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Old 07-06-2020, 03:30 PM
Sherry C's Avatar
Sherry C Sherry C is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Bad Axe, MI, USA (The Tip of the Thumb of Michigan)
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Default Re: Adjusting the volume for each track

Hi friends,


The video that I think he was looking for was Practicing (I had answered the query privately).

For reference, each "track" of a MIDI file is transcribed to a corresponding "Staff" in our software.


There are also a few other things to keep in mind when adjusting volume levels for your songs.

MIDI playback device.
If you are using a MIDI playback device other than the internal Notation Software Synth (available beginning with version 3), then there may be volume controls associated with the device as a whole, or even with individual voices. Check your manual or other documentation to see what options you have.

Computer sound card volume
The system level for the sound card will of course affect the overall volume you hear if you are using a sound library or synth on your computer, or the internal Notation Software Synth.

Program Volume level slider
Notation Musician and Notation Composer have volume level sliders on the tool bar to control overall volume. If a staff is selected, then the Volume slider will help you enhance the volume of the selected staff. Please see the above mentioned tutorial video on Practicing.

Staff volume
Each staff has a volume control - you can either set it to a single volume level (using the Staff Control dialog), or with Composer you can use Graph Over notes to "draw a volume map" as it were for the volume level to change over the course of the song, and you can do this for each instrument in the song. (I know, I know - I need to make a tutorial video for Graph Over Notes - it's long overdue).

Note Velocity - another consideration for volume
With Composer, you can adjust Note Velocity for individual notes. Note Velocity is akin to how hard you "hit" a note. For example, on a piano if you just barely touch the key to make the note sound, the note velocity is very low and the note is rather quiet. If you hit the key with a lot of force, the note velocity is very high and the note is louder. You will also notice that the sound quality, or "timbre", is different. For some MIDI playback devices, sound libraries, and sound fonts, changes in the note velocity also reflect these changes in the "timbre" or sound quality of a note. Think of a horn when blown softly versus harshly, or a guitar when a string is quietly plucked versus vigorously strummed. Many higher-quality sound sources have these "timbre" nuances in their samples, and will use them with the difference in note velocity or other MIDI controller (cc) parameter. Again, check your user manual for your sound source to see what sonic possibilities you can explore.


Differences between MIDI playback devices, and even soundfonts
It's worth noting that different collections of instruments such as different soundfonts, or synthesizers, or sound libraries, can have their "presets" at different sound levels. This means that if you are looking to have a nice mix, you will need to adjust things for the particular sound sources that you are using for your song. It may also mean that if you open a file that was prepared using a different synth or library or soundfont than you are using, that file may initially sound bad Don't despair, or just toss the file. Musician and especially Composer have tools to help you tame the beast and get good and balanced sound.

Enjoy!
Sherry
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