Hi! I have a problem, when using Garageband (10.3.4). When connecting my Nord Piano 4, I can get key velocities between 32 and 127. I can't get values between 1 and 31. I doesn't matter, whether I use the Garageband Software instruments or plugins (Addictive Keys or Wave Electric88). The funny thing: When I use the standalone apps from Addictive Keys or Electric88, I do get all MIDI-velocities between 1 and 127. Also my MIDI monitor tells me, that the keyboard is working just fine. How can I record notes in Garageband with velocities from 1 to 32, whithout editting the notes one by one?

Hi - I'm going to guess that you may have the Keyboard Sensitivity setting [Smart Controls pane "B"] set to maximum [More]—I got the exact same limitation when I tried it in that maximum position [Vel 32-127 only]. Try setting it to the default value [Option-click to set it to Neutral]—that should pass all Velocity values from the keyboard as is [w/ the same keyboard I get Vel 1-127]. [Apparently at max it adds 32 to all incoming MIDI Velocity values, maxing out at 127]. Oddly, while that setting seems to be global, it appears to change [increase] very slightly on its own when I go from track to track, so you might want to check/reset it before each recording. Keep in mind that there are probably Velocity settings on the Nord keyboard as well, that affect the Velocity *curve*, to fine-tune the playing response.

Hi Joe, Thanks for the prompt answer! I do have a KBD TOUCH button in the piano section of my NORD Keyboard, but i doesn't affect the midi output. Nor does any other alternation, I do on the NORD... The midi output remains the same. The keyboard gives me VEL 1-127 in standalone apps and my midi monitor. Only in Garageband am I unable to get VEL values from 1 to 31. (tried apple Garageband support - they couldn't help me...)

Hi - Did you check the Keyboard Sensitivity setting [Smart Controls pane "B"] in GarageBand—that's where you'd make an adjustment specific to GB (see the screenshot below).. Btw, the Kbd Touch options on the Nord keyboard shouldn't change the 1-127 range, just affect the response within that range, allowing for a more comfortable touch [harder or softer playing].

Fantastic! I had my keyboard sensitivity knob all the way to the right.. Now I have access to the whole range between 1 and 127. Thanks a lot Joe! Greetings from Denmark!

I'm hoping you may know the answer to my problem, Joe A, since you were able to help the OP so beautifully here. Apparently, when I play piano, I keep my right foot on the sustain pedal at all times, slightly depressing it when I'm not using it. I guess that's just how my foot rests, unconsciously, while I am not sustaining. For all the pianos I've played, including digital pianos, this has never been a problem. This is also the case for my digital Yamaha piano. But when I plug it into Garageband, GB always registers my foot on the sustain. So here's the problem: When I sustain, it's at 127, or full. Which is great. When I am not sustaining, GB records the sustain at like 3 or 5 or some low number, since my foot is always resting on the pedal. It completely ruins any software instrument performance I record. It forces me to sdjust the way I use my foot which throws off my entire performance. Now you might say, "Just take your damn foot off the pedal!" This would be akin to relearning to play the piano! I have been doing it this way for almost 30 years! Is there a way to tell Garageband to stop recording the sustain under a certain velocity/sensitivity? I want it to record as fully sustained when I'm depressing the pedal, and record no sustain when I am resting my foot on the pedal slightly. Is such an adjustment possible in Garageband? I can't find the answer anywhere on the internet. The attached photo shows the sustain being recorded at a low level when my intention was for there to be 0 sustain at that point. The entire recording does this, so it becomes tedious to fix it post-recording. Thank you regardless!

It won't let me upload the photo, but it shows the sustain controller at level 15 when my intention was for it to be 0.

Hi - AFAIK there's no way to filter/scale CC64 (pedal) messages in GB on the way in -- it would be easy to do in Logic, but GB doesn't include those features. Of course you could manually edit the pedal data after the fact, but I guess that would be kind of a pain.. Your pedal must be one of those higher-end pedals that puts out continuous CC64 values; some virtual pianos respond to that [they emulate half-pedaling], but others only respond to two values, 0 and 127 [pedal on & off]. I think the easiest way to address your problem would be to simply replace the pedal with a similar one that only generates the two [on & off] values. Then hopefully all the lower pedal values would register as 0's.

That’s what i suspected. Thank you for your insight!