score guys-Midi automation tips,.please

[minimoog]

Hi Guys,

working on a piece and needed to take a 12 bar section down to pianissimo.

What I did was,.go to the start and take a snapshot to set initial levels.
Then, the section I needed to bring down,..

I grouped the tracks in the mixer via "W" and used "trim latch"

it kind of worked, but made a mess of all the other tracks. They were not in the mix or list,...


so, a question,...guys who do orchestration,...what method do you use for this stuff?

thx in advance

[Mr_Clifford]

Hi Guys,

working on a piece and needed to take a 12 bar section down to pianissimo.

so, a question,...guys who do orchestration,...what method do you use for this stuff?

thx in advance

Write p instead of f.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I generally use either velocity or ctl #7 (vol) depending on the VI or synth response to velovity. In some instances it will switch to a different sample with a better result, but if not then cc#7 will do it as well. I wouldn't mess with latch and stuff especially if you want to export to notation or SMF. My method will allow export that data, latching, etc., um, ...not so much.

[Frodo]

I usually start by loading in a part of a mastered track as a reference for dynamic range and balance. Doing this enables me to leave the faders alone until later. This helps me a lot to maintain a dynamic home base, so to speak. It's one thing to see the master fader topping out at -6dB, for example, but I found it important to understand where a single instrument or any group of instruments register at any given dynamic from softest to loudest and how the aggregate dynamic may result in a well balanced -6dB or whatever your personal "safe peak level" might be.

I'll proceed by going through the MIDI velocities to make sure they transition smoothly or contrast properly from one note to the next. If a sample has velocity layers, I try to make sure that what goes on at the velocity splits or crossover points (where different samples are triggered) are behaving properly.

After that I'll work with CC#11 for more detailed dynamics and fine tuning balances between similar instrumental sections. If all goes well by this point, I'll either group them or bus them to an aux (or auxes) as needed. This minimizes the number of faders to be automated with CC#7. Since there will be no automation on my reference track, it helps me not to have the faders all over the place too early on the mixing process. Thus, my reference track remains almost as relevant at the end of the project as it was at the beginning.

[minimoog]

thanks for the input guys,..I'm findng that a balance of V scale and "create continuos" (cc7) works well

[Tim]

I grouped the tracks in the mixer via "W" and used "trim latch"

it kind of worked, but made a mess of all the other tracks. They were not in the mix or list,...

I had the 'W' key do that to me long long ago, and haven't used it since.
I find it safer to use the 'T' key for temporary grouping. There is the added step of selecting tracks to be grouped, but that's no big deal.