I like to use the “Expression” CC to control volume in Iconica, because the default “Modulation” CC doesn’t reduce to 0 volume for niente (doesn’t fade in and out properly).
The issue is, I make a track with an Iconica instrument, set the dynamic controller to “Expression”, but the volume is much too low, unless I go into the Articulation type and re-load the Articulation AND select “Expression” again after.
This is the only way I’ve found to fix this but it drives me crazy having to do that for every Articulation.
The idea of losing track, of which instrument tracks I’ve done this process for, also drives me crazy!
Is there a better way? This seems like a HALion issue.
The definition of “dynamic” in a musical context is the variation of the loudness between very quiet (not silent) and very loud and it shouldn’t make any difference which MIDI CC will be chosen. CC#1 (Modulation), CC#11 (Expression) or any other CC#XX has a range between 0 - 127 and will behave the same.
The initial value for the loudness depends on the MIDI Controller or the DAW that sends the CC data. Which one is it in your case?
My observations in Cubase+HALion for controlling dynamics with CC1 or CC11 are different:
I make a Modulation (CC1) envelope by drawing in the values in the Cubase controller lane (and setting Iconica to use CC1 for dynamics). The volume adjusts successfully, but when reduced to zero it is still very much audible.
Or:
I make an Expression (CC11) envelope (and set Iconica to CC11 for dynamics). The volume adjusts successfully, but now at zero values it IS silent as desired. There is another difference: at max 127 value for CC11, the volume seems to be determined by the velocity of the note; whereas for CC1 velocity has no effect once CC1 is introduced for a sustaining note.
Also there is the issue of needing to reload articulations when using Expression CC11 in Iconica - a bit of a mystery.
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I typically draw dynamic envelopes in Cubase using the mouse. Sometimes I use my mod wheel on my MIDI Controller.
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I can get around these issues by using default Iconica dynamic control (“Velocity”), and using Modulation CC1, and where I want fade in or out I use the “Overall Volume” controller lane in addition. But this last step is a bit of a hassle.