Ableton Forum

Hi There,

I've recently got PUSH and while I'm Loving the concept, I'm getting a little frustrated

When I play the pads the response (loudness) seems low. That is I'm having to 'thump' the pads to get a decent level.

But when I sequence the notes the volume is much louder. The result is that I can't hear what I'm playing over the sequenced playback.

Is there any way to make the pad sensitivity or loudness better or take down the sequenced level.

I've tried the 'user' pad threshold but it doesn't seem to make much difference.

Any help appreciated !

Thanks

You can press accent button this will change between pressure sensitive and full velocity.
also try changing the log in user mode

Don't forget that each instrument has it's own Velocity Sensitivity settings. You can change these along with changing the Log mode on Push itself as dubxile suggested to get a more comfortable response from the pads.

• in Simpler, look for the Vel Parameter on the right hand side.
• Set this to around 25 - 30%.
• Then turn on Accent on Push and adjust the Volume in Simpler until it's peaking where you want.
• Right click on Volume and 'Copy Value to Siblings'
• Do the same with the Vel parameter. (these last two steps will work only if your samples are normalized)
• Turn off Accent on Push
• Hold USER on Push and change the Log Value to 3 or higher if you really don't want to smash on your pads.

If this doesn't work for you I'm not sure what will. The longer you practice the stronger your fingers will become. Maybe also try looking for those Jeremy Ellis finger drumming exercises.

Hold down the User button to change the pad sensitivity.
I changed mine to -12% so I didn't have to tap too hard to make it loud.

This tutorial explains:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rxsPCF0 ... _-&index=5

The Pad Threshold actually has nothing to do with the loudness of the instrument; it only affects how hard you need to press on the pads before they trigger.

The Velocity Curve is a better parameter to change to get variance in the velocity of your instrument. I normally have mine sitting around Log 2 or 3 for some nice nuance.

The Velocity midi effect can be really helpful to get the kind of response you want from pads, though I haven't tried it with Push.

panten wrote: If this doesn't work for you I'm not sure what will. The longer you practice the stronger your fingers will become. Maybe also try looking for those Jeremy Ellis finger drumming exercises.

This was my original idea. I figured my fingers would be strong enough from playing guitar, bass, even keyboard on a weighted keybed.

Still... I have the same problem. Maybe the motion is different enough that I've got a new set of muscles that need to be worked on.

In the meantime, anything I sequence I make it a point to adjust the velocity below my average played velocity. I avg about 90 something now, so everything I sequence I adjust around 87.

It's been about 6 weeks that I've had Push & I still avg 90ish. Maybe I'll put a compressor after my instrument with a little pre gain on it.

shadx312 wrote:The Velocity midi effect can be really helpful to get the kind of response you want from pads, though I haven't tried it with Push.

Thanks for that. I'm not the OP, but I was playing with a compressor trying to get the same effect, decided to look in the midi effects & there was a "midi compressor" who knew?

But it does what I want, thanks for mentioning midi effects.

You're welcome:)

wait a minute. midi compressor is a gain tool for your playing? Mind blown