MIDI Velocity from EZD2 into Reaper not Same

[WhiskeyJack]

Good Evening Rebels. I am hoping i am just missing a setting or something here so maybe this is an easy one?

I have created the foundation of a drum track in Easy Drummers 2 Composer / Sequencer and have spent a fair bit of time humanizing and editing velocity’s there. I just migrated the midi into Reaper to further fine tune some stuff and i noticed that the velocity’s are all out to lunch? For Example, in EZD2 the snare velocity mostly falls in the the 80-85 range for the majority of the song according to the velocity dial within it, but the midi file when dragged or imported into reaper says all the snare notes are maxed out to 127? Now, the notes themselves to my ears sound the same as the 80-85 velocity notes in EZD? So i can’t help but wonder if i have to go into the settings somewhere to retain these properties?

Any words of wisdom? What am i doing wrong?

[Tadpui]

Interesting. I don't know off the top of my head but I'll play around and see if I can recreate the issue.

So the 80-ish velocity in EZD sounds the same as a 127 velocity in Reaper? That does sound weird.

[WhiskeyJack]

Interesting. I don't know off the top of my head but I'll play around and see if I can recreate the issue.

So the 80-ish velocity in EZD sounds the same as a 127 velocity in Reaper? That does sound weird.

Yes to my ears it is sounding the same!?? no question. The only thing not jiving is some velocity info on the GUI and midi roll

To test it did the following, Check it out:

I took the first little midi loop and i dragged it into reaper. Here is how it looks inside EZdrummer:



Then in Reapers midi roll this is how it looks! Same exact chunk of edited midi from the screen shot above only dragged into reaper. (for shits i also exported the midid and imported via insert media & also through reapers media exlorer. Same results)



Weird right? Here is where it gets weirder. If i leave that one chunk of midi as is, then go back into EZD2 sequencer, mute that same chunk and let the next one play unmuted, and leave all their velocities alone they sound the same! But, if take the next chunk in the EZD2 sequencer and jack it right up to 127, i hear a sonic and tonal difference. If i go the other way say drop the velocity down to 0 in the EZD2 sequencer it changes sonically and tonally as you would expect it to.

If i drag the one i dropped down to 0 into reaper, it isn't at 127 anymore, but it definitely isn't at 0. It is at 109 in reaper. And like before it sounds the same 100% just the display or the math or something isn't translating The multiplier difference in the error isn't even consistent within itself.

84-127= -43
0-109= -109

The fuck?

I feel like i have some weird settign deep within the reaper matrix not set right. Or maybe in EZD? Failing that it is a bug and i should bite the bullet and do a reaper update.

[Greg_L]

Paging [mention]Minerman[/mention]

[JD01]

I just set all of my velocities in Reaper. I don't do anything in EZ Drummer at all.

[Minerman]

Any words of wisdom? What am i doing wrong?

I don't have EZD2, & I rarely if ever use SD3's grid editor/sequencer to program/tweak my drums, I use Reaper's midi editor for everything...I actually don't even use the midi loops very much since I went all in with my e-kit, but still, let's try to figure this out...

It's very odd that you don't hear a change in the snare hits even after you've tweaked the velocities, something's definitely up there...

When you drag/drop the midi clip into Reaper, do you have a midi clip in EZD2 at the same spot in the timeline???? If so, when you play the song, that's why you don't hear a change even after adjusting the velocities, you've got 2 midi clips feeding into EZD2...

Let's make sure you're only playing one midi clip at a time before we go any further, it happens man, I've done that many times & it caught me off guard...Lemme know & we'll figure this out...

[Armistice]

I'm like JD - I program solely in Reaper. Import a note map and it's simpler... apart from any other reason, you can have the actual music going at the same time to hear how it sounds.

So can't help you solve the problem, but can suggest a better way "going forward" (as we like to say in the corporate world...).

[Minerman]

I'm like JD - I program solely in Reaper. Import a note map and it's simpler... apart from any other reason, you can have the actual music going at the same time to hear how it sounds.

So can't help you solve the problem, but can suggest a better way "going forward" (as we like to say in the corporate world...).

The drums will follow the music/timeline even if they're in the sequencer/grid editor in EZD2/SD3...

It's just a lot easier (for me) to edit all of it in Reaper, IE: nudging a note or two ahead/behind is simple using the note property box (right-click)...Plus I use some custom scripts that make things much, much faster for editing...

[mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention] where are ya dude???

[WhiskeyJack]

WhiskeyJack where are ya dude???

Hey man, sorry yesterday was the Family Day Holiday here in Alberta so i was no where near my computer or phone or email or nothing. BUSY DAY!

Anyway, back to this to clear some things up that may have been not so clear.

It's very odd that you don't hear a change in the snare hits even after you've tweaked the velocities, something's definitely up there...

This isn't the issue. All velocity tweaking is working weather i tweak in reaper's midi roll or in ezdrummers sequencer. The sounds do change, the velocity tweak functionality is working. We are good in this department.

What isn't working is that if i tell the snares in the EZD sequencer i want them to be 84, that 84 translates to 127 when i drag it into reaper. or import it? Either way there is a misfire in in the snare notes properties somewhere between the two pieces of software. And as noted the error of difference isn't consistent. if i set the velocity of the snare to 0 in EZD, it sounds correct, and then when i drag or import that same chunk into reaper it still sounds (has the same sonic feel and sound) as it does in EZD only difference is that in reaper it says the velocity is 109.

if it sounds confusing it's because it is but that is what is going on.

When you drag/drop the midi clip into Reaper, do you have a midi clip in EZD2 at the same spot in the timeline????

Yes i do but i have the midi notes in EZD2 muted. they aren't playing as i am troubleshooting all of this.

