Hi there!
I´ve got a brand new voyager OS #350 and after some reading about different topics concerning the keyboard I´d like to ask other players about the velocity controller: on my voyager OS the velocity control is quite different from what I´m used to from all other keyboards I have played earlier, i.e. the HARDER you play, the more effect you get, like when playing a piano - the harder you play the louder it gets. This is what I´m used to with other synthesizers as well. But my Voyager OS doesn´t seem work like that; no matter how soft I play, the velocity responds to how fast the key is pressed, i.e. to have a low amount of modulation I must press down the key very slowly but when I play "normal" it gives the full amount of modulation, no matter if I play hard or soft on the keyboard.
sorry for my english....but do you see what I mean and is this normal?
voyager OS velocity
Re: voyager OS velocity
I think what you are experiencing is the velocity is very sensitive and requires very little input to trigger. You have to press the key very slowly to have no effect and average velocity or higher is at max effect. My OS works the same way and Im pretty sure it's normal. To address this Moog offers a factory upgrade for the OS that includes three different configurable velocity curves.
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Re: voyager OS velocity
The implementation (in my opinion) leaves a bit to be desired. Granted, it's a Fatar keybed (as far as we know) and has a great feel. The aftertouch works very well but for some reason the Velocity is not as dynamic as one would expect when used for controlling loudness in the traditional sense.
To address your comment about "... on other keyboards", there is no easy way to bind Velocity to Amplitude (loudness) as done on the typical digital synth. But it's pretty good for controlling filter.
I've tried patching velocity out of VX-351 into the Volume expression pedal input but it doesn't work very well (there's a noticeable popping sound as it goes from silent to low sound). It's possible to 'add' a base voltage that makes the minimum voltage 'low' but I was only able to achieve this in a test setup (using my Little Phatty's mod bus voltage output).
In a perfect world, you'd want amplitude/loudness in addition to modification to filter envelope or cutoff all possible with the use of some outboard modular gear.
I'll see about spending some time with this setup next weekend and document a few setups but I'm afraid the short answer is that Velocity as a Modulation source is good for general use but certainly not for the traditional method controlling Amplitude (VCA). If it's any consolation, I have an Oberheim SEM and it suffers from the same issue in that it's difficult to temper/tie velocity to Amplitude. I too would like to get this solved. Worth noting that the traditional Analog synth does not work in this fashion so most folks aren't exactly missing it as a feature.
Will be back shortly.
To address your comment about "... on other keyboards", there is no easy way to bind Velocity to Amplitude (loudness) as done on the typical digital synth. But it's pretty good for controlling filter.
I've tried patching velocity out of VX-351 into the Volume expression pedal input but it doesn't work very well (there's a noticeable popping sound as it goes from silent to low sound). It's possible to 'add' a base voltage that makes the minimum voltage 'low' but I was only able to achieve this in a test setup (using my Little Phatty's mod bus voltage output).
In a perfect world, you'd want amplitude/loudness in addition to modification to filter envelope or cutoff all possible with the use of some outboard modular gear.
I'll see about spending some time with this setup next weekend and document a few setups but I'm afraid the short answer is that Velocity as a Modulation source is good for general use but certainly not for the traditional method controlling Amplitude (VCA). If it's any consolation, I have an Oberheim SEM and it suffers from the same issue in that it's difficult to temper/tie velocity to Amplitude. I too would like to get this solved. Worth noting that the traditional Analog synth does not work in this fashion so most folks aren't exactly missing it as a feature.
Will be back shortly.
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Re: voyager OS velocity
Thanks for your comments! I realise that the velocity response on my OS probably is OK and something I have to get used to. I don´t know which keyboard I have on mine, but refering to the number of screws on the bottom (8) it ought to be the chinese one? On the other hand, it does have white covers on the lower part of the keys. Never mind, the keyboard works very well and I like the action, no trouble at all.
About velocity: I´m not interested to control the amplitude on the OS but I think it´s nice to trigger the filter with velocity and if I compare this function with my Paia Fatman and MIDI controller Roland AX-1 it works exactly as I want, i.e. the harder I press down, the higher the freq of the VCF, just as I think it should work. The Roland controller is digital and the controller on the Paia Fatman is a MIDI to CV so maybe it might have something to do with this? The factory upgrade might be an option but on the other hand, this is not a big problem for me, I was more curious about if somebody else have experienced the same thoughts.
About velocity: I´m not interested to control the amplitude on the OS but I think it´s nice to trigger the filter with velocity and if I compare this function with my Paia Fatman and MIDI controller Roland AX-1 it works exactly as I want, i.e. the harder I press down, the higher the freq of the VCF, just as I think it should work. The Roland controller is digital and the controller on the Paia Fatman is a MIDI to CV so maybe it might have something to do with this? The factory upgrade might be an option but on the other hand, this is not a big problem for me, I was more curious about if somebody else have experienced the same thoughts.