Re: dynamic and midi velocity

[Reinhold Kainhofer]

Am Samstag, 6. März 2010 08:47:56 schrieb David Raleigh Arnold:
> Ideally the volume should be preset for each instrument according to
> ratios expressing the relative natural loudness of the instrument, IOW
> set it and forget it, and only velocity should be used for dynamics.  That
> is obviously the purpose of the design.  Why fight it?  No good can come
> from twiddling the volume in the middle of the performance.

I know several choral pieces where the dynamics change on a single note. E.g. 
in Reutter's " Ecce Quomodo"  there is a whole note with p on the first two 
beats and f on the last two beats. This cannot be expressed by velocity, which 
is modelled after a keyboard, but is unable to express dynamic changes other 
instruments are able to do.
Similarly, an organ swell on a single note cannot be done with velocity, but 
only via volume.

Cheers,
Reinhod

-- 
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Reinhold Kainhofer, address@hidden, http://reinhold.kainhofer.com/
 * Financial & Actuarial Math., Vienna Univ. of Technology, Austria
 * http://www.fam.tuwien.ac.at/, DVR: 0005886
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