Hi there,
Here’s the problem: When I use my MIDI-keyboard controller (Arturia keylab 88 mkii) and play a sampled piano VST instrument (e.g. the Modern D from VI Labs) in Cubase pro 14, the “touch and feel” just doesn’t feel right. I have to hit the keys of the MIDI controller really hard in order to get some decently loud piano tones, otherwise it’s just some mezzopiano using some “felt”-like, super soft/dampened velocity layers. Turning up the volume knob of my Audio-interface (Focusrite Clarett 4pre USB) doesn’t really help, as the piano still sounds very soft. Even if I try to adjust the MIDI velocity response curves inside the VST piano instrument, I just can’t get anywhere near the tactile experience of playing a real mechanical piano.
Am I doing sometjing fundamentally wrong or are my expectations just wrong?
Did anyone else ever dealt with a similar issue?
Thanks in advance!
David
Specs:
Windows 11 pro; Intel NUC with Intel (Alder Lake) 1240p CPU, 2TB/1TB/512GB triple NVMe SSD drives; 16 GB RAM, Focusrite Clarett 4Pro USB, ASIO driver, 128 samples latency setting, Arturia Keylab 88 MKii MIDI controller
Cubase 14 pro, VI Labs Modern D Piano VST, Sampletank 4
Have you experimented with the velocity curve setting of the Keylab? You can find it in the MIDI Control Center and also directly from your keyboard, but I don’t recall now how to (talking about the direct approach).
Thanks a lot for your response.I did indeed “fiddle” around with the velocity curves in the driver software of the keylab but it never seemed to “remember” them…I ultimately gave up, but will definitely get back to this approach and try again. You are most probably right that the potential solution to this problem may be inside the keylab settings.
Don’t assume your keyboard is causing the issue. It may well be that’s just how that particular VSTi sounds.
Use the Key Editor and create a bunch of Notes one after the other all on the same pitch and the same length (for example C3 on every quarter note) with a Velocity value of 127. Then Select all the Notes and use the ‘tilt control’ (that’s probably not its correct name) in the upper left corner of the Velocity Lane & drag it down so the 1st Note’s Velocity is 0. Now the Velocity will increase with each successive Note & you can hear the available dynamic range of the VSTi.
Thanks a lot. Interestingly, I do have the problem with some but not with all piano VSTs. For example, Arturia’s own physical modeling piano VST works just fine out of the box, while I do have to tinker a lot with virtually all other VSTs (including the various pianos from IK Multimedia’s SampleTank and VI Labs Modern D).
That’s actually a great idea to test how different velocities may affect the sound when coming from “inside” vs when played by the external MIDI controller.
I guess I will have to consult Arturia user forums or support in order to find out why I can’t get these velocity curvers properly saved and automatically loaded.
Well, your MIDI keyboard willl create a velocity number from 0 to 127. It will transform how you hit a key to such a number.
The VST instrument will receive this number and will then decide what to do with it, ie. how to generate the sound or which sample to play back.
Strangely enough Cubase has nothing to do with any of it. It simply transports the number from A to B.
(For the advanced readers: Of course, Cubase will transform a midi message into a VST event and therefore will change the velocity number from a byte into a floating point value.)
I don’t have any experience with the specific VST piano you mentioned, nor with KeyLab as a controller, but some virtual pianos include a facility to detect the range of your playing and create a velocity curve. For example, my main piano virtual instrument at the moment is IK’s PianoVerse MAX, and it has a calibration facility you can use on a one-time basis (or more than once if needed) that guides you through playing on your controller to figure out a velocity curve. I think Arturia’s Piano V3 also has a similar facility. Some piano instruments also include multiple preset velocity curves that may help get closer to fitting your controller/playing style (I remember needing to set that with the old Garritan Steinway Basic for my Roland A-88 controller) or may allow you to create your own by drawing on a graph.
At least with the controllers I’ve used, I doubt that is ever going to match the feel of playing a real piano. Of course, real pianos all have different feels, and we all have our personal preferences (e.g. I almost always prefer Steinway to Yamaha on that front – haven’t found an exception yet in real life – though other brands can vary based on specific piano models and conditions with some models within the brand feeling really good and others feeling horrid). The feel of your controller could be a limiting factor, though, if, independent of sound, it doesn’t feel like you’re playing an acoustic piano that you like. (My A-88 has a usable feel, but is still decidedly different than any acoustic piano I’ve ever played.)
