Velocity

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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KristofCarnewal
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:24 pm

Velocity

Post by KristofCarnewal » Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:31 pm

Hi everyone. I am Dutch. When I translate 'velocity' to dutch, I get the same translation as 'speed'. But that's not what it means in Ableton, right? Then what doés it mean? It seems like velocity is used for volume, no? I don't really get it.

doghouse
Posts: 1502
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:30 pm

Re: Velocity

Post by doghouse » Tue Jun 06, 2017 9:54 pm

Velocity in a MIDI sense is a measurement of how fast a key (or pad) moves when struck. On a piano, this translates to a louder note so velocity is often mapped to volume, by controlling the amp stage. However velocity is just another MIDI message and can be mapped to anything the instrument designer sees fit.

There is also a little used MIDI feature of release velocity, which is how quickly the key is released. Very few instruments support this, but many MIDI/CV converters do and can be used with modular synths easily enough.

aratunes
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Oct 10, 2013 7:17 pm

Re: Velocity

Post by aratunes » Wed Jun 07, 2017 5:49 pm

being a drummer the analogy is clear - how hard do you hit the drum? And the velocity affects more than loud/ quiet- if you hit the cymbal gently it makes a different sound than if you smash it :)

hoffman2k
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Location: Belgium
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Re: Velocity

Post by hoffman2k » Wed Jun 07, 2017 8:56 pm

Aanslaggevoeligheid is the word you're looking for to read up on it in Dutch.

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aanslaggevoeligheid

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