MIDI Velocity: What It Is & How It Works

Almost everyone who works with music encounters MIDI at some point, and many people use it every day. But aside from plugging in your USB keyboard, how much do you really know about what MIDI is and how it works? In the course AudioPedia 109: MIDI, Joe Albano gets to the heart of the MIDI protocol and explains it in a way that's friendly and enlightening. In this short video he tackles the concept of velocity. 

Velocity is the force with which a note is played, and it is vitally important in making MIDI performances sound human - or if you use a fixed velocity, making them sound mechanical. Joe breaks down how MIDI handles velocity and why it's important to performing and editing to get the best MIDI parts you can. Be sure to check out the rest of the course for explanations of other key MIDI terms and concepts.

AudioPedia 109: MIDI

Our AudioPedia series is a comprehensive video dictionary of audio terminology. Created by audio expert Joe Albano, this encyclopedia of technical terms is the ultimate audio reference tool. Here are the topics covered and defined in the ninth installment of this authoritative series:

MIDI:

• MIDI | Musical Instrument Digital Interface
• DIN (Cable) | USB (MIDI)
• MIDI In | Out | Thru
• Channel Voice Messages
• Velocity
• Pitch Bend
• Aftertouch | Pressure
• Control Change | CC
• System Exclusive | SysEx

MIDI - Operation | Applications:

• Quantization (MIDI)
• Sound (Drum) Replacement
• MIDI Controller
• Touch | Velocity Sensitivity
• Weighted | Unweighted Keyboard
• Keyboard Split | Layering
• Alternative MIDI Controller
• MIDI Drum Kit
• General MIDI | GM | SMF
• MIDI Sequencer | Step Sequencer
• Arpeggiation, Arpeggiator

So join audio expert and trainer Joe Albano and get a deep understanding of audio terminology with the AudioPedia series!