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I'd like to balance the volumes of the patches on my rack synths for live playing. I have a few patches which are very low, volume wise. My idea is to lower the volumes of the louder patches so as not to need a volume pedal when playing. Is this a good idea? I was wondering if there is a VU meter that will "freeze"(?) the peak level of each patch so I know how much to adjust. I looked at some free software meters, but I really don't know what I'm looking at!  Any help/ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, Mick
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"Peak hold" is a function that can be selected on some LED VU meters. The highest bar remains lit for a time while the rest of the meter functions normally. You have to make sure the feature is present and enabled.
I'd scour the manual to see whether there is a way to increase the output of those low-level patches. And regardless, I'd put a compressor-limiter in the chain. It would tame those 'peaky' patches while helping raise the output of those with lower volume.
HTH,
R.
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You might find joy a lot faster by employing a hardware compresser/limiter between the output of the synths and the amplifier.
Gain Staging might be a problem, too. Most people don't understand that the best situation is to turn the output volume on the MIDI synth ALL THE WAY UP and then adjust the PA amplifier for the needed volume. This can make a big difference, too.
--Mac
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I had a similar question to yours in that I wanted to find a balance between the various "loud" and "soft" patches of the VCS and the Roland sound modules I use, so I began an experiment which I still haven't quite finished yet because of the complexity involved. I experimented by turning single VSC instruments playing the same midi sequence into a wave file which I then imported into an audio editor and noted the RMS output of the wave file. In turn I varied the different possible parameters and recorded the RMS in each experiment. The experiment is far from complete in that I've only compared the acoustic Piano, the guitars, and the acoustic bass guitar. I haven't messed with the project in a while, but these look like the average of the calculations I had when I stopped. Perhaps they can be useful to you, but keep in mind, if they work for your synth, they are only averages that may get you close.
VSC Dry Calculation: CalcRMS = .000 000 06x² + .003x - 55.1 x = (VelVal*CC7*CC11)/127
VSC Wet Calculation: CalcRMS = .000 000 06x² + .003x - 55.1 + (.7/127) * RvbVal + (5.2/127) * ChorusVal
J Blatz
JBlatz
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If using BIAB, don't overlook the "Normalize MIDI Volume to..." command in the Prefs Arrange window.
This was implemented in order to iron out the volume differences between some of the earlier and later style files.
--Mac
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Wouldn't a Compressor/Limiter change the character of the patch being played, and not just the volume of one patch vs another?
My synth volumes are at peak. Some patches in the same synth have drastic volume differences. Again, this is for live performance not recording.
Thanks so far...
Mick
Last edited by Mick Emery; 05/26/09 04:46 AM.
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If set properly, a compressor can iron out a lot of volume change difficulties.
In your case you may need to set it as an Expander, too, with some top Limiting.
Since we're talking MIDI here and I think you are playing a MIDI windsynth, it may also have to do with the Velocities being sent as well as the certain patches and how they are programmed to respond to those Velocities.
--Mac
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