I’ve been doing it wrong!

Composition & Production
1

For 3+ years I’ve been drawing dynamic curves with the mouse and the pencil tool, rather than performing them with the modwheel or a slider.

I figured I’d be more precise with the pencil.

But I have been playing with the modwheel and I realize I can get to the desired result way, way faster this way.

I have wasted so many hours!

6 Likes
2

Yeah definitely easier using the mod wheel. You can of course assign it to any midi controller, nob, slider, expression pedel etc. I used to draw them in by hand until I realised the same thing.

2 Likes
3

I’d also recommend checking out the breath controller by Tecontrol, fantastic tool, even faster and more precise than the mod wheel in my experience/. You can always refine the data using the mouse if needed. :slight_smile:

There are many models available, i have the basic one and you can assign it to different MIDI CCs such as CC1, CC7 and CC11

2 Likes
4

never heard of a breath controller??? how exactly does that work ?

5

I have it, and made a video tutorial on it:

2 Likes
6

fascinating, how did you find it compared to normal midi mod wheels?

7

Way more agile, also since you can map your MOD-wheel to CC1 (default) and Breath Controller to CC2…it means you can perform dual automation in one recording.

Breath Controller is of course best for Brass and Woodwinds (or any instrument driven by breath).

8

Random discovery (and massive thread lift): Map BBC2 Tilt to pitch bend for expression and hilariousness!

The thing is, since it’s an accelerometer, it responds to head shake (or rather, the derivate thereof) as well as the intended tilt - and the latter gives you an expressive and easy to control true vibrato.

1 Like
9

Gives you a reason to look even more silly in the studio! :wink:

1 Like
10

Indeed! All the chins flopping about…! :smiley:

1 Like
11

I long for the day when they can model decent vibrato and legato (including the timing of it all the way to measured glissando). Sadly, those emotional aspects of performances seem incredibly hard to emulate with algorithms.

12

Yeah I always play in with the mod wheel or slider. I do go back in afterwards and just tidy up the bits I miss though. Such a great way to do it!

1 Like