Ableton/Live/UG/10 Editing MIDI/05 Editing MIDI Notes/12 Editing Velocities
- Velocity, roughly a note's loudness, shows as color saturation: paler notes are softer. Edit it in the Velocity Editor by dragging a note's marker; the value shows in the lane header, and hovering a note highlights its marker.
Shift-click to select several markers. Drag a group to the top or bottom to make them equal, then set the value.Cmd-drag (Mac) / Alt-drag (Win) a selected note vertically to change velocity without the lane. Or select a marker, type a value and press Enter; Cmd (Mac) / Ctrl (Win) with up and down change it by 10, with Shift for fine steps.- Velocity controls below the lanes: Randomize, with Randomization Amount setting how far values may move up or down; Ramp Start and End values spread a ramp across the selection; Velocity Deviation gives each note a range played at random each time, for example 60 with +20 plays between 60 and 80.
- A shaded area and a dot on the marker show a deviation range; double-click the marker to reset it. With several notes, the slider shows each note's limit.
Cmd-drag (Mac) / Ctrl-drag (Win) from a marker also sets the range. 10.5.12.1 Drawing Velocities
- In Draw Mode (
B), draw in the Velocity Editor to set values. Drawing affects the notes within each grid step, only selected ones when there's a selection; affected notes highlight blue. - Turn snapping off with
Cmd+4 (Mac) / Ctrl+4 (Win), or hold Cmd (Mac) / Alt (Win), to draw markers one by one, for a crescendo. Option-drag (Mac) / Alt-drag (Win) draws a straight line; add Shift for a flat one. - Click a piano key to select one key track's notes, then draw a ramp just for them.
10.5.12.2 Note Off Velocity
- The Release Velocity Editor shows Note Off velocity, the speed of releasing a key. Only some devices use it; Sampler can route it to many parameters.