With all the ways to control volume, I find it hard to get a consistent way to control the volume of samplers. I find the most challenging thing to be working with orchestral libraries. Some samples respond to just cc7, others to Cc11, others to Both while others use Mod wheel. How have y'all managed to make your workflow simpler and ensure volume mixes are easy to control?

 

I use FL and besides the Sampler itself you can control vlume with the sequencer, the mixer and a special vst.
I normaly use the VSTs volume to get it fast to the volume I like to, dont change the sequencer volume, then change the mixer-volume to get exactly the right volume for the mix and the VST if I want to make envelopes...
I got used to this way of working with volume, and it works out pretty nice

 

I feel like I tend to annoy people when I post so I've been doing less and less of it lately. But this is something that I had trouble with for a long time, so I'll help in whatever way I can. Especially if it might help SAiNT too.

All of the following applies to Orchestral instruments/samples only, as you can get some great and interesting results ignoring these "rules" when playing synth parts, etc. Other than your sustain pedal, there are three (mostly) "universal" cc controls that you want to have a plan for controlling. CC 7, CC 1, and CC 11.

CC 1 (Mod Wheel/Modulation) is what you should use for the most part when playing and recording an instrument. It usually acts as the dynamics for the library, going from soft (piano/p) to loud (forte/f) If you know any music theory, note that I said Piano and Forte, and not Pianissimo/very soft and Fortissimo/very loud (more on that under CC 11). If you've ever played a wind or brass instrument, imagine that this is the control that emulates how forcefully you are blowing air into the instrument. **

CC 7 is what you should treat as your overall volume. Set it once, and it should be changed -----very----- seldomly, if ever (I haven't found a need to automate it to this day, as it can cause more problems than it solves). For Kontakt libraries, it usually defaults at around 0. If the default for an individual patch is slightly different (for example, many set it to -6 instead), no need to change it. The developer set it at that level for a reason, probably to avoid clipping/distortion, and knows best ( ...usually). You could change an instruments overall level/balance with CC 7 if you wanted to, but it can be tricky to automate and keep track of (especially if you use software like Kontakt, Bidule, or Vienna Ensemble Pro).

If you have to control overall track levels, such as during the mixing process, or setting overall balance between sections, do so with the faders in your sequencer. I would suggest making sure that your CC 1 is being properly utilized though- don't try to do your overall dynamics (piano to forte in music theory terms) with your DAW's faders. They should be reserved for section balance; i.e, when the Brass are overpowering your poor Woodwinds a little too much in one section, but are slightly buried by the Percussion in another. Most DAWs have a Pre fader gain control- utilize that if you're like me and like to set your intial fader levels for a song at "0", only changing them when it's time to automate.

CC 11 is usually referred to as "Expression". It should be changed less than CC 1 but you don't have to avoid changing it like most do with CC 7. In most cases, it is used for situations where you want to go even louder or quieter than CC 1 allows, without touching your DAW's faders and setting your overall balance out of whack. It basically allows you to control your volume without affecting the tone of the sample, achieving louder louds (fortissimo) and softer softs (pianissimo). I tend to leave the fader a little more than 3/4ths of the way from the top. I very rarely have to lower it, since developers usually program CC 1 in a way that it can get a perfectly fine pianissimo without CC 11's help, but I very often move CC 11 higher during the absolute climax of a song to make things even louder. On average, CC 11 gets automated at maybe 3 spots on each instrument in a track for me.


Note that some exceptions do apply, of course. Most notably, Samplemodeling libraries (The Sax Brothers, The Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, and French Horn, etc.) use CC 11 in the way that most other libraries use CC 1 and don't work correctly without it. In response to your comment: "some libraries only respond to CC 7"- occasionally because a dev is weird, it is actually intended it to be that way, and works like CC 1 too. But in most cases think of this as a workaround for patches like some of the Symphobia samples, where there is only one dynamic layer recorded for CC 1, but you're "faking" it with CC 11 and CC 7 instead.


** And a CC 1 tip: Remember how I said it is like a wind player's air/breathing? Well, remember that humans aren't perfect, and even in a section of a song that is all "one dynamic", we will all have inconsistencies... only a robot can play "CC 1" in a perfectly straight line. Perform and program your CC data accordingly! You don't have to go too crazy with it and draw constant "mountains" in your CC lane, but appropriately varied changes (fade ins, subtle rises and falls, sometimes fadeouts) should always be there. It takes some time to do it quickly (the fastest way is to program CC 1 at the same time that you record the midi parts), but you'll notice a HUGE difference in your music if CC 1 is never "flat lined" on any of the instruments that are playing.


Again, all of the above doesn't need to be strictly followed outside of orchestral instruments, although Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight, Inception, a billion others), John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon, X Men: The Last Stand, Kung Fu Panda 2, among others), and many others swear by the "no straight lines" thing even when playing in synths and pads. To compare, it makes it feel more like an actual human is playing a synth (think of a guy playing synth parts on stage in a Prog Rock band), instead of a computer playing notes with robotic expression.

Let me know if this helps. Otherwise I'll get the point and stop bothering you all!

 

Thanks for that. Some libraries don't respond to 11 - Sam Harp for instance and True Strike I think. Is there an easy way to set that in Kontakt so that they do?

 

If they respond to CC 1 and not 11, that's perfectly fine- CC 11 is nice to have but isn't something that has to be there. If it doesn't respond to to either CC 1 or 11, at that point I'd use CC 7 to compensate, but use it carefully since it's much easier to make things sound very obviously "fake" with just CC 7.