Feature request: velocity-dependent notes

[ignotus]

Hi, I have a feeling this has been asked before but I can't seem to find the thread, so I'll apologise in advance and raise the question again, just in case:

Would it be possible, and would anyone else be interested in the possibility, of an input changing its note above a certain velocity threshold?

I've been looking at how 2box make their 3-zone cymbals and apparently they just use a piezo under the bell and an edge switch. Light to medium hits on the bow trigger bow sounds and direct hits on the bell (set to kick in at a certain velocity) where the piezo is, trigger bell sounds. Edge hits on the switch take the velocity from the piezo, as in other designs. From what I've read, separation is quite good, unless you want to really whack the bow (you'd get bell sounds, but that's what the edge is for I suppose), or you want to do light taps on the bell, which I don't think is often the case.

This feature could also be useful for assigning 2 instruments that don't really need a big dynamic range to other sorts of pads to save on pads/inputs.

So, anyone else interested in such a feature? And Dmitri, would this be a lot of hassle to implement?

[dmitri]

I thought you can configure soft synths to use layered sounds so you can assign different sounds to different ranges of velocities of the same note. Am I wrong?

[airflamesred]

I second this, or something similar.

[ignotus]

I thought you can configure soft synths to use layered sounds so you can assign different sounds to different ranges of velocities of the same note. Am I wrong?

Now you mention it, it might be true of other VSTs but in Addictive Drums (which is what I use) it's not possible. Does anyone know if it's the only one?

[airflamesred]

On your original point, Ignotus, you can wire the jack to a second input and assign a curve that only triggers at higher velocities.

[ignotus]

On your original point, Ignotus, you can wire the jack to a second input and assign a curve that only triggers at higher velocities.

The trouble is, I want the bell to start triggering at, let's say, a velocity of 80 -fine- but I'd also want the bow to stop triggering from 80 upwards.

[airflamesred]

Yes, change one of the pad inputs from normal to cut off.

[ignotus]

But as far as I know, the cutoff parameter determines the value below which there is no triggering - what's needed here would be a cutoff for velocities above a certain value, not below.

[angr77]

Hi. Interesting discussion!

I am using the Roland BT1...which is a combined switch/piezo implementation. The switch is the sound generator. The BT1 is mounted on my snare so hitting the snare would logically also trigger the BT1...but I am using the cutoff function on the piezo...so if the piezo is triggered below a certain level... it cuts the switch signal...

It works very well... could such scenario be used in the above mentioned example?


Angr77

[ignotus]

I am using the Roland BT1...which is a combined switch/piezo implementation. The switch is the sound generator. The BT1 is mounted on my snare so hitting the snare would logically also trigger the BT1...but I am using the cutoff function on the piezo...so if the piezo is triggered below a certain level... it cuts the switch signal...

It works very well... could such scenario be used in the above mentioned example?

I suppose I could just stack a kind of bell-shaped homemade pad with a piezo in it over the ride's bell, isolate it a bit from the cymbal, set a high threshold or a cutoff value and plug it into another input - voilá, a 3-zone ride... but what I've been pigheadedly pursuing for quite some time is a way to DIY a 3-zone A-E cymbal that involved the least amount of complicated messing around as possible. But I suppose the implementation of such features requires that other users find it useful and would use it, which doesn't seem to be the case. Cymbals (unless it's just a single zone) are the hardest part to DIY and it looks like folks prefer to save themselves the hassle and just buy them - and I don't blame them; if I wasn't such a stubborn git I'd have gone that route myself.