get tons of headroom.