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I am trying to change certain instrument volumes after splitting the drum track. if,for example, I want the cowbell to be lower in volume I have tried decreasing the velocity and it turns the volume down on all the drum tracks. Same if I use the volume slider on the track. Is there a way to do this?

Last edited by panworks; 01/21/14 06:40 AM.
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Can't be done with a GM compat MIDI synth solution, because all Percussion sounds are on only one MIDI channel, typically ch 10, in some few cases these days, ch 16.

Since the Volume command, cc7, is "by the channel" then changing the Vol also changes all instruments on that channel.

There are some MIDI synths that allow for assigning Percussion sounds to different channels, but there is a much easier way to do this.

First Render each track, one at a time to an Audio track, by Soloing that specific track each time.

Then Mute the MIDI tracks and use the Audio Mixer or the new Automated Nodes to set the volume for each sound.

Mix as Audio and not MIDI.


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You can use the Velocity route to vary the volume of individual expanded Drum tracks, but results depend on the Synth in use. A GM standard external synth such as the Ketron SD2, or a GM standard VSTi such as Forte work well but a Drum VSTi such as BFD does not observe GM conventions. Rendering to audio makes for an easier Mix.

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AH yes, seems obvious now! I was going to render them to an audio file AFTER I got the balance right, Thanks folks.

Last edited by panworks; 01/21/14 12:31 PM.
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You CAN edit velocity like you need to, by using the edit-change velocities option .. just make sure you enable 'Data Filter' so you can define the note range of what you want to change on that channel. Pay attention to the radio button options in the first window.

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Editing Velocities for Percussion bank can work, but again that depends on the particular MIDI synth and how it implements the Percussion sounds. Some have only one true Velocity layer, others might have three, still others could have more than that. Some Yamaha synths will give you the same exact Velocity if you enter Velocity of zero. It will still work as if a 1 was entered. And if you enter 127 it will still actually work as if it was a 1...


So to use MIDI Velocities like that, you really just have to experiment and see how your particular synth responds.

Converting to separated Audio Tracks, on the other hand, leaves quite the assortment of options other than just Volume mixing, as well. For example, applying an instance of plugin Compressor to just one of those tracks can impact quite a lot, sometimes even use of a good MultiBand Comp plugin, or use of surgical parametric EQ plugin before a Comp plugin can allow for a bit of tailoring of the rather "static" MIDI sample once it is in the Audio Domain.


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I don't know how you'd do this, but what
I'm working on is using different banks.

Again, I don't know how to do this yet. But
from what I've read here and there, you can have
16 tracks "per bank".

So I'm thinking, you could have your drums split to different
tracks, then assign different tracks to different banks. (?)

I have a lot of percussion issues when making backing tracks.
Not just individual drum volumes. But other events as well.
Like, ya don't want any reverb on the cymbals and kick. But
want some on the snare. Maybe on claves or tambourine.

And panning is a pain in the butt! Pan left, all drums end up
on the left. It's be nice to have Crash 1 on the left, Crash 2
on the right. Low toms left, mid toms panned dead center.
High toms on the right.

So maybe you could have kick, low toms etc. on one bank. Snare
on another bank. Hand percussion on another. Mid toms on another.
Etc.

I'd think you could also then assign different synths to different
instruments, same channel.

Again, I haven't yet figured out how to work with banks. Maybe
they don't even all "sound" at the same time. Or maybe all banks
play at the same time.

Comments welcome! Wayne


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Some certain few MIDI synth or sampler solutions will allow for assigning channels other than 10 (or sometimes 16) as Percussion tracks, but most will not.

The Percussion Bank, as per the General MIDI specification, is only really available on one of those two channels.

You might split each Instrument Patch by part into being on separate Tracks within your software sequencer program, but the problem is that they will all still be on that one MIDI CHANNEL and changing the Volume cc7 command for any one Track will raise or lower the volume of all others at the same time.

Don't confuse MIDI "channels" with being the same thing as "tracks".

The workaround is to indeed split them out into Tracks, but then Solo each track in turn and convert that track to a separate AUDIO track first.

Then you can Mute the original MIDI Percussion tracks and use the Audio Volume command to change each separate sound.


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