I’m trying to get a VEP template working in Dorico. I imported a Cubase expression map, so that might be where my problem is. I’m trying to send velocity to an instrument to control volume. The instrument can accept both CC1 and velocity. CC1 seems to be sending fine. From what I can tell, the dynamics section in the expression map has velocity selected. Can anyone recommend where else I should look?
Have you checked the velocity levels in the key editor?
Yes. VEP is not receiving any velocity. The library has a little slider that goes up and down based on the velocity and it’s not receiving it.
I should say it’s working in Cubase so I know the issue isn’t on the VEP side.
Key velocity is an attribute of the note, part of the note-on message, so every note has to include a velocity by definition. You can’t really “turn it off” in that sense, and it’s impossible for anything to send a note without a velocity. Maybe the slider isn’t moving up and down but this would indicate that the velocity of all of the notes is the same, not that there is no velocity.
What library is it?
Can you take a screenshot of your key editor in Dorico showing the velocity lane?
Check the expression map – look at Natural and see whether it has both velocity and cc assigned. You can assign ccs to both primary and second, bypassing velocity altogether, if you want to. Also check that the assigned cc agrees with the VST. Some VSL instruments use cc1, others cc2.
Ah, I think I see my mistake. Looks like this library can receive velocity info for the short notes (working), but for long notes it uses CC1 only. I thought it could use either, but it doesn’t look that way. This is the Cremona Quartet (Native Instruments).
It’s pretty normal that patches/libraries that respond to CC1 would not also respond to velocity at the same time for the same notes. Because velocity is always present and cannot be removed, there would always be a CC1 value and a velocity value together and if they are not the same it would not know which one to listen to. So normally patches that respond to CC1 will ignore velocity, or perhaps use velocity for attack or some other purpose.
Yes. I was trying to change the long articulations to velocity. Looks like it’s not possible on this library. Not wanting to use CC for shorts.
Why not? (unless perhaps you do MIDI record, there is no practical difference)
It’s unusual to want to use velocity to control dynamics for long articulations - the problem is that using velocity for longs prevents you from doing a crescendo or a diminuendo on a single note. That’s why CC1 is usually used instead for longs.
… not to mention some libraries use velocity to control slur and/or portamento speed on the destination note.
Yes, but I didn’t mention that because that is a relatively new usage, and it isn’t always mapped that way. Having legato of any sort was unusual in sample libraries until after 2010. Before that, pretty much only VSL did it. Still, libraries didn’t use velocity for longs even then because even without legato you would still want to be able to do dynamic changes over a single sustained note.
Because there are volume issues between the long and shorts in this library for me and dealing with them in velocity is easier.
Understood. Thanks.