Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

On Sunday 09 December 2001 10:57 am, you wrote:
> Have any of you ever connected your VFX to a PC and tried to use it
> with Cakewalk? When I tried it, I found that the touch sensitivity
> was way off. I had to pound the keys to get much of anything from it.
> I'm sure there must be a simple solution. Help Please...
>

Yes, there is a simple solution :) Practice!

Honestly, the Ensoniq's have fairly 'hard' velocity curves, even the 'soft 1' 
curve is relatively heavy compared to other synths (btw, make sure you have 
it set to Soft 1).

Really though, the more you play it, the more you'll get used to it, 
eventually you'll find that you expect velocity to be so heavy and other 
synths will seem too 'spongy'.

The Ensoniq's do lack some major control over velocity though, a level of 
control that you cannot achieve with just getting used to it. For example 
there is no 'flat' curve, or any of the weird curves that are on other 
synths, the Ensoniq is either 'soft' or 'hard' or somewhere between. 
Personally I gain back a lot of control over the velocity by using a Logic 
environment page that gives me a 9 level curve selector (with exponential and 
custom (drawn with a input vs output graph) curves, including a 'flat' 
curve). Its not that easy in cakewalk, but you MAY be able to get some 
velocity modification out of the 'MIDI FX' feature.

Its a shame that ensoniq didn't put a little more thought into the velocity 
control (take a look at kurzweil's user defined velocity maps - up to 100 can 
be stored - for an idea of perfection), but its something we have to live 
with.

Btw, If you've never taken proper lessons, most teachers will tell you that 
you don't play near the end of the keys, but play each key with your finger 
pressing around the area where the black keys end . Doing this gives you a 
lot more leverage on velocity, since you're moving the key closer to the 
pivot point (it also makes the difference between a sharp and natural more 
fluid, making sharps less of a pain to play). So, if you play with your 
fingers coming into contact nearer the key ends, you may want to try and 
re-adjust to playing 'properly'.