"printing" CV into a (volume) automation lane?

[VNUprod]

Hey Folks,

I recently wanted to add a volume automation to a very dynamic DI bass recording, to even out velocities. I did this manually using a loudness meter for orientation, but it was very time consuming as you might guess. So, is there a proper way to get a CV courve from a compressor for example to a volume automation lane?

I would be happy about any suggestions.

[ScuzzyEye]

I had hoped that using a Combinator CV in, and Programmer to assign that to to a control would result in a recorded automation, but no luck. It only records when it moved by mouse, or by MIDI.

So you'll have to run the CV into to the External MIDI Instrument assigning it to the right CC, and then loop that MIDI back into Reason. Then you can record an automation lane, and remove the EMI to clean up.

[selig]

I had hoped that using a Combinator CV in, and Programmer to assign that to to a control would result in a recorded automation, but no luck. It only records when it moved by mouse, or by MIDI.

So you'll have to run the CV into to the External MIDI Instrument assigning it to the right CC, and then loop that MIDI back into Reason. Then you can record an automation lane, and remove the EMI to clean up.

This (MIDI loopback) is the only way I know to do this - but why use a loudness meter, you've already identified the problem without the meter (indicating you can hear loudness differences), so I would think it easier to fix it without the meter as well? A loudness meter is a tool for establishing an agreed upon level for broadcast, and is at best an estimate of how we here - it's ALWAYS going to be more accurate to use your ears for loudness since there is no one standard that we all "hear" as being the same. In other words, loudness is subjective and we all hear it differently. Ask 10 people what "twice as loud" is and you'll get 10 different answers - it's like asking someone what "twice as hot" feels like!

I only mention this because even after you finish using a loudness meter to measure every note, they still may not actually sound the same (especially in the context of the entire mix, which is all that matters in the end). 

[VNUprod]

Thanks for the feedback folks! I see the point of loudness beeing a subjective impression. I will finetune in the mix for sure, I was more like looking for a rough homogenization tool creating a curve I could optimize manually. Like combination of a compressor and an expander with very long lookahead, attack and realease times,.. or something. Anyway, seems like I have to go the long road then.

[Raveshaper]

If you don't want to (or can't) use MIDI loopback, you can use a Thor to convert the CV signal into audio and record it into an audio track, then convert the outputs of the audio track back to CV using the same Thor. From the Thor's CV output(s) you can drive other devices using the audio version of the automation. This is a messy implementation because artifacts and unexpected deviations can occur in the audio version of a CV signal due to the automatic handling of things like transients. Also, you must scale the signal to format it correctly in terms of unipolar and bipolar. But in terms of a workaround for lacking MIDI hardware, you can use this as a somewhat crude method.

[ScuzzyEye]

Another problem with CV to audio to CV, is one would assume the reason that the CV to automation was wanted is so the automation could be tweaked a bit more from where the CV started. If the CV was right, there's no reason to print it to an automation lane. You could just keep the CV doing the adjustments. Once you have an automation lane you can grab the handles, and make little adjustments here and there. That's much more difficult to achieve with audio.

[VNUprod]

Thank you for the input guys, this seems just to be too complicated and adds more unpredictabilities. Some things cannot be replaced very well...