MIDI velocity programming

• Sep 17, 2016 - 03:15

Is it possible that the coders would grace us with a MIDI velocity bar-point editor in the Piano Roll view? If you don't know what I mean (I don't know the exact terminology: something like velocity lane editor), a quick google search produces something like:

(http://i.imgur.com/4k1YsLE.png)
midi.png

This allows one to swoop through a velocity lane with the mouse without requiring multiple mouse clicks, or be more precise with multiple clicks.

I realize an exporting to MIDI and importing into a more robust midi editor or digital audio workstation is the way to go for this, especially for external samplers and virtual instruments, and in a sense if you have this working properly there's no real need to have this in MuseScore at all since its main focus is the type-setting and not professional playback, but especially useful would this be in conjunction with the JACK audio out or the fabled future standard midi out. I'm just wondering if this is in the cards or if I should forget thinking about it :)

Seriously though, if something like this were to be implemented where the user velocities are shown and the offset velocities are calculated and can be changed efficiently, it would be really, really, cool.

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• Sep 17, 2016 - 13:33

Greetings,

There have been several discussions about having Musescore emulate common DAW functions. The function you desire exists in Cubase and likely other DAW programs. I use Cubase 8.0 Pro, which has that very nice Velocity adjustment window - most handy :)!

I don't believe Marc has any intention of venturing into a DAW workflow at this time. His is strictly a very good scoring program that can play back what you have written. On the opposite side of the coin, the scoring function in most DAW programs is very poor. Perhaps Marc can chime in on this. I'm sure he has some good insight.

- Lee

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• Sep 20, 2016 - 23:40

I use Logic Pro X on my Macintosh and, while its scoring functions are indeed very nice, they are limited by the fact that Logic is primarily concerned with an event-timeline.   In other words, Logic’s fundamental data structure (in terms of MIDI performance) is a set of MIDI events locked in time.   Any score that it produces is constrained by the fact that its score is an interpretation of that event-timeline.

MuseScore, on the other hand, is primarily focused on the production of documents for use by human musicians.   Its fundamental data structure, so to speak, is an XML file.   Its primary deliverable is a printable document (or set of per-instrument documents).   When it produces a playback, it is interpreting that XML.   Precisely because it is not a DAW, it can be an excellent scoring tool.

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• Sep 21, 2016 - 15:01

Hey, by the way even Reaper now has a scoring system (unfortunately I have the previous version, but I don't care because I've got MuseScore ;)

It seems that if Musescore is going to provide playback functionality on its website as a means of sharing peoples' works, a slick way of editing velocities may be right up its alley for the benefit of showcasing. I even came across a poster who went so far as to say that practically everyone uses the Piano-Roll Editor for nuanced velocity programming etc. before posting (like it really matters, but here's the link: https://musescore.org/en/node/74651#comment-445911).

I'm not an active programmer lately, but I might see if it's something I myself may be able to handle some time if it's not in the cards by the main team. I probably shouldn't have typed that last sentence :-x

Again, thanks for the software. I went from needing to write down a few passages on paper for memory's sake to learning many nuances of scoring through MuseScore. Transcribing has definitely been a learning experience.

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