SAMPLED

Synthesis and sound design · updated 2026-08-16

VELOCITY SENSITIVITY

How hard a key is struck, sent as a MIDI value and usually mapped to level and filter brightness so playing dynamics survive.

Close-up of a Eurorack modular synthesizer: oscillator, filter and envelope modules wired together with patch cables, showing the signal path these synthesis terms describe.
Synthesis and sound design — Close-up of a Eurorack modular synthesizer: oscillator, filter and envelope modules wired together with patch cables, showing the signal path these synthesis terms describe.

Photo: Eurorack Modular Synthesizer Closeup (opens in a new tab) by Nir Yaniv (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

Key takeaways

  • How hard a key is struck, sent as a MIDI value and usually mapped to level and filter brightness so playing dynamics survive.
  • Mapping it to amplitude alone gives a loud-quiet switch; mapping it to filter cutoff, envelope times or sample layers is what makes a patch feel played rather than triggered.
  • Route velocity to both amplitude and filter cutoff so harder notes are brighter as well as louder, matching how acoustic instruments behave.
  • Watch out: flattening all velocities to 100 in the piano roll for consistency.
  • Sits under synthesis and sound design in this glossary, with 2 primary sources below.

Quick checklist

  • Can you define velocity sensitivity in one sentence without looking?
  • Can you point at velocity sensitivity in a real session, mix or contract?
  • Have you tried the practical move above at least once?
  • Would you catch the common mistake before it costs you a take?
  • Have you opened one of the primary sources below rather than a forum thread?

VELOCITY SENSITIVITY IN DEPTH

Velocity is how hard a key was struck, sent as a MIDI value from 1 to 127. Mapping it to amplitude alone gives a loud-quiet switch; mapping it to filter cutoff, envelope times or sample layers is what makes a patch feel played rather than triggered.

How it works in practice

Route velocity to both amplitude and filter cutoff so harder notes are brighter as well as louder, matching how acoustic instruments behave.

The mistake people make

Flattening all velocities to 100 in the piano roll for consistency. It removes the accent pattern the part depends on.

WHERE VELOCITY SENSITIVITY SITS

Velocity sensitivity belongs to synthesis and sound design in the Sampled music glossary. How synths make sound, in the order the signal actually travels.

TEST YOURSELF

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3 quick questions on velocity sensitivity. Answers are marked instantly — nothing is sent anywhere.

  1. 1. Which statement best describes velocity sensitivity?

  2. 2. What is the mistake people most often make with velocity sensitivity?

  3. 3. In practice, which of these applies to velocity sensitivity?

Ready for the full thing? Take the 25-question terminology test and get a certificate with your name and score.

SOURCES AND CITATIONS

Free, primary references for velocity sensitivity — standards bodies, manufacturers, government offices and university course material. Each one lists the line of this entry it backs up.

  • MIDI Association specifications (opens in a new tab)

    Specification owner · The MIDI Association

    “How hard a key is struck, sent as a MIDI value and usually mapped to level and filter brightness so playing dynamics survive.”— the claim this source supports

    Why it counts: The body that publishes the MIDI specification, so this is the definition hardware and software are built against.

  • MIDI 2.0 overview (opens in a new tab)

    Specification owner · The MIDI Association

    “Velocity is how hard a key was struck, sent as a MIDI value from 1 to 127.”— the claim this source supports

    Why it counts: The body that publishes the MIDI specification, so this is the definition hardware and software are built against.

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