[mention]JD01[/mention] [mention]Armistice[/mention] [mention]Minerman[/mention]

I typically do the all my drums entirely in the reaper midi section as well, but this little cover i am working on plus a hand full of original tunes started out in the Solo version of EZD2 Composer and largely got developed there. I never mix my drums or anything at all from within EZD. Everything is 0'd, panned right up the middle and sent to reaper so i can just control all the pieces from there. I rarely ever go back into EZD to adjust anything. And if the transfer out from EZD2 to Reaper's midi roll was working correctly or i have all the settings set correctly, it would be a breeze as EZD2 has a lot of little helpful tweaks to cut down on how much editing in the midi roll needs to be done. Little things like the humanization, changing power hand for certain pieces of the kit etc.

if i can't get this sorted then i am going to likely just start going right back to the midi roll the way i used to before EZD2 came into my life.

Sorry i lied, my overheads and room tracks have the L-R balance set within in EZD. I never use that shit room mic though. not sure about you guys but it brings very little to the table that is helpful to a mix.

[Minerman]

Ok Shan, I really don't have an answer about the velocity not acting as it should, sorry, but I really have no idea...

I will say the sequencer/editor in SD3 is funky at times also, with really odd things...

• I tried making my midi track in SD3, & no matter how I tried (drag-n-drop/export/everything), it would not line up in time at all...

• The same thing happened with the "Tracker" (turning audio in midi) for a couple songs, then for others, it would be fine...

I could never get it to act "right", & I could never get it to replicate the problems when troubleshooting, so, I just gave up & went back to the Reaper editor...

Have a look at our "Fake Drums" sticky/thread for a couple scripts that might make humanizing a lot faster/easier...There is a slight learning curve, but I can talk you through it, & once you "get it", I don't think you'd ever go back to anything else...

There are 2 scripts I use:

• note selector:

Lets you select any note in any sequence/order you need (IE: select every other note, every 3rd note, etc)...Really quick for selecting a bunch of notes at once, instead of one at a time & holding "CTRL"...

• randomize velocity with a pre-set range:

Once you have the notes selected you wanna humanize, set a certain range for the velocity (IE: set all the snare hits selected from 100 - 115 velocity)...

Lemme know if you get stuck on this, there should be a little gif video showing how to set it up & use it, but if not holler at me...

The scripts are still there, just click on the link(s), then "save as"...
Fake Drums 1st post

[Minerman]

[mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention]
Did you ever make any progress Shan??? Just wonderin'...

[WhiskeyJack]

@WhiskeyJack
Did you ever make any progress Shan??? Just wonderin'...

not yet miner no, hoping to get down in there tonight and have another go at it. some guy on the reaper forums wants me to upload the midi file and he will plug it in on his end and see what it looks like. I think he has a more recent version of Reaper and were hoping it is just a bug. I can also upload hte midi file here and you can take a stab at it and see how the velocities read out on yours.

Another suggestion that was made was to try an entirely new file and see what happens.

Hoping tonight i can hide away for a few hours and play a bit.

[Armistice]

@WhiskeyJack
Did you ever make any progress Shan??? Just wonderin'...

not yet miner no, hoping to get down in there tonight and have another go at it. some guy on the reaper forums wants me to upload the midi file and he will plug it in on his end and see what it looks like. I think he has a more recent version of Reaper and were hoping it is just a bug. I can also upload hte midi file here and you can take a stab at it and see how the velocities read out on yours.

Another suggestion that was made was to try an entirely new file and see what happens.

Hoping tonight i can hide away for a few hours and play a bit.

Chuck it up here. We can all do that... Actually, isn't MIDI just a text format? You should be able to open it in Notepad and see what's going on. Or is it? Can't remember.

[WhiskeyJack]

Ok i won't have time to actually work on it tonight i just got tossed int a god dam shit storm at work. Shocking really. I will however upload the midi for you guys when i go home for supper.

thanks for the help.

[Minerman]

[mention]WhiskeyJack[/mention] : Cool Shan...I know you're busy dude, just upload the file here when you get time & we'll have a look...

[WhiskeyJack]

@WhiskeyJack : Cool Shan...I know you're busy dude, just upload the file here when you get time & we'll have a look...

Hey miner.

here is the offending file. let me know if you can download it.

For simplicity in the EZdrummer2 Sequencer i set the snares to be 84 and the kicks around 80. Interested to know how it looks in your reaper midi roll!

[Minerman]

@WhiskeyJack : Cool Shan...I know you're busy dude, just upload the file here when you get time & we'll have a look...

Hey miner.

here is the offending file. let me know if you can download it.

For simplicity in the EZdrummer2 Sequencer i set the snares to be 84 and the kicks around 80. Interested to know how it looks in your reaper midi roll!

Got it man, gimme a little while & I'll report back...

[Armistice]

I'm seeing snares at 127 and kicks at 127 until you get to a fill, and then there are variations in volume - there are various other non-127 hits around the place, but mainly it seems maxed out.

[WhiskeyJack]

I'm seeing snares at 127 and kicks at 127 until you get to a fill, and then there are variations in volume - there are various other non-127 hits around the place, but mainly it seems maxed out.

thanks armi. What version of reaper are you using out of curiosity? Also do you have another daw on your machine? I'd be curious to know if the velocities are the same in other daws midi editor?

[Minerman]

I'm seeing snares at 127 and kicks at 127 until you get to a fill, and then there are variations in volume - there are various other non-127 hits around the place, but mainly it seems maxed out.

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you dude...This is the same thing I found too Shan, mostly maxed out 127 hits, & a few lower velocity hits mostly during transitions/fills...