The midi standard defines note 60 as middle C. During the eighties (when midi was just an infant) Roland documentation defined midi not 60 as C3. At the same time Yamaha documentation defined midi note 60 as C4. The definition of what is middle C in midi has been a point of confusion ever since.

Most plugin developers will reference C3 or C4 as middle C but some don't even document that leaving it up to the user to find out for themselves.

Back on subject, most developers emulate realism by using three techniques; addressing velocity dynamics, articulations and round robins.

Velocity dynamics means a separate sample will be used in different velocity ranges to emulate how an instrument sounds different at various volume levels. For example a guitar that is strummed softly sounds way different than the same guitar strummed hard.

Articulations are the different ways a note can be played. A guitar can be muted, hammer-on, hammer-off, slide up, slide down for example.

Round robin means multiple samples of the same sound. Strum a guitar twice and it will sound slightly different each time. Round robin means you would use sampled strum 1 the first time and sampled two the second.

The plugin developer will normally have a way to use midi to make these choices. For example use CC 07 (velocity) (volume)or CC11 (Expression) to select a volume sample. Another common method is to use notes outside the normal instrument range to select round robins or articulations.

Last edited by Jim Fogle; 12/18/20 08:56 AM. Reason: corrected CC 07 label
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